Projected Lineups for Canadiens vs Lightning – 12/28/25

The Montreal Canadiens take on the Tampa Bay Lightning at Benchmark International Arena tonight. Here are the projected/expected lineups sourced from NHL.com staff writers, independent correspondents, and others.

CANADIENS (20-12-5) at LIGHTNING (21-13-3)

5 p.m. ET; The Spot, TSN2, RDS

Canadiens projected lineup

Cole Caufield — Nick Suzuki — Zack Bolduc
Juraj Slafkovsky — Oliver Kapanen — Ivan Demidov
Alexandre Texier — Phillip Danault — Josh Anderson
Sammy Blais — Joe Veleno — Brendan Gallagher

Mike Matheson — Noah Dobson
Lane Hutson — Adam Engstrom
Arber Xhekaj — Alexandre Carrier

Jacob Fowler
Jakub Dobes

Scratched: Jayden Struble, Owen Beck, Sam Montembeault

Injured: Kirby Dach (broken foot), Alex Newhook (broken ankle), Kaiden Guhle (lower body), Patrik Laine (lower body), Jake Evans (lower body)

Status report

Evans, a forward, is out 4-6 weeks after a knee-on-knee hit with Pittsburgh Penguins forward Justin Brazeau on Dec. 20. …Montembeault, a goalie, is back from his conditioning stint with Laval of the American Hockey League.

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Lightning projected lineup

Gage Goncalves — Brayden Point — Nikita Kucherov
Jake Guentzel — Anthony Cirelli — Oliver Bjorkstrand
Pontus Holmberg — Yanni Gourde — Zemgus Girgensons
Curtis Douglas — Nick Paul — Scott Sabourin

J.J. Moser — Darren Raddysh
Charle-Edouard D’Astous — Steven Santini
Declan Carlile — Max Crozier

Jonas Johansson
Andrei Vasilevskiy

Scratched: Dominic James, Jack Finley

Injured: Ryan McDonagh (lower body), Erik Cernak (undisclosed), Victor Hedman (elbow), Emil Lilleberg (undisclosed), Brandon Hagel (upper body)

Status report

Hagel, a forward, is questionable to play for the first time since Dec. 15. … McDonagh and Cernak, each a defenseman, are not likely to play but could return during a three-game road trip that begins at the Anaheim Ducks on Wednesday.

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