Canadiens at Kings preview

CANADIENS (35-24-7) at KINGS (24-33-8)
10:30 p.m. ET; ESPN+, FS-W, TSN2, RDS, NHL.TV

Price, in his 12th season with the Canadiens, has a record of 313-220-67. Plante, a member of the Hockey Hall of Fame, was 314-133 with 107 ties for Montreal. Price missed practice Monday with an illness but will make his 15th straight appearance.
The Canadiens, 4-6-1 in their past 11 games, are tied in points with the Pittsburgh Penguins for the first wild card into the Stanley Cup Playoffs from the Eastern Conference, two points ahead of the Columbus Blue Jackets. Pittsburgh and Columbus each have a game in hand.
The Kings, 1-6-4 in their past 11 games, have allowed at least four goals in six of those games and are 15 points behind the Minnesota Wild for the second wild card in the Western Conference.

Players to watch

Canadiens center Max Domi has 10 points (five goals, five assists) in his past eight games.
Kings center Adrian Kempe has seven points (five goals, two assists) in three games against the Canadiens.

They said it

"He's always so calm. Everything he does is so calm and he's so confident, too. Even when he gets the puck he's trying to deke out guys when they're coming at him. It just shows how much confidence he has and how calm he is when he has the puck." -- Canadiens defenseman Victor Mete on goalie Carey Price
"Had some good nights against them. I don't know why, but I'd like to keep it going." -- Kings center Adrian Kempe on his success against Montreal

Canadiens projected lineup

Jonathan Drouin -- Max Domi -- Andrew Shaw
Tomas Tatar -- Phillip Danault -- Brendan Gallagher
Paul Byron -- Jordan Weal -- Joel Armia
Artturi Lehkonen -- Nate Thompson -- Dale Weise
Victor Mete -- Shea Weber
Jordie Benn -- Jeff Petry
Brett Kulak -- Christian Folin
Carey Price
Antti Niemi
Scratched: Jesperi Kotkaniemi, Nicolas Deslauriers, Mike Reilly, Charles Hudon, Matthew Peca
Injured: None

Kings projected lineup

Dustin Brown -- Anze Kopitar -- Tyler Toffoli
Brendan Leipsic -- Jeff Carter -- Ilya Kovalchuk
Alex Iafallo -- Adrian Kempe -- Jonny Brodzinski
Kyle Clifford -- Trevor Lewis -- Matt Luff
Derek Forbort -- Drew Doughty
Alec Martinez -- Matt Roy
Dion Phaneuf -- Sean Walker
Jonathan Quick
Jack Campbell
Scratched:Paul LaDue, Kurtis MacDermid
Injured: Austin Wagner (lower body)

Status report

Kotkaniemi will be scratched for the first time this season after Canadiens coach Claude Julien felt the rookie look tired and hit "a little bit of a wall" in recent games. … Weal will make his Montreal debut after being acquired in a trade with the Arizona Coyotes on Feb. 25. … Martinez participated in an optional skate Tuesday and is expected to play after missing eight games because of an upper-body injury. … Wagner is day to day.

Stat pack

The Canadiens are 10-3-0 against the Pacific Division this season. … Gallagher has six goals in his past six games. … Carter needs one point for 700 in the NHL.