Red Wings at Canadiens preview
Mantha can tie Detroit record for most points through first four games; Price starts for Montreal in home opener
by Sean Farrell / NHL.com Independent Correspondent
RED WINGS (2-1-0) at CANADIENS (1-0-2)
7 p.m. ET; TSN2, RDS, FS-D, NHL.TV
The Game
Anthony Mantha can tie a Detroit Red Wings record for most points in the first four games of a season when they play the Montreal Canadiens at Bell Centre on Thursday.
The forward has seven points (five goals, two assists) in three games and was named the NHL Second Star for the week ending Oct. 6. Syd Howe holds the Red Wings record with 11 points (four goals, seven assists) after four games of the 1944-45 season.
Goalie Carey Price is expected to start for the Canadiens in their home opener. Keith Kinkaid made 34 saves in a 5-4 overtime loss at the Buffalo Sabres on Wednesday.
Players to watch
Red Wings center Dylan Larkin has five points (one goal, four assists) in three games.
Canadiens forward Jonathan Drouin has 18 points (five goals, 13 assists) in 15 games against Detroit. He is three points from 200 in the NHL.
They said it
"Obviously it's opening night for them tonight so the crowd is going to be going off the chart. And for us, we just want to shut it down a little bit, have a great start, have momentum on our side, and their fans are going to be so loud." -- Red Wings forward Anthony Mantha
"We have to better on the penalty kill and we have to stop playing catch-up hockey. Eventually it's going to cost us. We're showing a lot of character, but at the same time if we fall asleep in the games it costs us and we have to rally." -- Canadiens coach Claude Julien
Red Wings projected lineup
Tyler Bertuzzi -- Dylan Larkin -- Anthony Mantha
Luke Glendening -- Andreas Athanasiou -- Taro Hirose
Adam Erne -- Valtteri Filppula -- Christoffer Ehn
Darren Helm -- Jacob de la Rose -- Justin Abdelkader
Patrik Nemeth -- Mike Green
Danny DeKeyser -- Filip Hronek
Madison Bowey -- Dennis Cholowski
Jonathan Bernier
Jimmy Howard
Scratched: Evgeny Svechnikov, Alex Biega
Injured: Jonathan Ericsson (undisclosed), Frans Nielsen (head), Trevor Daley (lower body)
Canadiens projected lineup
Tomas Tatar -- Phillip Danault -- Brendan Gallagher
Artturi Lehkonen -- Max Domi -- Nick Suzuki
Jonathan Drouin -- Jesperi Kotkaniemi -- Joel Armia
Paul Byron -- Nate Thompson - Jordan Weal
Victor Mete -- Shea Weber
Ben Chiarot -- Jeff Petry
Mike Reilly -- Christian Folin
Carey Price
Keith Kinkaid
Scratched: Brett Kulak, Cale Fleury
Injured: Nick Cousins (back)
Status report
Red Wings coach Jeff Blashill would not reveal any potential lineup changes after an optional morning skate at Bell Centre. … The Canadiens did not hold a morning skate.
Stat pack
The Red Wings have lost nine straight (0-8-1) against the Canadiens while being outscored 48-18. … Weber is one power-play goal from 100 in the NHL.