Projected Lineups for Canadiens vs Penguins – 12/21/25 - The Hockey Writers -

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

CANADIENS (19-12-4) at PENGUINS (14-11-9)

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
Joe Veleno — Samuel Blais — Brendan Gallagher

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

Jakub Dobes
Jacob Fowler

Scratched: Phillip Danault, Jayden Struble

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, did not travel after sustaining a lower-body injury while colliding with Brazeau in the first period of a 4-0 win against Pittsburgh on Saturday; Blais was recalled from Laval of the American Hockey League. … Dobes could start for Montreal after Fowler made 31 saves in his first NHL shutout on Saturday. … Danault, a forward, is expected to join the Canadiens for their game at the Boston Bruins on Tuesday.

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Penguins projected lineup

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

Parker Wotherspoon — Erik Karlsson
Brett Kulak — Kris Letang
Ryan Shea — Connor Clifton

Arturs Silovs
Stuart Skinner

Scratched: Danton Heinen, Ryan Graves, Jack St. Ivany

Injured: Evgeni Malkin (upper body), Caleb Jones (lower body), Filip Hallander (blood clot), Blake Lizotte (undisclosed)

Status report

Silovs will likely start for the Penguins after Skinner made 17 saves on Saturday.

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