The Montreal Canadiens (37-20-10) will face the Detroit Red Wings (37-23-8) on Thursday night, with puck drop scheduled for 7 p.m. ET.
This will be the third and final meeting between these Atlantic Division teams in the regular season, with both teams having split the previous two games. The Canadiens dominated the Red Wings 5–1 in early October, while Detroit bounced back with a 4–0 shutout win in January.
More importantly, this will be a game that will have significant playoff implications, as Detroit and Montreal are separated by just two points in the Eastern Conference playoff race, although it should be noted that the Habs have a game in hand.
As things stand, Montreal's playoff chances are around 85%, while Detroit's are just under 69%. In other words, no team is comfortable enough to tolerate poor performance.
Given that Thursday's game is so important, the Canadiens have decided to give rookie netminder Jacob Dobbs another kick. He had an excellent performance in Montreal's 3-2 win over the Boston Bruins on Tuesday, stopping 26 of 28 shots to secure the win.
If Dobbs wins, he will officially tie Canadiens legend Patrick Roy with 23 wins in his rookie season, quite a feat when we consider he had to share his net with two other netminders. For the record, Roy needed 47 games to reach 23 wins, while this would be Dobbs' 34th appearance of the season.
Beyond the netminder, head coach Martin Saint-Louis will have to make some modifications to his forward lines, as Josh Anderson is currently listed as day-to-day (upper-body-injury) and will be forced to miss the game against the Red Wings.
It remains to be seen who will replace Andersen in the lineup, however, as injured forward Patrik Laine is not expected to play. In all likelihood, Joe Veleno, who hasn't played since early February, will be facing the same team that drafted him in 2018.
The Red Wings are also dealing with injury issues, as Dylan Larkin, Michael Rasmussen, Andrew Copp and Michael Brandsegg-Nygaard are currently unavailable, with the latter getting closer to a return to action, and could be a late addition to Detroit's roster on Thursday.
Montreal Canadiens Projected Lineup
Cole Coffield - Nick Suzuki - Juraj Slafkowski
Alex Newhook - Oliver Kapanen - Ivan Demidov
Zach Bolduc - Jake Evans - Alex Texier
Joe Veleno* - Philip Danault - Brendan Gallagher
Mike Matheson - Noah Dobson
Caden Guhle - Alex Carrier
Jaden Struble- Lane Hutson
jacob dobbs
Detroit Red Wings Projected Lineup
Alex DeBrincat - JT Compher - Patrick Kane
Emmitt Finney - Frame Casper - Lucas Raymond
James Van Riemsdyk - Sheldon Dries - David Perron
John Leonard - Mason Appleton - Dominic Shine
Simon Edvinsson - Moritz Seider
Ben Chiarot - Justin Faulk
Albert Johansson - Jacob Bernard-Docker
john gibson
How to watch Hubs Vs. red feather
Montreal Canadiens vs. Detroit Red Wings, Thursday, March 19, 2026, will be broadcast on RDS and TSN2. A quick recap with highlights will be available on Sportsnote immediately after the final
