Projected Lineups for the Islanders vs Canadiens – 12/3/24

The New York Islanders take on the Montreal Canadiens at the Bell Centre. Here are the projected/expected lineups sourced from NHL.com staff writers, independent correspondents, and others.

ISLANDERS (9-10-6) at CANADIENS (8-13-3)

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

Islanders projected lineup

Anders Lee — Bo Horvat — Simon Holmstrom
Maxim Tsyplakov — Brock Nelson — Kyle Palmieri
Kyle MacLean — Jean-Gabriel Pageau — Oliver Wahlstrom
Matt Martin — Pierre Engvall — Hudson Fasching

Alexander Romanov — Ryan Pulock
Isaiah George — Noah Dobson
Dennis Cholowski — Scott Mayfield

Ilya Sorokin
Semyon Varlamov

Scratched: Grant Hutton

Injured: Casey Cizikas (undisclosed), Anthony Duclair (lower body), Mathew Barzal (lower body), Adam Pelech (upper body), Mike Reilly (heart surgery)

Status report

• Pageau could return after missing the past two games with a lower-body injury.
• Cizikas did not take part in the Islanders morning skate Tuesday; Engvall skated in his place on the fourth line. Islanders coach Patrick Roy said Pageau and Cizikas each will be a game-time decision and didn’t rule out the possibility of dressing 11 forwards and seven defensemen.

Latest for THW:

• Islanders’ Ideal Forward Lines When Barzal & Duclair Return From Injury
• Canadiens & Islanders Showing Value of Moving vs Keeping Defensemen
• Islanders Are Seeing Benefits of a Healthy Anders Lee

Canadiens projected lineup

Cole Caufield — Nick Suzuki — Alex Newhook
Juraj Slafkovsky — Kirby Dach — Patrik Laine
Josh Anderson — Christian Dvorak — Brendan Gallagher
Emil Heineman — Jake Evans — Joel Armia

Kaiden Guhle — Mike Matheson
Lane Hutson — Jayden Struble
Arber Xhekaj — David Savard

Sam Montembeault
Cayden Primeau

Scratched: Justin Barron, Michael Pezzetta

Injured: None

Status report

• Laine will make his Canadiens debut after missing the first 24 games because of a knee sprain he sustained in a preseason game on Sept. 28. It will be his first NHL game since he sustained a broken clavicle playing for the Columbus Blue Jackets on Dec. 14, 2023. The forward began receiving care from the NHL/NHLPA Player Assistance Program on Jan. 28. He was cleared from the program July 26, and traded to Montreal by Columbus on Aug. 19.

Latest for THW:

• NHL Rumors: Oilers, Flames, Canadiens, Maple Leafs
• Patrik Laine’s Long-Awaited Canadiens Debut Sparks Excitement
• Canadiens’ Patrik Laine to Make Season Debut vs. Islanders