Canadiens lineup tonight: Montreal's projected lineup for game against Washington Capitals | Oct 31, 2024

On Thursday night, the Montreal Canadiens will look to bounce back from a loss to the Seattle Kraken on Tuesday when they face the Washington Capitals as part of a two-game road stretch. Ahead of the game, the Canadiens have several players sidelined, with many being new additions to the team's injury report.

Defenceman David Reinbacher is on the injured reserve list, and Patrik Laine is sidelined with a knee injury sustained in the preseason.

Kaiden Guhle is traveling with the team but is sidelined with an upper-body injury, while defenceman Justin Barron is day-to-day with an upper-body injury. In addition, Rafael Harvey-Pinard went down with a non-contact leg injury in practice on Thursday and will miss tonight's game.

With that in mind, the team's projected lines for tonight are as follows:

Forwards:

1. LW Cole Caufield - C Nick Suzuki - RW Emil Heineman
2. LW Juraj Slafkovsky - C Alex Newhook - RW Kirby Dach
3. LW Josh Anderson - C Jake Evans - RW Brendan Gallagher
4. LW Joel Armia - C Christian Dvorak - RW Oliver Kapanen

Defense:

1. Mike Matheson - Kaiden Guhle
2. Lane Hutson - David Savard
3. Jayden Struble - Justin Barron

Goalies:

• Cayden Primeau
• Samuel Montembeault

Powerplay:

1. Kirby Dach, Nick Suzuki, Juraj Slafkovsky, Cole Caufield, Mike Matheson
2. Brendan Gallagher, Alex Newhook, Joel Armia, Oliver Kapanen, Lane Hutson

Penalty Kill:

1. Jake Evans, Joel Armia, Jayden Struble, David Savard
2. Christian Dvorak, Josh Anderson, Mike Matheson, Kaiden Guhle

Looking at the Montreal Canadiens' season so far and upcoming games

Heading into tonight's game against the Washington Capitals, who are fresh off a 5–3 win over the New York Rangers, the Habs are sitting tied for last place in the Atlantic Division.

Along with the Buffalo Sabres, Detroit Red Wings and Boston Bruins, the team has a 4-5-1 record that sees them holding onto nine points. Despite a hot start to the season with a 1–0 shutout win over the Toronto Maple Leafs on Wednesday, the Habs have struggled to string together wins.

After their season opener, the team lost five of its next six games over two weeks before finally snapping a four-game losing streak last weekend. The Canadiens won 5–2 over the Blues on Oct. 26 before picking up a 4–3 win over the Flyers the next night.

More recently, however, they dropped an 8–2 home game to the Kraken, leading into tonight's game against the Capitals, which will be their first of two road games. Following tonight's game, the Canadiens will play the Penguins on Saturday before returning home for a game with the Flames on Tuesday.

From there, they will embark on a four-game road stretch against the Devils, Maple Leafs, Sabres and Wild before returning home.