Canadiens at Jets preview

CANADIENS (17-13-6) at JETS (21-13-2)
8 p.m. ET; TSN3, TSN2, RDS, NHL.TV

The unrestricted free agent defenseman signed a three-year contract with Montreal on July 4 after playing five seasons with the Jets. Chiarot has 12 points (four goals, eight assists) in 36 games for the Canadiens, who will try to win for the sixth time in eight games after going 1-6-3 in their previous 10.
Laurent Brossoit will start in goal for the Jets after Connor Hellebuyck made 31 saves in a 6-0 win at the Minnesota Wild on Saturday. The Jets are 2-3-0 in their past five games after going 6-1-1 in their previous eight.

Players to watch

Canadiens center Max Domi has two goals and two assists during a three-game point streak.
Jets center Mark Scheifele has 13 points (eight goals, five assists) in his past nine games.

They said it

"They're good and they're well-balanced throughout their lineup. Obviously those top-six guys, they can hurt you in so many ways offensively. So you've got to be sure, even when you have the puck -- just play smart." -- Canadiens forward Brendan Gallagher
"[The Canadiens] have a lot of smaller forwards who have good sticks. They're really quick, so we'll just try to play fast and try to be ready when the puck drops, and try to be physical in our own building. I think that's the key for us." -- Jets forward Patrik Laine

Canadiens projected lineup

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

Jets projected lineup

Kyle Connor -- Mark Scheifele -- Patrik Laine
Nikolaj Ehlers -- Blake Wheeler -- Jack Roslovic
Gabriel Bourque -- Adam Lowry -- Mason Appleton
Joona Luoto -- Nicholas Shore -- Logan Shaw
Josh Morrissey -- Tucker Poolman
Luca Sbisa -- Neal Pionk
Anthony Bitetto -- Nathan Beaulieu
Laurent Brossoit
Connor Hellebuyck
Scratched:Carl Dahlstrom, Jansen Harkins, Eric Comrie
Injured:Dmitry Kulikov (upper body), Bryan Little (ear), Mathieu Perreault (concussion protocol), Andrew Copp (upper body)
Suspended:Dustin Byfuglien

Status report

Mete will play for the first time since injuring his ankle Nov. 30 in a 4-3 overtime loss against the Philadelphia Flyers.

Stat pack

Lehkonen has three assists in his past two games… Laine scored two goals Saturday and has four in his past four games.… Wheeler, who has six points (two goals, four assists), in his past four games, set the Jets/Atlanta Thrashers career points record with a goal and an assist on Saturday. He has 616 points (202 goals, 414 assists) in 675 games, surpassing Ilya Kovalchuk, who had 615 points (328 goals, 287 assists) in 594 games, all when the franchise was based in Atlanta.