MTL@FLA: What you need to know

SUNRISE - Happy New Year! The Canadiens are celebrating the start of 2022 with an afternoon contest against the Panthers at FLA Live Arena.

The Habs will be looking for their first win of their-three game road trip to the South. After nearly shocking the Lightning on Tuesday in Tampa - a game Montreal ended up losing 5-4 in overtime - the Canadiens were blanked 4-0 in their most recent outing on Thursday night in Carolina.

Of course, the Habs have been playing with a lineup that has been depleted by injuries and a long list of players currently in the NHL's COVID-19 protocols. That list currently includes forwards Brandon Baddock, Paul Byron, Laurent Dauphin, Mike Hoffman, Artturi Lehkonen and Tyler Toffoli; defensemen Louie Belpedio, Ben Chiarot, Joel Edmundson, Gianni Fairbrother, Jeff Petry, and Chris Wideman; and goaltenders Jake Allen and Cayden Primeau. And on Saturday, Jake Evans and Alexander Romanov were added to the protocols list.
In his pregame press conference, head coach Dominique Ducharme told the media that Brendan Gallagher (lower-body injury) won't play. The Habs will dress 11 forwards and five defensemen against the Panthers. Cam Hillis will be among those 11 forwards, and Saturday's game will mark his NHL debut.
In goal, Sam Montembeault made a second consecutive start on Thursday and stopped 34 of the 38 shots he faced. The Becancour native, who was picked up off waivers from the Panthers during training camp, should be between the pipes to face his former team on Saturday.
Following the Panthers game, the Canadiens will return home to a 12-day hiatus, as their first four January games at the Bell Centre have been postponed due to attendance restrictions related to the pandemic. The Habs play next on January 12 against the Bruins - a game that was originally scheduled to take place in Montreal but that will now be played in Boston.
As for the home team, after seeing their final four pre-Christmas games postponed due to COVID, the Panthers are in a groove. They're coming off a successful back-to-back on Wednesday and Thursday, in which they beat the Rangers and Lightning, respectively. Florida exploded for nine goals against their cross-state rivals on Thursday, with Quebecers Jonathan Huberdeau (1G, 4A) and Anthony Duclair (2G, 1A) propelling the attack for the Cats.
Huberdeau leads the Panthers with 38 points (11G, 27A), with Aaron Ekblad (25P), Sam Reinhart (24P), and Carter Verhaeghe (24P) behind him in team scoring. Duclair is Florida's goal-scoring leader with 12.
In goal, Sergei Bobrovsky (20 GP, 13-3-2, 2.49 GAA, .917 SV%) and Spencer Knight (14 GP, 7-4-2, 3.49 GAA, .896 SV%) have both seen their fair share of action this season.
This is the first of four meetings between the Canadiens and the Panthers, with the divisional rivals set to do battle again twice in March before closing out their respective seasons on April 29 in the Sunshine State.
Broadcast information
Game time is scheduled for 1:00 p.m. ET.
You can watch the game on TSN2, BSFL, and RDS, or listen to all the action on TSN 690 and 98,5 fm.