The Montreal Canadiens visit the Edmonton Oilers on Thursday night at Rogers Place, continuing their road trip after a 2-1 overtime victory over the Calgary Flames. Montreal holds a 6-2-0 record, while Edmonton stands at 3-3-1 following a 3-2 overtime win against the Ottawa Senators. Both teams have projected lineups set amid key returns and injuries.
The Canadiens enter the game with momentum, having secured three wins in as many overtime contests this season, including Wednesday's 2-1 decision against Calgary. Jakub Dobes made 36 saves in that win, with goals from Zachary Bolduc and Mike Matheson. Montreal has won six of their last eight games overall, and three of the last four meetings with Edmonton have been decided by one goal.
Edmonton snapped a three-game losing streak with their 3-2 overtime victory over Ottawa on Tuesday, earning four points from a five-game road trip against Eastern Conference opponents. The Oilers, 2024 and 2025 Stanley Cup finalists, are near the bottom of the league in goals for and are familiar with slow starts. Connor McDavid leads Edmonton with eight points, including his first goal of the season against Ottawa, and he has 34 points (9G, 25A) in 27 career games against Montreal.
For Montreal, forward Kirby Dach returns after missing three games due to a lower-body injury, while Joshua Roy comes out of the lineup. Oliver Kapanen was placed on injured reserve Thursday. Zach Bolduc has scored all four of his goals on the road this season and finished last year with 36 points (19G, 17A). Samuel Montembeault is confirmed to start in goal for the Canadiens, who skipped a morning skate on the second night of a back-to-back.
Projected Lineups
Canadiens:
- Forwards: Cole Caufield -- Nick Suzuki -- Juraj Slafkovsky; Alex Newhook -- Oliver Kapanen -- Ivan Demidov; Josh Anderson -- Jake Evans -- Brendan Gallagher; Kirby Dach -- Joe Veleno -- Zack Bolduc
- Defense: Mike Matheson -- Noah Dobson; Jayden Struble -- Lane Hutson; Arber Xhekaj -- Alexander Carrier
- Goalies: Sam Montembeault, Jakub Dobes
- Scratched: Marc Del Gaizo, Joshua Roy
- Injured: Kaiden Guhle (lower body), Patrik Laine (lower body), David Reinbacher (broken metacarpal)
Oilers:
- Forwards: Leon Draisaitl -- Connor McDavid -- Matt Savoie; Andrew Mangiapane -- Ryan Nugent-Hopkins -- Jack Roslovic; Vasily Podkolzin -- Noah Philp -- Trent Frederic; Isaac Howard -- Adam Henrique -- David Tomasek
- Defense: Mattias Ekholm -- Evan Bouchard; Darnell Nurse -- Jake Walman; Brett Kulak -- Ty Emberson
- Goalies: Calvin Pickard, Stuart Skinner
- Scratched: Curtis Lazar, Troy Stecher
- Injured: Zach Hyman (wrist, expected back by Nov. 1), Mattias Janmark (undisclosed), Kasperi Kapanen (knee), Alec Regula (undisclosed)
The game airs at 9 p.m. ET on RDS, TSN2, and SNW.