Avalanche at Canadiens

AVALANCHE (11-7-1) at CANADIENS (6-16-2)

Avalanche projected lineup
Gabriel Landeskog -- Nathan MacKinnon -- Mikko Rantanen
Valeri Nichushkin -- Nazem Kadri -- Andre Burakovsky
Nicolas Aube-Kubel -- Alex Newhook -- Logan O'Connor
Jayson Megna -- Tyson Jost -- Darren Helm
Devon Toews -- Cale Makar
Bowen Byram -- Samuel Girard
Jack Johnson -- Erik Johnson
Justus Annunen
Jonas Johansson
Scratched:Kurtis MacDermid
Injured:Darcy Kuemper (undisclosed), Pavel Francouz (lower body), J.T. Compher (upper body), Ryan Murray (lower body)
Canadiens projected lineup
Tyler Toffoli -- Christian Dvorak -- Josh Anderson
Artturi Lehkonen -- Nick Suzuki -- Jake Evans
Jonathan Drouin -- Ryan Poehling -- Joel Armia
Michael Pezzetta -- Mathieu Perreault -- Cole Caufield
Ben Chiarot -- David Savard
Brett Kulak -- Jeff Petry
Alexander Romanov -- Chris Wideman
Jake Allen
Sam Montembeault
Scratched: Cedric Paquette, Mattias Norlinder
Injured: Mike Hoffman (upper body), Joel Edmundson (undisclosed)
COVID-19 protocol: Brendan Gallagher, Sami Niku
Status report
The Avalanche did not hold a morning skate. ... Annunen could start and make his NHL debut. He was recalled from Colorado of the AHL on Wednesday after Kuemper was injured at the morning skate prior to the Avalanche's 8-3 loss at the Toronto Maple Leafs. Annunen was in uniform from the start of the second period. ... Perreault returns after missing 15 games and having two laser surgeries to restore vision in his left eye. ... Kulak (lower body) missed four games and Wideman (upper body) missed two. ... Gallagher, a forward, and Niku, a defenseman, are the first two Canadiens players to enter NHL COVID-19 protocol this season.