Canadiens at Blue Jackets

CANADIENS (8-7-1) at BLUE JACKETS (5-9-1)

Canadiens projected lineup
Cole Caufield -- Nick Suzuki -- Kirby Dach
Mike Hoffman -- Christian Dvorak -- Brendan Gallagher
Evgenii Dadonov -- Sean Monahan -- Josh Anderson
Michael Pezzetta -- Jake Evans -- Juraj Slafkovsky
Kaiden Guhle -- David Savard
Arber Xhekaj -- Joel Edmundson
Jordan Harris -- Johnathan Kovacevic
Sam Montembeault
Jake Allen
Scratched: Chris Wideman, Rem Pitlick
Injured: Jonathan Drouin (upper body), Joel Armia (upper body), Mike Matheson (abdominal muscle strain), Emil Heineman (thumb)
Blue Jackets projected lineup
Johnny Gaudreau -- Boone Jenner -- Emil Bemstrom
Yegor Chinakhov -- Cole Sillinger -- Gustav Nyquist
Liam Foudy -- Jack Roslovic -- Kent Johnson
Eric Robinson -- Sean Kuraly -- Mathieu Olivier
Vladislav Gavrikov -- Marcus Bjork
Jake Christiansen
-- Erik Gudbranson
Gavin Bayreuther -- Andrew Peeke
Joonas Korpisalo
Daniil Tarasov
Scratched: Brendan Gaunce
Injured: Justin Danforth (torn labrum), Adam Boqvist (broken foot), Jakub Voracek (upper body), Zach Werenski (torn labrum), Nick Blankenburg (broken ankle), Patrik Laine (ankle sprain), Elvis Merzlikins (hip), Jake Bean (undisclosed)
Status report
Matheson, a defenseman who has not played this season, wore a regular practice jersey for the first time Wednesday but has not yet been cleared for a game. ... Montembeault will start after Allen made a 34 saves in a 5-1 loss to the New Jersey Devils on Tuesday. … Bemstrom will be a game-time decision, Merzlikins, a goalie, is expected to be out 1-2 weeks and Bean, a defenseman, is out indefintely and was placed on injured reserve Thursday. All three were injured during a 5-4 overtime win against the Philadelphia Flyers on Tuesday. … Roslovic returns after being a healthy scratch Tuesday.