Canadiens at Red Wings preview

CANADIENS (11-12-3) at RED WINGS (10-10-5)
7:30 p.m. ET; FS-D, TSN2, RDS, NHL.TV

Goaltender Carey Price will start in the second of back-to-back games after making 27 saves in a 2-1 home victory against the Ottawa Senators on Wednesday.
The Red Wings will try to avoid their season-worst sixth straight loss. This is the first half of a home-and-home series; the teams play again at Bell Centre on Saturday.
Goaltender Jimmy Howard, who has lost all five games (0-3-2) during Detroit's skid, will start.

Players to watch

Canadiens forward Phillip Danault scored the winning goal against the Senators. It was his first goal in 15 games since scoring twice in a 5-4 win against the New York Rangers on Oct. 28.
Red Wings forward Anthony Mantha has one goal in his past six games after having 11 points (six goals, five assists) in his previous eight games.

They said it

"You know you can mess up a little bit out there and he's most likely going to back you up, and that's something that feels pretty good." -- Canadiens defenseman Karl Alzner on goaltender Carey Price, who has won three straight since his return from a lower-body injury
"Anthony has played three very good games in a row. He hasn't gotten rewarded, but he will if he remains at this level." -- Red Wings coach Jeff Blashill on forward Anthony Mantha

Canadiens projected lineup

Alex Galchenyuk -- Phillip Danault -- Paul Byron
Max Pacioretty -- Tomas Plekanec -- Andrew Shaw
Charles Hudon --
Daniel Carr
-- Brendan Gallagher
Nicolas Deslauriers -- Jacob de la Rose -- Byron Froese
Karl Alzner -- Jeff Petry
Joe Morrow -- Jordie Benn
Victor Mete -- David Schlemko
Carey Price
Antti Niemi
Scratched:Brandon Davidson, Jakub Jerabek
Injured:Shea Weber (lower body), Al Montoya (concussion), Artturi Lehkonen (lower body), Nikita Scherbak (knee), Ales Hemsky (concussion-like symptoms), Jonathan Drouin (lower body)

Red Wings projected lineup

Anthony Mantha -- Dylan Larkin -- Tomas Tatar
David Booth -- Henrik Zetterberg -- Gustav Nyquist
Justin Abdelkader -- Frans Nielsen -- Darren Helm
Scott Wilson -- Andreas Athanasiou -- Luke Glendening
Danny DeKeyser -- Mike Green
Jonathan Ericsson -- Nick Jensen
Niklas Kronwall -- Xavier Ouellet
Jimmy Howard
Petr Mrazek
Scratched: None
Injured:Martin Frk (groin), Trevor Daley (upper body)
Suspended:Luke Witkowski

Status report

Drouin did not make the trip after sustaining his injury against Ottawa. The Canadiens recalled Carr from Laval of the American Hockey League. … Montreal did not hold a morning skate. … Blashill said Daley and Frk each would be a game-time decision.

Stat pack

Galchenyuk has three points (one goal, two assists) in his past three games. … Abdelkader has eight points (two goals, six assists) in his past seven games.