Flames at Canadiens preview

FLAMES (14-12-2) at CANADIENS (13-13-3)
7:30 p.m. ET; TSN2, RDS, SNW, NHL.TV

Goaltender David Rittich will start for the Flames, which lost 2-1 in a shootout at the Toronto Maple Leafs on Wednesday. The Flames, who had 48 shots in the game, are 2-4-2 in their past eight games.
Montreal goaltender Carey Price will make his seventh consecutive start. The Canadiens' five-game winning streak ended with a 4-3 loss to the St. Louis Blues on Tuesday.

Players to watch

Flamers forward Johnny Gaudreau has two points (one goal, one assist) in six games since he had 27 points (10 goals, 17 assists) in his previous 17 games.
Canadiens defenseman Shea Weber scored two goals Tuesday for his 500th and 501st NHL points. He has three points (two goals, one assist) in two games since returning after missing six games because of a lower-body injury.

They said it

"We played a good game. We did exactly what we wanted to do, play with energy and put a lot of pucks to the net. We're happy with that. If we play like that we're going to get two points more nights than not." -- Flames defenseman Mark Giordano, on how his team played against the Maple Leafs on Wednesday
"Every team's got a good forward. It's the NHL, everybody's got good players. So if we can stay within our system and play tight, not give much room to anybody, we should be good." -- Canadiens goalie Carey Price on facing Flames forward Johnny Gaudreau

Flames projected lineup

Johnny Gaudreau -- Sean Monahan -- Micheal Ferland
Troy Brouwer -- Mikael Backlund -- Michael Frolik
Sam Bennett -- Mark Jankowski -- Garnet Hathaway
Freddie Hamilton -- Matt Stajan -- Curtis Lazar
Mark Giordano -- Dougie Hamilton
TJ Brodie -- Travis Hamonic
Brett Kulak -- Michael Stone
David Rittich
Mike Smith
Scratched: Matt Bartkowski
Injured:Kris Versteeg (hip), Jaromir Jagr (lower body)
Suspended:Matthew Tkachuk

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Canadiens projected lineup

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

Status report

Neither team held a morning skate. ... Tkachuk received a one-game suspension from the NHL Department of Player Safety on Thursday because of unsportsmanlike conduct during the game against the Maple Leafs on Wednesday. ... Canadiens coach Claude Julien confirmeed that Drouin won't play.

Stat pack

Price is 5-1-0 and has allowed 10 goals in six games since returning from a lower-body injury that sidelined him for 10 games.