CANADIENS (15-11-3) at PENGUINS (14-7-7)
7 p.m. ET; SN-PIT, TSN2, RDS
Canadiens projected lineup
Cole Caufield -- Nick Suzuki -- Zack Bolduc
Juraj Slafkovsky -- Oliver Kapanen -- Ivan Demidov
Josh Anderson -- Owen Beck -- Alexandre Texier
Jared Davidson -- Joe Veleno -- Brendan Gallagher
Mike Matheson -- Noah Dobson
Jayden Struble -- Lane Hutson
Adam Engstrom -- Alexandre Carrier
Jacob Fowler
Sam Montembeault
Scratched: Jake Evans, Arber Xhekaj, Jakub Dobes
Injured: Kirby Dach (broken foot), Alex Newhook (broken ankle), Kaiden Guhle (lower body), Patrik Laine (lower body)
Penguins projected lineup
Tommy Novak -- Sidney Crosby -- Bryan Rust
Anthony Mantha -- Kevin Hayes -- Justin Brazeau
Rutger McGroarty -- Ben Kindel -- Ville Koivunen
Connor Dewar -- Danton Heinen -- Noel Acciari
Parker Wotherspoon -- Erik Karlsson
Ryan Shea -- Kris Letang
Ryan Graves -- Jack St. Ivany
Tristan Jarry
Arturs Silovs
Scratched: Mathew Dumba, Harrison Brunicke, Connor Clifton
Injured: Evgeni Malkin (upper body), Rickard Rakell (hand), Caleb Jones (lower body), Filip Hallander (blood clot), Blake Lizotte (undisclosed)
Status report
Fowler, selected by the Canadiens in third round (No. 69) of the 2023 NHL Draft, will make his NHL debut after being recalled from Laval of the American Hockey League on Wednesday. He joins franchise icons Ken Dryden (3/14/71), Patrick Roy (10/10/1985) and Carey Price (10/10/07) to make their first NHL start vs. the Penguins. ... Evans, a forward, will not play due to personal reasons. He is expected to join the Canadiens for a game at the New York Rangers on Saturday. ... Beck was recalled from Laval on Wednesday, along with Engstrom, who will play in place of Xhekaj. ... Rakell, a forward, participated in a second straight morning skate, but will miss a 20th straight game since having surgery on his left hand Oct. 26. ... St. Ivany was activated off injured reserve and could play; he hasn't played since Nov. 29 because of a foot injury.
