Marc Dumont
The Montreal Canadiens (33-18-10) are set to face the Los Angeles Kings (25-22-4), with the puck drop scheduled for 7 pm ET.
The Habs are less than 24 hours removed from a frustrating loss versus the Anaheim Ducks, which saw the team overcome a third-period deficit to establish a very fragile one-goal lead. But as has been the case on several occasions this year, the Canadiens struggled to shut down their opponents, eventually losing 6-5 to the Ducks in a shootout.
All things considered, it was a better effort than their previous game in California, a 6-2 loss to the San Jose Sharks. And the Canadiens did manage to secure a point in Anaheim, thanks to great efforts from young stars such as Cole Caufield, Lane Hutson, Nick Suzuki, and Juraj Slafkovsky.
With the shootout point in the bank, the Habs maintained playoff odds above 80%, but it must be said that they’re not inspiring much confidence with their recent play, which has featured a very low level of consistency, especially from a defensive standpoint.
Simply put, the Canadiens can score plenty of goals, but they have a very hard time defending, and that issue goes beyond the underwhelming save percentages produced by their netminders.
Lineup Changes, Starting Goalie
Neither the Canadiens nor the Kings held a practice on Saturday. Any lineup changes will be revealed when they take to the ice for the pre-game warm-up.
However, the Habs are expected to start Jakub Dobes, their strongest option among available goaltenders. Again, Montreal’s defensive situation makes life very difficult on netminders, but it must be said that Dobes gives the Habs their best chance of winning on any given night.
As for the skaters, we saw some very encouraging play from the first line on Friday night. The Slafkovsky experiment on the second line was mercifully put to an end, leading to an immediate and considerable output of offence from the top trio.
All three players produced at least two points, with Caufield scoring a pair of goals.
With all due respect to Canadiens head coach Martin St-Louis, it was a long overdue decision.
Montreal Canadiens Projected Lineup
Cole Caufield – Nick Suzuki – Juraj Slafkovsky
Alex Newhook – Oliver Kapanen – Ivan Demidov
Zach Bolduc – Jake Evans – Kirby Dach
Josh Anderson – Phillip Danault – Brendan Gallagher
Mike Matheson – Kaiden Guhle
Lane Hutson – Noah Dobson
Jayden Struble – Alex Carrier
Jakub Dobes
Los Angeles Kings Projected Lineup
Artemi Panarin – Anže Kopitar — Adrian Kempe
Trevor Moore – Alex Turcotte – Alex Laferriere
Jared Wright – Kenny Connors – Mathieu Joseph
Jeff Malott – Samuel Helenius – Taylor Ward
Mikey Anderson – Drew Doughty
Joel Edmundson – Brandt Clarke
Brian Dumoulin – Cody Ceci
Darcy Kuemper
How To Watch The Habs Vs. The Kings
The Montreal Canadiens versus the Los Angeles Kings, Saturday, March 7, 2026, will be aired on Sportsnet East, City TV, and TVA Sports. An instant recap complete with highlights will be available on Sportsnaut as soon as the final whistle is blown.
