Canadiens at Blackhawks

CANADIENS (7-24-4) at BLACKHAWKS (13-18-5)

Canadiens projected lineup
Artturi Lehkonen -- Nick Suzuki -- Mike Hoffman
Jonathan Drouin -- Christian Dvorak -- Joel Armia
Laurent Dauphin -- Ryan Poehling -- Cole Caufield
Cedric Paquette -- Lukas Vejdemo -- Michael Pezzetta
Ben Chiarot -- David Savard
Brett Kulak -- Jeff Petry
Sami Niku -- Alexander Romanov
Sam Montembeault
Cayden Primeau
Scratched: Jake Evans
Injured: Brendan Gallagher (lower body), Josh Anderson (upper body), Tyler Toffoli (hand), Mathieu Perreault (undisclosed), Joel Edmundson (undisclosed), Jake Allen (lower body)
Suspended: Chris Wideman
COVID-19 protocol: Alex Belzile, Kale Clague
Blackhawks projected lineup
Alex DeBrincat -- Jonathan Toews -- Brett Connolly
Dominik Kubalik -- Lukas Reichel -- Patrick Kane
MacKenzie Entwistle -- Philipp Kurashev --
Kirby Dach
Jujhar Khaira -- Henrik Borgstrom -- Ryan Carpenter
Calvin de Haan -- Ian Mitchell
Caleb Jones -- Connor Murphy
Jakub Galvas -- Riley Stillman
Marc-Andre Fleury
Kevin Lankinen
Scratched: Kurtis Gabriel , Sam Lafferty, Brandon Hagel
Injured: Reese Johnson (clavicle), Tyler Johnson (neck)
COVID-19 protocol: Seth Jones , Erik Gustafsson, Jake McCabe
Status report
The Canadiens held an optional morning skate Thursday following a 5-1 loss at the Boston Bruins on Wednesday. ... Wideman, a defenseman, was suspended one game by the NHL Department of Player Safety on Thursday for head-butting Bruins forward Erik Haula on Wednesday. ... Reichel will make his NHL debut. ... Lafferty, a center, and Hagel, a forward, each was removed from COVID-19 protocol. … Tyler Johnson took part in the Blackhawks' morning skate Thursday; the forward is able to participate in non-contact and shooting drills.