Who: Montreal Canadiens (1-0-0) @ Pittsburgh Penguins (1-0-0)
When: 7:00 p.m. Eastern
How to Watch: Local on SNE, TVAS and SportsNet Pittsburgh, streaming on ESPN+
Pens’ Path Ahead: The Penguins are headed into a busy first full week of the season after Saturday’s home opener, with a home game Monday against the Winnipeg Jets, a road game Friday against the Washington Capitals and then a back-to-back this weekend at Columbus and against visiting Dallas.
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Opponent Track: The Canadiens spoiled Gavin McKenna’s NHL debut with a 3-2 season-opening win over the Toronto Maple Leafs back on Tuesday.
Season Series: The Penguins went 1-2 against the Canadiens last year, scoring just two goals across two regulation losses before claiming a rare shootout win through a span of three games in December 2025.
Hidden Stat: The Penguins have a 31-17-10 all-time record in home openers.
Hidden Stat II: The Penguins could be facing a goaltender with one of the highest win ratios in Canadiens history. Only three goaltenders have recorded more wins through 60 career games than Jakub Dobes, who earned his 37th in the Habs’ season opener.
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Getting to know the Canadiens
Projected lines (from Friday’s practice)
FORWARDS
Cole Caufield / Nick Suzuki / Chris Kreider
Juraj Slafkovsky / Alex Newhook / Ivan Demidov
Alexandre Texier / Phillip Danault / Kirby Dach
Zack Bolduc / Jake Evans / Josh Anderson
DEFENSEMEN
Mike Matheson / Noah Dobson
Lane Huton / Alexandre Carrier
Jayden Struble / Arber Xhehaj
Goalies: Jakub Dobes, Sam Montembeault
Potential scratches: Oliver Kapanen (day to day), Adam Engstrom, Florian Xhekaj
Injured Reserve: Kaiden Guhle (groin)
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The Canadiens are mostly looking to run things back with the core that took them to the Eastern Conference Finals last season, centered by top-line forwards Cole Caulfield and Nick Suzuki.
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The most notable addition to the Habs lineup this offseason was Chris Kreider, who has scored 20 career goals against the Penguins in 47 games as a member of the New York Rangers. Krieder is starting the season skating in what used to be Juraj Slafkovsky’s spot on the top line.
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Rookies Adam Engstrom and Florian Xhekaj made the Canadiens’ Opening Night roster but were scratched from the team’s road opener in Toronto.
Season stats
via hockeydb
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Dobes is returning for a second season as full-time starter after capping off his rookie season with a run to the Eastern Conference Finals. He looked strong in his season debut for the Canadiens after giving up an initial goal to the Maple Leafs. The Canadiens will need to decide whether to start him or turn to Jacob Fowler, who was solid as Dobes’ backup during his rookie season, for his 2026-27 debut.
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The Canadiens overall got off to a slow start to Tuesday’s first game of the season. They’ll be looking for more jump out of the gate against the Pens.
And now for the Pens
Projected lines (from Friday’s practice)
FORWARDS
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Nick Robertson – Sidney Crosby – Rickard Rakell
Egor Chinakhov – Tommy Novak – Evgeni Malkin
Ville Koivunen – Hendrix Lapierre – Filip Hallander
Connor Dewar – Ben Kindel (?) – Andrei Kuzmenko (?)
DEFENSEMEN
Declan Carlile / Erik Karlsson
Sam Girard / Kaeden Korczak
Trevor van Riemsdyk / Kris Letang
Goalies: Arturs Silovs and Sergei Murashov
Potential Scratches: Rutger McGroarty, David Gustafsson, Ilya Solovyov, Elmer Soderblom, Blake Lizotte
IR: Ryan Graves, Justin Brazeau, Bryan Rust
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Blake Lizotte was missing from practice this week with a lower-body injury despite playing 13 minutes against the Flyers in the season opener. Bryan Rust, who sat out Game 1, also hasn’t been practicing due to an upper-body injury.
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Kuzmenko is back with the Penguins following the death of his father. His return resulted in Elmer Soderblom being bumped from the even-strength lineup at practice. Kuzmenko was also featured on the second power-play unit Friday, per Michelle Crechiolo.
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Also on track for a potential return to the lineup is Ben Kindel, who was previously listed as week-to-week with a lower body injury. His availability hasn’t been confirmed, but he has joined in on two straight practices and was involved with bone line rushes and the top power play unit Friday.
