Jets at Canadiens preview

JETS (49-20-10) at CANADIENS (28-39-12)
7:30 p.m. ET; TSN2, RDS, TSN3, NHL.TV

The Jets are second in the division, five points behind the first-place Nashville Predators. The Predators can clinch the division with a win against the Florida Panthers on Tuesday (7:30 p.m. ET; FS-F, FS-TN, NHL.TV), but if the Predators get one point, the Jets can keep a division title within reach with a victory.
The Jets are 8-1-0 in their past nine games, and 12-3-1 in the past 16.
Carey Price will play his 557th NHL game, all with Montreal, to move ahead of Jacques Plante for the most games played by a goalie in Canadiens history. The Canadiens have been eliminated from Stanley Cup Playoff contention.

Players to watch

Jets forward Blake Wheeler has 13 points (four goals, nine assists) in his past 10 games.
Canadiens forward Brendan Gallagher has seven points (four goals, three assists) in six games.

They said it

"Each line over the last month has gotten really hot and been the difference for a lot of wins for us, and we've been pretty fortunate to score the way we have." -- Jets coach Paul Maurice
"(The Jets) are probably one of the best teams in the NHL right now. They're big, they're fast, they have a lot of skill, they're very balanced, so it's going to take a huge effort tonight to win this game, and we're aware of that." -- Canadiens coach Claude Julien

Jets projected lineup

Kyle Connor -- Mark Scheifele -- Blake Wheeler
Nikolaj Ehlers -- Paul Stastny -- Patrik Laine
Mathieu Perreault -- Bryan Little -- Joel Armia
Andrew Copp -- Adam Lowry -- Brandon Tanev
Josh Morrissey -- Jacob Trouba
Joe Morrow --
Tucker Poolman
Ben Chiarot -- Tyler Myers
Connor Hellebuyck
Eric Comrie
Scratched:Marko Dano, Shawn Matthias, Jack Roslovic, Sami Niku, Dustin Byfuglien
Injured:Steve Mason (knee), Dmitry Kulikov (back), Toby Enstrom (lower body), Matt Hendricks (lower body)

Canadiens projected lineup

Paul Byron -- Jonathan Drouin -- Brendan Gallagher
Alex Galchenyuk -- Jacob de la Rose -- Artturi Lehkonen
Nikita Scherbak -- Logan Shaw --
Kerby Rychel
Nicolas Deslauriers --
Michael McCarron
-- Daniel Carr
David Schlemko -- Jeff Petry
Karl Alzner -- Noah Juulsen
Mike Reilly -- Brett Lernout
Carey Price
Antti Niemi
Scratched:Jordie Benn, Byron Froese
Injured:Charles Hudon (undisclosed), Ales Hemsky (concussion-like symptoms), Max Pacioretty (knee), Victor Mete (finger), Rinat Valiev (lower body), Phillip Danault (upper body), Andrew Shaw (upper body)

Status report

The Jets did not hold a morning skate. Niku, who was recalled from Manitoba of the American Hockey League on Sunday, could make his NHL debut. … Valiev took part in the morning skate for the first time since he was injured March 8.

Stat pack

Hellebuyck has 42 wins, one from tying Tom Barrasso for most wins in a season by a United States-born goaltender. Barrasso had 43 wins for the Pittsburgh Penguins in 1992-93. … Drouin has six points (two goals, four assists) in his past six games.