Canadiens at Lightning preview

CANADIENS (18-13-6) at LIGHTNING (18-13-4)
7 p.m. ET; SN360, CITY, SNE, TVAS, SUN, NHL.TV

Tampa Bay is 5-3-1 in their past nine. The Lightning are coming off a 6-1 win against the Florida Panthers on Dec. 23 and will be playing their second of six consecutive games against division opponents.
Montreal is 6-2-0 in its past eight. The Canadiens are 10-5-3 on the road this season and have won five of their past six away from home.

Players to Watch

Canadiens forward Max Domi has scored a goal in three consecutive games. He has six points (three goals, three assists) in the past four games.
Lightning captain Steven Stamkos needs two points for 800 in the NHL. He has 10 points (six goals, four assists) in the past nine games.

They said it

"You have to learn from the tough times. Last year wasn't easy missing the playoffs by a couple of points and looking back on games that we could've gotten points in and didn't. So this year from day one it's been a desperation level and a sense of urgency trying to pick up points every night." -- Canadiens forward Brendan Gallagher
"No matter who [the opponent] is these are important games. We play 13 games in the next 21 days. We're 2-3-4 games in hand on some teams we're chasing. This is where we're going to make up those games and we need to win them." -- Lightning captain Steven Stamkos

Canadiens projected lineup

Tomas Tatar -- Phillip Danault -- Brendan Gallagher
Artturi Lehkonen -- Max Domi -- Nick Suzuki
Nick Cousins -- Jesperi Kotkaniemi -- Jordan Weal
Ryan Poehling -- Nate Thompson -- Riley Barber
Ben Chiarot -- Shea Weber
Brett Kulak -- Jeff Petry
Victor Mete -- Cale Fleury
Carey Price
Charlie Lindgren
Scratched:Lukas Vejdemo, Christian Folin, Mike Reilly
Injured: Paul Byron (upper body), Joel Armia (hand), Jonathan Drouin (wrist), Matthew Peca (knee)

Lightning projected lineup

Ondrej Palat -- Brayden Point -- Nikita Kucherov
Alex Killorn -- Anthony Cirelli -- Steven Stamkos
Pat Maroon -- Cedric Paquette -- Yanni Gourde
Mathieu Joseph -- Mitchell Stephens -- Tyler Johnson
Victor Hedman -- Jan Rutta
Ryan McDonagh -- Erik Cernak
Mikhail Sergachev -- Kevin Shattenkirk
Andrei Vasilevskiy
Curtis McElhinney
Scratched:Luke Schenn, Carter Verhaeghe
Injured: Braydon Coburn (lower body)

Status Report

Coburn participated in the morning skate and Lightning coach Jon Cooper said his return is close. … Canadiens coach Claude Julien said Armia is week-to-week. … Kotkaniemi will be in the lineup after missing the past eight games.

Stat pack

Kucherov has nine points (three goals, six assists) during a six-game point streak. … Point has nine points (four goals, five assists) in his past six games. … Lehkonen has five points (goal, four assists) during a three-game point streak. … Gallagher has 11 points (five goals, six assists) in the past 10 games.