Canadiens at Blue Jackets preview

CANADIENS (26-17-5) at BLUE JACKETS (28-15-3)
7 p.m. ET; FS-O, TSN2, RDS, NHL.TV

The Blue Jackets, who have outscored opponents 17-10 in four consecutive victories and are 12-3-1 in their past 16 games, also won five straight from Dec. 17-27.
The Canadiens look for their fourth win in a row, which would mark their longest winning streak this season. They have allowed two goals or fewer in seven of their past nine games.

Players to watch

Canadiens goalie Carey Price goes for his third straight win. He's 5-3-0 with a 1.76 goals-against average, .945 save percentage and two shutouts in his past eight starts.
Blue Jackets forward Artemi Panarin has seven points (five goals, two assists) in a four-game goal and point streak; he can equal his NHL career-best five-game goal streak, set with the Chicago Blackhawks from March 27-April 4, 2017.

They said it

"Shots against and scoring chances against are probably not too positive. We had two goalies bail us out. We don't want to have to do it every single night." -- Canadiens defenseman Mike Reilly on allowing 96 shots on goal the past two games
"These games right before the [all-star] break, teams tend to step back and kind of ease into them and see what happens. We need to keep our foot on the gas pedal. We're playing some pretty good hockey right now, but we can't take a step." -- Blue Jackets defenseman Seth Jones

Canadiens projected lineup

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

Blue Jackets projected lineup

Artemi Panarin -- Pierre-Luc Dubois -- Cam Atkinson
Nick Foligno -- Boone Jenner -- Josh Anderson
Oliver Bjorkstrand -- Alex Wennberg -- Kevin Stenlund
Lukas Sedlak -- Brandon Dubinsky -- Riley Nash
Zach Werenski -- Seth Jones
Ryan Murray -- Markus Nutivaara
Scott Harrington -- David Savard
Joonas Korpisalo
Sergei Bobrovsky
Scratched: Dean Kukan, Anthony Duclair
Injured: Markus Hannikainen (elbow)

Status report

Byron serves the first of a three-game suspension for charging against Florida Panthers defenseman MacKenzie Weegar on Tuesday. Peca replaces him. … The Blue Jackets did not hold a morning skate. … Dubinsky will return after missing four games with a hamstring injury.

Stat pack

The Canadiens are 2-for-23 on the power play (8.7 percent) in their past nine games and are last in the NHL at 12.9 percent. … Danault has four points (one goal, three assists) in a three-game point streak. … The Blue Jackets are 16-for-16 on the penalty kill in their past eight games and 4-for-13 (30.8 percent) on the power play the past four games. … Dubois has five points (one goal, four assists) in a four-game point streak.