Canadiens at Predators preview

CANADIENS (31-18-7) at PREDATORS (33-21-5)
8 p.m. ET; FS-TN, TSN2, RDS, NHL.TV

The Canadiens acquired Weber from the Predators for Subban on June 29, 2016. The defensemen have gone head-to-head twice in Montreal, with the Predators winning the most recent game, 4-1 on Jan. 5.
Montreal is 4-0-2 in its past six games and 8-1-2 in its past 11.
Nashville is 0-2-1 in its past three games after going 5-1-0 in its previous six.

Players to watch

Canadiens goalie Carey Price is 7-0-1 with a 1.74 goals-against average, .944 save percentage and one shutout in his past eight starts. He's five wins from tying Jacques Plante (314) for the most in team history.
Predators forward Ryan Johansen has eight points (two goals, six assists) in a five-game point streak.

They said it

"I just want them to play their game. The boost that we'll get from them will probably be from the experience we picked up where in certain situations, they'll be able to handle it more maybe than a guy with a little bit less [experience]." -- Canadiens coach Claude Julien
"For me, it was tough to come back and try to get myself back in shape, but we're there now, just continuing to find myself. I think last game I played like my season-high most minutes, so I was back up to almost 28 minutes a game. It was great, and I felt good." -- Predators defenseman P.K. Subban

Canadiens projected lineup

Jonathan Drouin -- Phillip Danault -- Brendan Gallagher
Tomas Tatar -- Max Domi -- Andrew Shaw
Artturi Lehkonen -- Jesperi Kotkaniemi -- Joel Armia
Nicolas Deslauriers -- Nate Thompson --
Dale Weise
Victor Mete -- Shea Weber
Mike Reilly -- Jeff Petry
Brett Kulak -- Jordie Benn
Carey Price
Antti Niemi
Scratched:Matthew Peca, Charles Hudon, Christian Folin
Injured:Paul Byron (arm)

Predators projected lineup

Filip Forsberg -- Ryan Johansen -- Viktor Arvidsson
Kevin Fiala -- Nick Bonino -- Craig Smith
Colton Sissons -- Brian Boyle -- Ryan Hartman
Rocco Grimaldi -- Kyle Turris -- Calle Jarnkrok
Mattias Ekholm -- P.K. Subban
Roman Josi -- Ryan Ellis
Dan Hamhuis -- Yannick Weber
Pekka Rinne
Juuse Saros
Scratched:Frederick Gaudreau, Cody McLeod, Matt Irwin
Injured:Miikka Salomaki (upper body)
Suspended:Austin Watson

Status report

Thompson and Weise could play for the first time since being traded to Montreal in separate deals with the Los Angeles Kings and Philadelphia Flyers. … The Predators held an optional morning skate.

Stat pack

Weber will play in his 900th NHL game. … Drouin has nine points (three goals, six assists) in his past four games. … Forsberg has five points (two goals, three assists) in a five-game point streak.