Projected Lineups for Canadiens vs Panthers – 12/30/25

The Montreal Canadiens take on the Florida Panthers at Amerant Bank Arena tonight. Here are the projected/expected lineups sourced from NHL.com staff writers, independent correspondents, and others.

CANADIENS (20-12-6) at PANTHERS (21-15-2)

7 p.m. ET; SCRIPPS, TSN2, RDS

Canadiens projected lineup

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

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

Sam Montembeault
Jacob Fowler

Scratched: Jayden Struble, Owen Beck, Jakub Dobes

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

Status report

Neither team held a morning skate. … Montembeault is expected to make his first start since Dec. 2. He last made a relief appearance on Dec. 9. … Texier moved up to the top line at practice on Monday.

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Panthers projected lineup

Eetu Luostarinen — Anton Lundell — Sam Reinhart
Carter Verhaeghe — Sam Bennett — Brad Marchand
Mackie Samoskevich — Evan Rodrigues — A.J. Greer
Luke Kunin — Jack Studnicka — Jesper Boqvist

Gustav Forsling — Aaron Ekblad
Niko Mikkola — Seth Jones
Uvis Balinskis — Jeff Petry

Daniil Tarasov
Sergei Bobrovsky

Scratched: Donovan Sebrango, Noah Gregor

Injured: Aleksander Barkov (knee), Matthew Tkachuk (lower body), Tomas Nosek (knee), Jonah Gadjovich (upper body), Dmitry Kulikov (shoulder), Cole Schwindt (arm)

Status report

The Panthers are expected to have Tarasov in goal after Bobrovsky made 22 saves in a 5-3 win against the Washington Capitals on Monday.

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• NHL Morning Recap – December 30, 2025
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