Canadiens at Panthers

CANADIENS (15-17-3) at PANTHERS (15-16-4)

Canadiens projected lineup
Cole Caufield -- Nick Suzuki -- Joel Armia
Jonathan Drouin -- Kirby Dach -- Mike Hoffman
Josh Anderson -- Christian Dvorak -- Brendan Gallagher
Juraj Slafkovsky -- Jake Evans -- Evgenii Dadonov
Joel Edmundson -- Kaiden Guhle
Arber Xhekaj -- Johnathan Kovacevic
Jordan Harris -- Justin Barron
Sam Montembeault
Jake Allen
Scratched: Anthony Richard, Michael Pezzetta
Injured: Sean Monahan (lower body), David Savard (upper body), Mike Matheson (lower body)
Panthers projected lineup
Carter Verhaeghe -- Aleksander Barkov -- Colin White
Eetu Luostarinen -- Sam Bennett -- Matthew Tkachuk
Anton Levtchi -- Anton Lundell -- Sam Reinhart
Ryan Lomberg -- Eric Staal -- Nick Cousins
Gustav Forsling -- Aaron Ekblad
Marc Staal -- Brandon Montour
Josh Mahura -- Radko Gudas
Sergei Bobrovsky
Spencer Knight
Scratched: Matt Kiersted, Zac Dalpe
Injured: Anthony Duclair (Achilles tendon surgery), Patric Hornqvist (concussion), Chris Tierney (concussion)
Status report
The Canadiens held an optional morning skate following a 4-1 loss at the Tampa Bay Lightning on Wednesday. … Based on the extras who skated, Gallagher appears ready to return after missing 13 games because of a lower-body injury. … Barkov will be back after missing three games with a knee injury. … Gudas will return after missing 10 games with a concussion. … Ekblad will be in the lineup after leaving in the first period of a 5-1 loss at the New York Islanders on Dec. 23 because of an upper-body injury. ... Levtchi will make his NHL debut after being recalled from Charlotte of the American Hockey League on Tuesday.