Canadiens at Stars preview

CANADIENS (20-14-5) at STARS (20-16-3)
8:30 p.m. ET; FS-SW+, TSN2, RDS, NHL.TV

The Stars have outscored opponents 7-1 in their past two games and are 12-5-2 on New Year's Eve since hosting games beginning in 1997.
Goalie Antti Niemi will make his third straight start for the Canadiens, who end a season-long six-game road trip. Niemi has allowed at least six goals in three of his past five starts.
Montreal goalie Carey Price remains day to day with a lower-body injury.

Players to watch

Canadiens forward Tomas Tatar has six points (two goals, four assists) during a three-game point streak. He has 30 points (14 goals, 16 assists) in 39 games after he had 34 points (20 goals, 14 assists) in 82 games with the Detroit Red Wings and Vegas Golden Knights last season.
Stars forward Alexander Radulov has eight points (three goals, five assists) in his past seven games. He scored twice for the second time this season in a 5-1 win against the Red Wings on Saturday.

They said it

"We talked about it, but that's going to stay between us. … We had a good day yesterday just to hang out with family, my parents are in town. It wasn't a topic in the household." -- Canadiens defenseman Jordie Benn, older brother of Stars forward Jamie Benn, who along with Tyler Seguin, was publicly criticized by Dallas CEO Jim Lites on Friday
"The test is always the game. It's always a different animal. There will be a lot of people there tonight that weren't there when you practice." -- Stars defenseman Connor Carrick, who will play for the first time since Oct. 28 after missing 29 games with a foot injury

Canadiens projected lineup

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

Stars projected lineup

Jamie Benn -- Tyler Seguin -- Denis Gurianov
Mattias Janmark -- Roope Hintz -- Alexander Radulov
Tyler Pitlick -- Radek Faksa -- Blake Comeau
Devin Shore -- Jason Spezza -- Valeri Nichushkin
Esa Lindell -- John Klingberg
Miro Heiskanen -- Roman Polak
Julius Honka -- Connor Carrick
Ben Bishop
Anton Khudobin
Scratched:Brett Ritchie
Injured:Stephen Johns (upper body), Marc Methot (lower body), Jason Dickinson (upper body), Taylor Fedun (illness)

Status report

Armia might return against the Vancouver Canucks on Thursday. ... Schlemko is at least a week away.

Stat pack

The Canadiens have scored at least four goals in three straight games. … Bishop, third in the NHL in goals-against average (2.25), is 12-4-3 with a 1.73 GAA and .936 save percentage in 20 games against Montreal.