Penguins at Canadiens preview

PENGUINS (2-1-0) at CANADIENS (1-1-1)
7 p.m. ET; CITY, TVAS, ATTSN-PT, NHL.TV

Niemi replaces Carey Price, who has the flu.
Canadiens forward Tomas Plekanec will play in his 999th NHL game, his first since returning to Montreal as a free agent on July 1; he spent parts of 14 seasons with the Canadiens before he was traded to the Toronto Maple Leafs on Feb. 25.
Casey DeSmith will make his second straight start for the Penguins. Matt Murray will back up DeSmith after he was unable to play on Thursday against the Vegas Golden Knights because of a concussion.

Players to watch

Penguins forward Phil Kessel had a hat trick Thursday. He has five points (three goals, two assists) in three games.
Canadiens forward Max Domi has three assists in three games.

They said it

"It was a good test for us and a good eye-opener, and I think we'll be a little bit more ready for them." -- Penguins forward Riley Sheahan on a 5-1 loss to Montreal last Saturday
"Obviously it's a big loss, you know, just to have Carey around brings in good energy. But [Niemi] is just fine. He looked really sharp in all the practices." -- Canadiens forward Tomas Tatar on goalie Carey Price being out with the flu

Penguins projected lineup

Jake Guentzel -- Sidney Crosby -- Bryan Rust
Carl Hagelin -- Evgeni Malkin -- Phil Kessel
Dominik Simon -- Derick Brassard -- Patric Hornqvist
Matt Cullen -- Riley Sheahan -- Daniel Sprong
Brian Dumoulin -- Kris Letang
Jack Johnson -- Justin Schultz
Olli Maatta -- Juuoso Riikola
Casey DeSmith
Matt Murray
Scratched:Jamie Oleksiak, Chad Ruhwedel, Tristan Jarry
Injured:None

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Canadiens projected lineup

Tomas Tatar -- Phillip Danault -- Brendan Gallagher
Jonathan Drouin -- Max Domi -- Artturi Lehkonen
Paul Byron -- Jesperi Kotkaniemi -- Joel Armia
Charles Hudon -- Tomas Plekanec -- Andrew Shaw
Victor Mete -- Jeff Petry
Mike Reilly -- Noah Juulsen
Xavier Ouellet -- Jordie Benn
Antti Niemi
Charlie Lindgren
Scratched:Karl Alzner, Matthew Peca, Nikita Scherbak, Carey Price (flu)
Injured: Jacob de la Rose (cardiac), Shea Weber (knee), Nicolas Deslauriers (facial fracture), David Schlemko (knee)

Status report

Maatta returns after he was scratched Thursday. … Rust will remain on the top line with Crosby and Guentzel. He switched spots with Hornqvist, who remains with Brassard and Simon, during the second period against Vegas. … Drouin and Byron will flip places in the lineup with Drouin playing with Domi and Lehkonen. … Lindgren was recalled on an emergency basis from Laval of the American Hockey League.

Stat pack

Malkin had his second three-point game of the season Thursday. He has six points (one goal, five assists) in three games. … Byron has four points (two goals, two assists) in three games.