PREVIEW: Blackhawks vs Canadiens 12/9

TIME:5:00 p.m. CT
TV:NBCSCH RADIO:WGN 720* ONLINE:*
NHL.TV
The Blackhawks hope to snap their six-game losing streak when they host the Montreal Canadiens on Sunday evening. Chicago is coming off a heartbreaking 4-3 loss to Las Vegas on Thursday night. The Blackhawks battled back from down 2-0 to take a 3-2 lead in the third period. However, they allowed a pair of goals 12 seconds apart, which dropped them to 9-16-5 on the season.

Montreal has won three of their four games to start the month of December. They cruised to a 5-2 victory in Ottawa on Thursday. This game in Chicago is their second of a three-game road trip.
The Canadiens are paced in scoring by Max Domi, who has 30 total points (13G, 17A) through 29 games played. Jonathan Drouin (10G, 16A), Tomas Tatar (11G, 12A) and Jeff Petry (4G, 16A) all have more than 20 points this season for the Habs.
Between the pipes, Carey Price has 10 wins this season with a 2.96 GAA and .900 save percentage.
SEASON SERIES:
This is the first of two meetings this season between the Blackhawks and Canadiens. They'll head to Montreal on March. 16.
Last season, the Blackhawks went 1-1-0 in the season series with a 3-1 road win and 2-0 loss at the United Center.
LINEUP NOTES:
The Blackhawks will not have a morning skate due to the early puck drop. On Saturday at practice, the line combinations and defensive pairings were as follows:
Saad-Toews-Kampf
Kahun-Anisimov-Kane
DeBrincat-Strome-Fortin
Martinsen-Kruger-Hayden
Keith-Jokiharju
Gustafsson-Murphy
Manning-Seabrook

It's expected that Connor Murphy will play his first game of the season after being activated off IR on Saturday morning.
OPPONENT TO WATCH:
Brendan Gallagher shares the Canadiens team lead in goals with 13 this season. He is currently riding a two-game goal streak.
The 2010 fifth-round pick has 131 goals in 435 career NHL games. He has also recorded 127 assists.