Panthers at Canadiens preview

PANTHERS (17-19-8) at CANADIENS (25-17-5)
7:30 p.m. ET; TSN2, RDS, FS-F, NHL.TV

Florida is 0-4-2 and has allowed at least four goals in five of the six losses during its longest skid of the season.
The six-game losing streak is the Panthers' longest since they lost nine straight (0-5-4) from Oct. 22-Nov. 10, 2013. They have not won since defeating the Detroit Red Wings 4-3 in a shootout on Dec. 31.
Montreal will look for its third straight win in the second of back-to-back games following a 3-2 overtime win at the Boston Bruins on Monday.
The Canadiens, who have won three of four, have allowed two goals or fewer in six of their past eight games.

Players to watch

Panthers center Aleksander Barkov has 16 points (six goals, 10 assists) in his past 14 games.
Canadiens defenseman Jeff Petry scored his second overtime goal in eight games Monday and has four points (two goals, two assists) in four games.

They said it

"We're not playing in the offensive zone as much as we need to. That has to be our focus tonight, playing well defensively and getting zone time." -- Panthers forward Jonathan Huberdeau
"The biggest thing for me is I think we've minimized the glaring mistakes, you know, the turnovers and the sloppy decisions, which crept in our game every once in a while. And those decision-making things ended up costing us at times. So, we're a lot better. I think we're a little bit more conscientious of making strong decisions and strong plays." -- Canadiens coach Claude Julien

Panthers projected lineup

Frank Vatrano -- Aleksander Barkov -- Evgenii Dadonov
Jonathan Huberdeau -- Henrik Borgstrom -- Nick Bjugstad
Mike Hoffman -- Jared McCann -- Denis Malgin
Jayce Hawryluk -- Juho Lammikko -- Colton Sceviour
Keith Yandle -- Aaron Ekblad
Mike Matheson -- Mark Pysyk
Ian McCoshen -- MacKenzie Weegar
Roberto Luongo
James Reimer
Scratched: Micheal Haley, Troy Brouwer, Bogdan Kiselevich
Injured: Derek MacKenzie (upper body), Vincent Trocheck (ankle)

Canadiens Projected Lineup

Jonathan Drouin -- Phillip Danault -- Brendan Gallagher
Artturi Lehkonen -- Max Domi -- Joel Armia
Tomas Tatar -- Jesperi Kotkaniemi -- Paul Byron
Kenny Agostino -- Michael Chaput -- Nicolas Deslauriers
Victor Mete -- Shea Weber
Mike Reilly -- Jeff Petry
Brett Kulak -- Jordie Benn
Antti Niemi
Carey Price
Scratched: Charles Hudon, Matthew Peca, Karl Alzner
Injured: Andrew Shaw (neck)

Status report

Vatrano will remain on the Panthers' top line after moving there in the third period of the 5-1 loss at the Vancouver Canucks on Sunday. Florida coach Bob Boughner said he wants to spread out the skill players for better even-strength results. … The Canadiens did not hold a morning skate. Montreal coach Claude Julien has not named his starting goaltender.

Stat pack

Hoffman has nine points (six goals, three assists) in his past 11 games. … Danault has four assists in the past four games, and three in the past two. … Benn needs one point for his 100th in the NHL.