Projected Lineups for Canadiens vs Penguins – 12/11/25 - The Hockey Writers - Projected Lineups

The Montreal Canadiens take on the Pittsburgh Penguins at PPG Paints Arena. Here are the projected/expected lineups sourced from NHL.com staff writers, independent correspondents, and others.

CANADIENS (15-11-3) at PENGUINS (14-7-7)

7 p.m. ET; SN-PIT, TSN2, RDS

Canadiens projected lineup

Cole Caufield — Nick Suzuki — Zack Bolduc
Juraj Slafkovsky — Oliver Kapanen — Ivan Demidov
Josh Anderson — Owen Beck — Alexandre Texier
Jared Davidson — Joe Veleno — Brendan Gallagher

Mike Matheson — Noah Dobson
Jayden Struble — Lane Hutson
Adam Engstrom — Alexandre Carrier

Jacob Fowler
Sam Montembeault

Scratched: Jake Evans, Arber Xheka, Jakub Dobes

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

Status report

Fowler, selected by the Canadiens in third round (No. 69) of the 2023 NHL Draft, will make his NHL debut after being recalled from Laval of the American Hockey League on Wednesday. … Evans, a forward, will not play due to personal reasons. He is expected to join the Canadiens for a game at the New York Rangers on Saturday. … Beck was recalled from Laval on Wednesday, along with Engstrom, a defenseman.

Latest for THW:

Penguins projected lineup

Tommy Novak — Sidney Crosby — Bryan Rust
Anthony Mantha — Kevin Hayes — Justin Brazeau
Rutger McGroarty — Ben Kindel — Ville Koivunen
Connor Dewar — Danton Heinen — Noel Acciari

Parker Wotherspoon — Erik Karlsson
Ryan Shea — Kris Letang
Ryan Graves — Connor Clifton

Tristan Jarry
Arturs Silovs

Scratched: Mathew Dumba, Harrison Brunicke

Injured: Evgeni Malkin (upper body), Rickard Rakell (hand), Caleb Jones (lower body), Filip Hallander (blood clot), Blake Lizotte (undisclosed), Jack St. Ivany (foot)

Status report:

Rakell, a forward, participated in a second straight morning skate, but will miss a 20th straight game since having surgery on his left hand Oct. 26.