Canadiens at Jets preview

CANADIENS (41-29-8) at JETS (45-28-4)
7 p.m. ET, TVAS, SN360, CITY, SNE, SNW, SNP, NHL.TV

The Jets are tied for first with the Nashville Predators, who host the Columbus Blue Jackets on Saturday. Defenseman Dustin Byfuglien, who has missed 19 games with a lower-body injury, returns for Winnipeg, which has lost two straight after going 5-1-0 in its previous six.
The Canadiens are 4-1-1 in their past six games and tied in points for the second wild card into the Stanley Cup Playoffs from the Eastern Conference with Columbus, though the Blue Jackets have one game in hand. Montreal is one point behind the Carolina Hurricanes, who hold the first wild card.

Players to watch

Canadiens forward Max Domi has seven points (three goals, four assists) in his past six games.
Jets forward Kyle Connor has 10 points (six goals, four assists) in his past six games.

They said it

"We've overcome obstacles and odds all season long, so we've always been able to respond well. We have a lot of character in this room. We've always responded well to a challenge." -- Canadiens goalie Carey Price
"He comes in and he's Buff. Everyone loves Buff. It's fun to have him back. It's good to have him back and we know what he can do. It's exciting." -- Jets forward Nikolaj Ehlers on the return of Dustin Byfuglien

Canadiens projected lineup

Tomas Tatar -- Phillip Danault -- Brendan Gallagher
Artturi Lehkonen -- Max Domi -- Andrew Shaw
Jonathan Drouin -- Jordan Weal -- Joel Armia
Nicolas Deslauriers -- Nate Thompson -- Matthew Peca
Victor Mete -- Shea Weber
Brett Kulak -- Jeff Petry
Jordie Benn -- Christian Folin
Carey Price
Antti Niemi
Scratched: Charles Hudon, Mike Reilly, Charlie Lindgren, Dale Weise, Jesperi Kotkaniemi
Injured: Paul Byron (upper body)

Jets projected lineup

Nikolaj Ehlers -- Mark Scheifele -- Blake Wheeler
Kyle Connor -- Kevin Hayes -- Patrik Laine
Brandon Tanev -- Adam Lowry -- Bryan Little
Mathieu Perreault -- Andrew Copp -- Jack Roslovic
Nathan Beaulieu -- Jacob Trouba
Ben Chiarot -- Dustin Byfuglien
Dmitry Kulikov -- Tyler Myers
Connor Hellebuyck
Eric Comrie
Scratched: Par Lindholm, Bogdan Kiselevich, Joe Morrow, Sami Niku, Matt Hendricks
Injured: Josh Morrissey (upper body), Laurent Brossoit (lower body)

Status report

The Canadiens held an optional morning skate. … Kotkaniemi will be a healthy scratch. … Roslovic returns after missing the past three games as a healthy scratch. … Morrissey, who has missed 15 games with an upper-body injury, took Winnipeg 's optional morning skate in a yellow non-contact jersey.

Stat pack

Gallagher has six points (three goals, three assists) in his past six games. … Shaw has seven points (one goal, six assists) in the same span. … Wheeler has an assist in his past five games after having 20 points (eight goals, 12 assists) in his previous 13 games. ... Hayes has five points (one goal, four assists) in his past three games.