Canadiens at Golden Knights preview

CANADIENS (22-28-7) at GOLDEN KNIGHTS (38-15-4)
7 p.m. ET; SN360, CITY, TVAS, ATTSN-RM, NHL.TV

A victory would give Vegas 22 wins in 28 home games. It took the 1979-80 Hartford Whalers 40 home games to reach 22 victories.
The Golden Knights, trying to win their third straight game, are 8-4-0 in their past 12. They lead the Western Conference by three points over the Nashville Predators and Winnipeg Jets.
The Canadiens, looking to end a four-game losing streak (0-3-1), are 2-6-1 in their past nine. Montreal trails the New York Islanders by 13 points for the second wild card into the Stanley Cup Playoffs from the Eastern Conference.

Players to watch

Canadiens forward Brendan Gallagher has six points (three goals, three assists) in his past six games.
Golden Knights forward David Perron has four points (one goal, three assists) in his past two games and 19 points (five goals, 14 assists) in his past 14 games.

They said it

"We've been through a lot this year. Obviously, we haven't gotten the results that we've wanted, but I'm not going to sit here and let anyone tell me that these guys gave up." -- Canadiens forward Brendan Gallagher
"[Montreal hasn't] scored many goals the last few games, but I'll tell you, the chances they get, they can create. Any given night, they can beat any team in the League." -- Golden Knights coach Gerard Gallant

Canadiens projected lineup

Max Pacioretty -- Paul Byron -- Artturi Lehkonen
Charles Hudon -- Tomas Plekanec -- Brendan Gallagher
Alex Galchenyuk -- Jonathan Drouin -- Nikita Scherbak
Nicolas Deslauriers -- Byron Froese -- Logan Shaw
Karl Alzner -- Jeff Petry
Joe Morrow -- Jordie Benn
Victor Mete -- David Schlemko
Carey Price
Antti Niemi
Scratched:Daniel Carr, Jacob de la Rose, Jakub Jerabek
Injured: Phillip Danault (concussion), Ales Hemsky (upper body), Andrew Shaw (lower body), Shea Weber (foot)

Golden Knights projected lineup

Jonathan Marchessault -- William Karlsson -- Reilly Smith
David Perron -- Erik Haula -- James Neal
Alex Tuch -- Cody Eakin -- Oscar Lindberg
Ryan Carpenter -- Pierre-Edouard Bellemare -- Tomas Nosek
Brayden McNabb -- Nate Schmidt
Shea Theodore -- Deryk Engelland
Colin Miller -- Brad Hunt
Marc-Andre Fleury
Maxime Lagace
Scratched:Brendan Leipsic
Injured: Malcolm Subban (upper body), William Carrier (undisclosed), Luca Sbisa (hand), Jon Merrill (undisclosed)

Status report

Neither team had a morning skate. … Theodore is questionable with the flu. … Sbisa or Merrill could be cleared to play, Gallant said.

Stat pack

Montreal has scored two goals or fewer in five of its past eight games. ... Price is expected to play his 551st game and tie Patrick Roy for second by a goaltender in Canadiens history. Jacques Plante is first with 556. … Smith has nine points (three goals, six assists) in a six-game point streak. ... Fleury is 15-5-1 with a 1.95 goals-against average, a .934 save percentage and two shutouts in his past 21 starts.