Devils at Canadiens preview

DEVILS (8-11-4) at CANADIENS (11-8-5)
7:30 p.m. ET; NHLN, SN, RDS, MSG+, NHL.TV

Montreal lost 8-1 at home to the Boston Bruins on Tuesday and has been outscored 14-2 since taking a 4-0 lead in a 6-5 loss to the New York Rangers on Saturday.
The Canadiens are 0-3-2 in the past five games, their longest winless streak of the season, after going 4-0-1 in their previous five.
Mackenzie Blackwood will start for New Jersey, which is 1-3-0 in its past four games after going 3-1-0 in their previous four.

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Players to watch

Devils forward Taylor Hall has four points (two goals, two assists) during a three-game point streak.
Canadiens goalie Carey Price has allowed at least five goals in three of his past four games. He was pulled Tuesday for the first time in 113 starts.

They said it

"You have to be ready to play that type of game-winning hockey every night, and we're still learning that. But for us, when we do realize how to do that consistently, I expect a (heck) of a push out of this team." -- Devils defenseman P.K. Subban
"These points right now are just as important as the points in February and March, and we've got to treat it like it's a must-win game. We haven't won in five games now, so we've got to put a stop to this thing and let's do it tonight." -- Canadiens forward Nick Cousins

Devils projected lineup

Taylor Hall -- Nico Hischier -- Kyle Palmieri
Jesper Boqvist -- Jack Hughes -- Wayne Simmonds
Blake Coleman -- Travis Zajac -- Nikita Gusev
Miles Wood -- Pavel Zacha -- Jesper Bratt
Andy Greene -- Damon Severson
Sami Vatanen -- P.K. Subban
Will Butcher -- Matt Tennyson
Mackenzie Blackwood
Louis Domingue
Scratched:Mirco Mueller, Brett Seney, John Hayden
Injured:Connor Carrick (finger), Kevin Rooney (upper body)

Canadiens projected lineup

Tomas Tatar -- Phillip Danault -- Brendan Gallagher
Artturi Lehkonen -- Max Domi -- Nick Suzuki
Nick Cousins -- Jesperi Kotkaniemi -- Joel Armia
Charles Hudon -- Nate Thompson -- Jordan Weal
Ben Chiarot -- Shea Weber
Victor Mete -- Jeff Petry
Mike Reilly -- Cale Fleury
Carey Price
Keith Kinkaid
Scratched:Christian Folin, Brett Kulak
Injured:Jonathan Drouin (wrist), Paul Byron (knee)

Status report

Bratt and Zacha will return after each was a healthy scratch for the past two games. … The Canadiens will dress the same 20 players for the third straight game, though Cousins and Hudon will switch lines.

Stat pack

Palmieri has three points (two goals, one assist) during a three-game point streak. … Domi and Lehkonen each has three points (two goals, one assist) in the past two games. … Price needs one shutout to tie
Ken Dryden
(46) for third place on Montreal's all-time list. He is two wins from tying
Nikolai Khabibulin
and
Gump Worsley
(333) for 24th place on the NHL all-time list.