Canadiens at Lightning preview

CANADIENS (20-13-5) at LIGHTNING (29-7-2)
7 p.m. ET; SN, TVAS, SUN, NHL.TV

Tampa Bay has the best record in the NHL and the longest point streak (12-0-1) in the League this season. The Lightning have scored at least four goals in eight straight games.
Montreal is on a three-game win streak and is 8-3-0 in the past 11 games. The Canadiens are playing the second half of a back-to-back after a 5-3 win against the Florida Panthers on Friday.
Goalie Andrei Vasilevskiy will make his 19th start of the season for the Lightning. Antti Niemi is likely to make his 10th start in goal for the Canadiens.

Players to watch

Canadiens forward Tomas Tatar has four points (two goals, two assists) in the past two games.
Lightning captain Steven Stamkos has seven goals in the past five games.

They said it

"I think we're starting to find our confidence. It's all about making the right plays. We've tried to work on what we've done wrong and I hope we continue to play well"-- Canadiens forward Tomas Tatar after their win against Florida Panthers on Friday
"It's a credit to the way we practice and the way prepare, it gives us a good chance to win every night. Our group has done a good job all year of keeping things going in the right direction but it's only been one half here and there's a lot of road left"-- Lightning defenseman Ryan McDonagh

Canadiens projected lineup

Jonathan Drouin -- Max Domi --Paul Byron
Tomas Tatar-- Phillip Danault -- Brendan Gallagher
Artturi Lehkonen -- Jesperi Kotkaniemi -- Andrew Shaw
Kenny Agostino -- Michael Chaput -- Nicolas Deslauriers
Victor Mete -- Shea Weber
Mike Reilly -- Jeff Petry
Brett Kulak -- Jordie Benn
Antti Niemi
Michael McNiven
Scratched: Matthew Peca, Charles Hudon, Karl Alzner
Injured: Carey Price (lower body), David Schlemko (upper body), Joel Armia (knee)

Lightning projected lineup

Ondrej Palat -- Steven Stamkos -- Yanni Gourde
Tyler Johnson -- Brayden Point -- Nikita Kucherov
Alex Killorn -- Anthony Cirelli -- Mathieu Joseph
Adam Erne -- Cedric Paquette -- Ryan Callahan
Victor Hedman -- Dan Girardi
Ryan McDonagh -- Anton Stralman
Braydon Coburn -- Mikhail Sergachev
Andrei Vasilevskiy
Louis Domingue
Scratched: Slater Koekkoek, Danick Martel, Erik Cernak
Injured: J.T. Miller (upper body)

Status Report

Both teams had optional skates. …Joseph is probable to return to the lineup. …Canadiens coach Claude Julien said any potential lineup changes will happen at game time. …Miller is expected to be out for an extended period of time. …Sergachev participated in practice Friday after getting injured blocking a shot Thursday. …Koekkoek was placed on a conditioning assignment in Syracuse.

Stat Pack

Kucherov has 19 points (five goals, 14 assists) during a nine-game point streak. …Drouin has four points (goal, three assists) in the past four games. …Point has eight points (goal, seven assists) during a five-game point streak.