Habs @ Senators: Game thread

Jan 28, 2023 - 11:00 PM

Montreal Canadiens @ Ottawa Senators

How to watch

Start time: 7:00 PM EST / 4:00 PM PST
In Canada: CBC, Sportsnet East/Ontario/Pacific (English), TVA Sports (French)
Streaming: ESPN+, Sportsnet Now

A whirlwind start to 2023 has seen Owen Beck recalled to Team Canada to win the World Junior Championship, traded in the OHL to a team that hopes to contend for the Memorial Cup, and now given the rare opportunity to join his NHL team in the middle of the CHL campaign. On emergency recall to bring the number of Habs forwards up to 12, he will make his NHL debut this evening.

The Canadiens and Senators have both switched focus to setting up next year’s roster. Beck is one of the players alongside Rafaël Harvey-Pinard on Montreal’s side showing what they offer with and versus NHL talent. The Senators are getting a sense of what defenceman Jake Sanderson can bring to the team’s blue line, and they also recently promoted Ridly Greig from their AHL team to join the main club.

Tonight’s game is less of a test of how the Habs can perform versus some of the league’s top teams, as recent games versus Toronto and Boston were, and more about establishing the order among these two teams that hope their slow development paths will see both clubs challenging for top spot in the Atlantic Division in the near future.

Montreal Canadiens projected lineup

Scratched: Chris Wideman
Injured: Joel Armia, Paul Byron, Cole Caufield, Jonathan Drouin, Joel Edmundson, Jake Evans, Brendan Gallagher, Kaiden Guhle, Sean Monahan, Juraj Slafkovský

Ottawa Senators projected lineup