Canadiens at Capitals

CANADIENS (5-13-2) at CAPITALS (11-3-5)

Canadiens projected lineup
Tyler Toffoli -- Nick Suzuki -- Cole Caufield
Jonathan Drouin -- Christian Dvorak -- Josh Anderson
Artturi Lehkonen -- Jake Evans -- Brendan Gallagher
Cedric Paquette -- Ryan Poehling -- Joel Armia
Ben Chiarot -- Jeff Petry
Alexander Romanov -- Chris Wideman
Mattias Norlinder -- David Savard
Jake Allen
Sam Montembeault
Scratched: Sami Niku, Michael Pezzetta
Injured: Brett Kulak (lower body), Mike Hoffman (upper body), Mathieu Perreault (eye), Joel Edmundson (undisclosed)
Capitals projected lineup
Alex Ovechkin -- Evgeny Kuznetsov --
Aliaksei Protas
Daniel Sprong -- Connor McMichael -- Tom Wilson
Carl Hagelin -- Nic Dowd -- Garnet Hathaway
Brett Leason -- Michael Sgarbossa -- Beck Malenstyn
Martin Fehervary -- John Carlson
Dmitry Orlov -- Nick Jensen
Trevor van Riemsdyk -- Justin Schultz
Ilya Samsonov
Vitek Vanecek
Scratched: Dennis Cholowski, Matt Irwin
Injured:Nicklas Backstrom (hip), Anthony Mantha (shoulder), Conor Sheary (upper body), T.J. Oshie (lower body)
COVID-19 protocol: Lars Eller
Status report
The Canadiens held an optional morning skate. … Paquette, who has missed six games because of an undisclosed injury, will be a game-time decision. … Allen returns after missing four games because of a concussion sustained at the Detroit Red Wings on Nov. 13. … Kulak, a defenseman, did not make the trip. … Oshie, a forward, was placed on injured reserve. … The Capitals recalled Malenstyn and Sgarbossa from Hershey of the American Hockey League. … Backstrom wore a non-contact jersey during the morning skate and the center participated in drills. It was his first practice this season.