The Sabres will stick with the lineup that led them to back-to-back wins in Los Angeles and Anaheim over the weekend, with Remi Elie, Tage Thompson and Nathan Beaulieu expected to be scratched.
Carter Hutton, owner of a .949 save percentage and a 1.37 goals-against average in four career appearances against Montreal, will start in net.
The Sabres will look to replicate the style of play that led them to their two most recent wins, characterized by careful puck management through the neutral zone and an active forecheck. They outshot the Kings and Ducks 71-48 and tallied a season-high 45 shots in the latter game.
"[Montreal's] transition game is very quick, and their forwards have a lot of speed so we're going to have to manage that area of the game, coming through the neutral zone, being smart, making the plays that are there but also getting pucks behind their defense," Housley said.
"The one thing we talked about is just being smart in that area. We can't feed their transition because that's energy we don't want to be spending coming back into our own end."
The less time they spend in the defensive zone, the better chance they'll have to set the pace.
"We want to be the fast team," defenseman Casey Nelson said. "We've just got to play that way as well. That's our main focus, is to play with pace and play north."
A win or overtime loss would give the Sabres their highest point total through 10 games since 2011-12, when they started the season 6-4-0.
Coverage on MSG-B begins at 6:30 p.m. with the GMC Game Night Pregame Show on MSG-B, or you can listen live on WGR 550. The puck drops at 7.
