At the Rink: Canadiens at Red Wings
by Paul HarrisDETROIT -- Montreal Canadiens goaltender Dustin Tokarski will make his first start of the season Thursday against the Detroit Red Wings (7:30 p.m. ET; RDS, CITYM, FS-D).
Tokarski was recalled from St. John's of the American Hockey League on Sunday.
Mike Condon had started the previous six games since Carey Price aggravated a lower-body injury Nov. 25.
Condon made 20 saves in a 3-1 loss to the Boston Bruins on Wednesday, the Canadiens' third straight loss (0-3-0).
The Canadiens (19-7-3) had an optional skate Thursday, and announced that forward Charles Hudon will make his NHL debut. He'll replace Christian Thomas in the lineup.
Also, defenseman Greg Pateryn will play in place of Nathan Beaulieu.
Red Wings (15-8-5) coach Jeff Blashill said he sees a lot of similarities between his team and the Canadiens.
"I think when we're playing at our best we're a pretty quick, fast team and we transition pretty fast," Blashill said. "I think when they're playing their best they're a quick, fast team. Their [defensemen] are very involved, their [defensemen] are a little more active from a shooting sense. Our [defensemen] have been a little more active from a motion sense. Both [defense] corps can provide offense.
"I also think structurally they're really good. They make it hard to get to the net, they don't give up lots. They've had obviously real good goaltending. But I think part of that is the structure with which they play."
Here are the projected lineups:
CANADIENS
Max Pacioretty - Alex Galchenyuk - Sven Andrighetto
Lars Eller - Tomas Plekanec - Paul Byron
Tomas Fleischmann - David Desharnais - Dale Weise
Brian Flynn - Charles Hudon - Daniel Carr
Injured: Devante Smith-Pelly (lower body) Torrey Mitchell (lower body), Brendan Gallagher (hand), Carey Price (lower body)
Scratched: Christian Thomas, Jarred Tinordi, Nathan Beaulieu
RED WINGS
Dylan Larkin - Henrik Zetterberg - Justin Abdelkader
Darren Helm - Pavel Datsyuk - Brad Richards
Gustav Nyquist - Riley Sheahan - Tomas Tatar
Tomas Jurco - Luke Glendening - Joakim Andersson
Danny DeKeyser - Jonathan Ericsson
Brendan Smith - Alexey Marchenko
Injured: Drew Miller (broken jaw), Teemu Pulkkinen (dislocated shoulder), Johan Franzen (concussion), Kyle Quincey (ankle)
Scratched: Jakub Kindl
Status update: Hudon was recalled from St. John's on Tuesday. … Detroit is 6-0-3 since Richards returned from a back injury.
Who's hot: Galchenyuk has five goals and four assists in his past nine games. … Larkin has one goal and three assists in his past three games.