Red Wings at Canadiens preview

RED WINGS (0-3-2) at CANADIENS (2-1-1)
7:30 p.m. ET; RDS, TSN2, FS-D, NHL.TV

The Red Wings, who have been outscored 13-5 in their past two games, are 0-2-1 on the road after beginning a four-game trip with an 8-2 loss to the Boston Bruins at TD Garden on Saturday.
The losing streak is their worst to start a season since they lost their first five games in 1980-81.
Montreal forward Tomas Plekanec will become the 321st player in NHL history to play in 1,000 games. He is 14th among active players in games.

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Players to watch

Red Wings forward Dylan Larkin has scored a goal in consecutive games and three of the past four.
Canadiens forward Tomas Tatar tied his NHL career high with three points (two goals, one assist) in a 4-3 shootout win against the Pittsburgh Penguins on Saturday.

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They said it

"On paper we have a good lineup right now even if we are missing four or five regular defensemen. And it's up to us to prove to everyone that we're capable of playing." -- Red Wings forward Anthony Mantha
"Don't look at the standings because the standings don't give them the credit that they probably deserve, and they're a better team than what it's showing in the standings right now." -- Canadiens coach Claude Julien on the Red Wings' record

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Red Wings projected lineup

Gustav Nyquist -- Dylan Larkin -- Anthony Mantha
Tyler Bertuzzi -- Andreas Athanasiou -- Thomas Vanek
Justin Abdelkader -- Frans Nielsen -- Darren Helm
Christoffer Ehn -- -- Luke Glendening -- Martin Frk
Dennis Cholowski -- Filip Hronek
Joe Hicketts -- Libor Sulak
Niklas Kronwall -- Nick Jensen
Jimmy Howard
Jonathan Bernier
Scratched:Michael Rasmussen, Luke Witkowski
Injured:Danny DeKeyser (hand), Trevor Daley (upper body), Jonathan Ericsson (upper body), Mike Green (illness)

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Canadiens projected lineup

Tomas Tatar -- Phillip Danault -- Brendan Gallagher
Jonathan Drouin -- Max Domi -- Artturi Lehkonen
Paul Byron -- Jesperi Kotkaniemi -- Joel Armia
Charles Hudon -- Tomas Plekanec -- Matthew Peca
Victor Mete -- Jeff Petry
Mike Reilly -- Noah Juulsen
Xavier Ouellet -- Jordie Benn
Antti Niemi
Carey Price
Scratched: Karl Alzner, Nikita Scherbak
Injured: Andrew Shaw (flu), Jacob de la Rose (cardiac), Shea Weber (knee), Nicolas Deslauriers (facial fracture), David Schlemko (knee)

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Status report

Frk will make his season debut in place of Rasmussen. "I've told [Rasmussen] to watch the game from up top, see what he can learn from watching, and then get back at it on Wednesday and fight his way back into a good spot," Red Wings coach Jeff Blashill said after an optional morning skate. … DeKeyser will see a specialist Tuesday after re-aggravating a hand injury against Boston. … Peca replaces Shaw, who has the flu and will not play. … Niemi will make his second straight start. Price did not play Saturday because of the flu.

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Stat pack

Bertuzzi has three points (one goal, two assists) during a three-game point streak. … Petry has four assists in the past three games.