Preview: Coyotes at Canadiens

COYOTES (1-1-0) at CANADIENS (2-0-1)
7:30 p.m. ET; FS-A, RDS, SN360, NHL.TV

Coyotes team scope

With goaltender Mike Smith out because of a lower-body injury he sustained Tuesday, Arizona Coyotes goaltender Louis Domingue will make a hometown start at Bell Centre. Domingue, a native of nearby St-Hyacinthe, Quebec, made eight saves on 11 shots after replacing Smith during the Coyotes' 7-4 loss to the Ottawa Senators at Canadian Tire Centre. Coach Dave Tippett told the Coyotes website he has confidence Domingue is up to the task of filling in for Smith. "He came in and played really well last year, and we expect the same from him this year," Tippett said after practice Wednesday. "He's matured as a player and as a person. He's done it before, there's no reason to believe he can't do it again." The Coyotes recalled Justin Peters from Tucson of the American Hockey League to back up Domingue.

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Canadiens team scope

Goaltender Carey Price will start against Arizona in his first regular-season game for the Montreal Canadiens in nearly 11 months. Price, who played one preseason game for Montreal, was cleared to return after missing the first three games because of the flu. "We met with the medical staff after the morning skate and together we decided he is ready to return, and we're very happy," Canadiens coach Michel Therrien said after an optional practice at the team's training facility in Brossard, Quebec. Price played and won five games Team Canada at the World Cup of Hockey 2016 last month, but he has not played for Montreal since Nov. 25, 2015, when he sprained the MCL in his right knee. Price, who won the Hart and Vezina trophies in 2014-15, was 10-0-2 with a 2.06 goals-against-average, a .934 save percentage and two shutouts before the knee injury sidelined him for the rest of last season. "Obviously Carey's one of the best players in the League so to have him in the lineup is always a bonus," center Alex Galchenyuk said.

Coyotes projected lineup

Anthony Duclair -- Martin Hanzal -- Max Domi
Tobias Rieder -- Dylan Strome -- Shane Doan
Jordan Martinook -- Brad Richardson -- Ryan White
Lawson Crouse -- Laurent Dauphin -- Radim Vrbata
Oliver Ekman-Larsson -- Connor Murphy
Alex Goligoski -- Luke Schenn
Jakob Chychrun -- Jamie McBain
Louis Domingue
Justin Peters
Scratched: Kevin Connauton, Christian Dvorak.
Injured:Mike Smith (lower body), Mike Stone (knee), David Bolland (lower body), Jamie McGinn (upper body)

Canadiens projected lineup

Max Pacioretty -- Alex Galchenyuk -- Brendan Gallagher
Artturi Lehkonen -- Tomas Plekanec -- Alexander Radulov
Paul Byron -- David Desharnais -- Andrew Shaw
Phillip Danault -- Torrey Mitchell -- Brian Flynn
Nathan Beaulieu -- Shea Weber
Andrei Markov -- Jeff Petry
Alexei Emelin -- Mikhail Sergachev
Carey Price
Al Montoya
Scratched: Greg Pateryn, Zach Redmond, Daniel Carr.
Injured: None.

Status report

Smith, who attended practice at Bell Centre on Wednesday but did not skate, was sent home to Arizona to be evaluated by Coyotes doctors on Thursday after he had an MRI in Montreal. ... Therrien will use the same lineup he dressed for Montreal's 4-0 win against the Pittsburgh Penguins on Tuesday. ... As he did in the Canadiens' home opener, Sergachev will have his parents and sister from Russia in the crowd when he plays for the third time in four games. "I've been trying hard but I was kind of slow, I played a slow pace, but the second game I got a little better," Sergachev said. "I still made some mistakes but I think this game [Thursday] is going to be much better." ... Montreal assigned goaltender Charlie Lindgren to St. John's of the AHL.

Who's hot

Martinook has two goals, both scored against Ottawa, and one assist. ... Ekman-Larsson has scored in consecutive games. ... Goligoski has three assists. ... Petry has two goals and two assists in two games. ... Desharnais scored two goals against Pittsburgh on Tuesday.