hurricanes – canadiens face off with projected lineups set as Montreal wrapped a Brossard practice and prepares for a Tuesday morning skate at the Bell Centre before an evening meeting with Carolina; both clubs enter with lineup notes and injury questions. The Hurricanes will dress the same group that produced a 5-1 road win on Sunday, while Montreal’s coach has left late choices as game-time decisions. Teams are tuning final details in practice and goalie work ahead of the evening matchup.
Hurricanes – Canadiens projected lineups
Carolina’s projected forward groups are listed as:
- Andrei Svechnikov — Sebastian Aho — Seth Jarvis
Taylor Hall — Logan Stankoven — Jackson Blake
Nikolaj Ehlers — Jordan Staal — Jordan Martinook
William Carrier — Mark Jankowski — Eric Robinson
Scratched: Jesperi Kotkaniemi, Nicolas Deslauriers
Injured: Shayne Gostisbehere (lower body), Pyotr Kochetkov (lower body)
Montreal’s projected forward groups are listed as:
- Cole Caufield — Nick Suzuki — Juraj Slafkovsky
Alex Newhook — Oliver Kapanen — Ivan Demidov
Alexandre Texier — Jake Evans — Zachary Bolduc
Joe Veleno — Phillip Danault — Brendan Gallagher
Scratched: Arber Xhekaj, Samuel Montembeault
Injured: Josh Anderson (upper body), Kirby Dach (upper body), Patrik Laine (lower body)
Practice report from Brossard and Bell Centre prep
Young players led the morning work in Brossard, with Lane Hutson and Ivan Demidov on the second ice well before the scheduled practice and joining Adam Nicholas on the ice at 9: 50 AM ET. The main session opened at 10: 30 AM ET and included positioning drills for goalies, screened-shot drills and assorted team work on odd-man rushes, defensive transition, three-on-three play and six-on-five scenarios.
Goalie coaching staff activity included Marco Marciano working with Jacob Fowler before Fowler was joined by Jakub Dobes and Samuel Montembeault. Montembeault took part in screened-shot work as the screening player while others practiced shots. Observers noted the Becancour netminder had not yet completed that particular drill on the first ice.
Josh Anderson was present in practice but wearing a no-contact jersey; he is expected to miss his third straight game with an upper-body issue. Montreal’s practice lasted 40 minutes, with multiple players staying on the ice afterward to work on shots and skill details.
Forward Zach Bolduc addressed a recently disallowed goal and the challenge that followed, saying: “Honestly, when I scored, I didn’t know there was an offside, but when I got to the bench, they told me that we were most probably offside on the play. I saw Patrick speak to the ref when he challenged for offside. I knew it wasn’t a good sign for me, but there’s no ill intent in his challenge; it was just funny. ” On the timing of a late-game challenge he added: “Yeah, but at the same time, if Patrick doesn’t challenge it, he could have been criticized for it by people on his side. It’s just part of the game. “
What’s next: decisions, scratches and game-time watch
Montreal will skate on the Bell Centre ice for a morning session on Tuesday before the evening meeting with Carolina; coach Martin St. Louis has indicated the lineup will be a game-time decision for the remainder of the regular season. The Hurricanes will mirror the group that delivered a 5-1 win on Sunday in Pittsburgh, while the Canadiens will monitor returning players and late scratches. Expect close tracking of Josh Anderson’s availability, Montreal’s late lineup choices, and whether Carolina keeps the same forward deployment that produced the recent road victory as the clubs finalize match-night rosters in advance of the Tuesday evening matchup between the hurricanes – canadiens.
