Canadiens at Capitals preview

CANADIENS (18-21-6) at CAPITALS (28-14-4)
7:30 p.m. ET; NHLN, NBCSWA, RDS, TSN2, NHL.TV

Niemi (0-5-1, 4.85 goals-against average,.865 save percentage) will get his second start since he was acquired on waivers Nov. 14. The other was Dec. 23 against the Edmonton Oilers, a 4-1 loss. Carey Price has started 21 of Montreal's past 22 games and is expected to play Saturday at home against the Boston Bruins. The Canadiens are 0-1-2 in their past three games, including a 4-1 loss at Boston on Wednesday.
Philipp Grubauer (4-5-3, 2.60 GAA, .916 save percentage) will start for the Capitals after Braden Holtby played in a 4-3 overtime loss at the New Jersey Devils on Thursday. Grubauer is 4-0-2 with a 1.33 GAA and a .957 save percentage in his past seven games.
Washington is 6-2-2 in its past nine games.

Players to watch

Canadiens forward Max Pacioretty has four goals in his past five games.
Capitals forward Brett Connolly had the second two-goal game of his NHL career Thursday, and his 12 goals are three shy of his NHL single-season best, set last season.

They said it

"Every game he's played with us, he's played hard, he's competed hard, he's battled. The way he doesn't quit gives your team some energy in front. Teams carry two goaltenders for those reasons. The [backup] once in a while has to step in there and win you some hockey games." -- Canadiens coach Claude Julien on starting Antti Niemi
"I've been through these stretches before. You try to get open and it just feels like it doesn't matter how good of a shot you get off, sometimes it just finds a way in. It's just been a lot of fun this last month." -- Capitals forward Brett Connolly, who has five goals in his past eight games

Canadiens projected lineup

Max Pacioretty -- Paul Byron -- Charles Hudon
Artturi Lehkonen -- Tomas Plekanec -- Brendan Gallagher
Alex Galchenyuk -- Jonathan Drouin -- Nicolas Deslauriers
Jacob De La Rose -- Byron Froese -- Logan Shaw
Karl Alzner -- Jeff Petry
Jordie Benn -- Jakub Jerabek
Victor Mete -- David Schlemko
Antti Niemi
Carey Price
Scratched:Joe Morrow,Daniel Carr
Injured:Ales Hemsky (upper body), Shea Weber (lower body), Andrew Shaw (lower body), Phillip Danault (concussion-like symptoms)

Capitals projected lineup

Alex Ovechkin -- Nicklas Backstrom -- Andre Burakovsky
Jakub Vrana -- Evgeny Kuznetsov -- Tom Wilson
Brett Connolly -- Lars Eller -- T.J. Oshie
Chandler Stephenson -- Jay Beagle -- Alex Chiasson
Dmitry Orlov -- Matt Niskanen
Christian Djoos -- John Carlson
Brooks Orpik -- Madison Bowey
Philipp Grubauer
Braden Holtby
Scratched:Taylor Chorney, Devante Smith-Pelly
Injured:None

Status report

Logan Shaw replaces Carr on the fourth line. … Burakovsky (illness) returns to the lineup after missing two games.

Stat pack

The Canadiens have scored one goal or fewer in six of their past 10 games and allowed four or more goals in four of their past six. … The Capitals are 4-5-0 in the second game of back-to-backs.