Canadiens at Devils preview

The 32-year-old goalie made 23 saves in a 4-3 loss to the Columbus Blue Jackets on Sunday, his sixth straight start. Goalie Charlie Lindgren will start, and Montreal recalled goalie Cayden Primeau from Laval of the American Hockey League on Monday to serve as the backup.

Montreal is nine points behind the New York Islanders for the second wild card into the Stanley Cup Playoffs from the Eastern Conference.

Center Nico Hischier and defenseman Sami Vatanen each has a lower-body injury and will not play for the Devils, who have points in three straight games (1-0-2).

Players to watch

Canadiens forward Tomas Tatar has six points (three goals, three assists) during a four-game point streak and 14 points (four goals, 10 assists) in his past 12 games.

Devils forward Kevin Rooney has three points (two goals, one assist) during a three-game point streak.

They said it

"There's a flu going around the team. We're taking precautions. We have a lot of games to play, and with the number of games coming up it's important to give the players a chance to recover and be ready both mentally and physically." -- Canadiens coach Claude Julien

"When you notice Jack (Hughes), it's when he's skating. Every time he's had a good game you say, 'Man, he was flying tonight.' When his legs aren't going he's not as affective, but I expect him to have a little bit more jump tonight (on the top line and top power play)." -- Devils coach Alain Nasreddine

Canadiens projected lineup

Tomas Tatar -- Phillip Danault -- Brendan Gallagher

Ilya Kovalchuk -- Nick Suzuki -- Joel Armia

Artturi Lehkonen -- Max Domi -- Jordan Weal

Nick Cousins -- Nate Thompson -- Dale Weise

Ben Chiarot -- Shea Weber

Brett Kulak -- Jeff Petry

Marco Scandella -- Victor Mete

Charlie Lindgren

Cayden Primeau

Scratched: Ryan Poehling, Christian Folin

Injured: Paul Byron (upper body), Jonathan Drouin (wrist), Carey Price (flu)

Devils projected lineup

Jesper Bratt -- Jack Hughes -- Kyle Palmieri

Blake Coleman -- Travis Zajac -- Nikita Gusev

Miles Wood -- Pavel Zacha -- Wayne Simmonds

John Hayden -- Kevin Rooney -- Joey Anderson

Andy Greene -- P.K. Subban

Will Butcher -- Damon Severson

Mirco Mueller -- Connor Carrick

Louis Domingue

Mackenzie Blackwood

Scratched: Colton White

Injured: Sami Vatanen (lower body), Nico Hischier (lower body)

Status report

The Canadiens canceled practice Monday and didn't hold a morning skate Tuesday. ... Folin, a defenseman, was recalled from Laval on Monday. ... Anderson was recalled from Binghamton of the AHL on Monday, and White, a defenseman, was recalled Tuesday. ... Subban is a game-time decision because of the flu.

Stat pack

Kovalchuk has six points (four goals, two assists) in his past seven games. ... Gallagher has three points (two goals, one assist) during a three-game point streak. ... The Devils are 3-0-1 in their past four games against the Canadiens at Prudential Center.