Canadiens at Rangers

CANADIENS (4-11-2) at RANGERS (9-3-3)

Canadiens projected lineup
Tyler Toffoli -- Nick Suzuki -- Brendan Gallagher
Jonathan Drouin -- Christian Dvorak -- Josh Anderson
Artturi Lehkonen -- Jake Evans -- Joel Armia
Michael Pezzetta -- Ryan Poehling -- Alex Belzile
Ben Chiarot -- Jeff Petry
Brett Kulak -- David Savard
Alexander Romanov -- Chris Wideman
Cayden Primeau
Sam Montembeault
Scratched:Adam Brooks, Sami Niku, Mattias Norlinder
Injured:Mike Hoffman (upper body), Jake Allen (undisclosed), Mathieu Perreault (eye), Cedric Paquette (undisclosed)
Rangers projected lineup
Chris Kreider -- Mika Zibanejad -- Barclay Goodrow
Artemi Panarin -- Ryan Strome -- Kaapo Kakko
Alexis Lafreniere -- Filip Chytil -- Julien Gauthier
Dryden Hunt -- Kevin Rooney -- Ryan Reaves
Ryan Lindgren -- Adam Fox
K'Andre Miller -- Jacob Trouba
Patrik Nemeth -- Nils Lundkvist
Igor Shesterkin
Alexandar Georgiev
Scratched:Jarred Tinordi, Greg McKegg
Injured:Sammy Blais (right knee)
Status report
Drouin will return to the Canadiens lineup after missing six straight games since he was struck in the head by a shot from Kulak in the first period of a 3-0 win against the Detroit Red Wings on Nov. 2. … Chytil is expected to return to the Rangers lineup after missing the past three games with an upper-body injury. … Blais, a forward, will be out for the rest of the regular season with a torn ACL in his right knee. McKegg was recalled from Hartford of the American Hockey League to take his place on the roster. … Primeau will play in his first game of the season. He was 1-2-1 with a 4.16 goals-against average and .849 save percentage in four games last season. … Goodrow will start the game on the Rangers' top line, taking Blais' spot on the right wing with Zibanejad and Kreider. … Allen, a goalie, and Hoffman, a forward, will miss their second straight games.