The Montreal Canadiens (26-14-7) are set to the Buffalo Sabres (25-16-4), with the puck drop scheduled for 7:00 pm ET.
The last time these two teams met was back on October 20, which resulted in a relatively straightforward 4-2 win for the Habs, however, it’s important to note that the Sabres have improved by leaps and bounds since their difficult start to the season.
Buffalo has won eight of their last 10 games, and is currently fifth overall in the Eastern Conference standings, just five points behind Montreal with two games in hand.
In other words, the long, long, long wait in Buffalo seems to be finally paying off.
Tage Thompson, who was invited to take part in Team USA’s 2026 Winter Olympics roster, leads the Sabres in scoring, with 22 goals and 22 assists in 45 games, while six of his teammates have managed to register at least 20 points. The Canadiens, on the other hand, only have five players sitting at 20 points or more at this exact point of the season.
Lineup Changes, Starting Goalie
The goaltending carousel endures, as rookie goaltender Jacob Fowler is set to guard Montreal’s net, his 10th start of the season. He’s coming off a difficult outing versus the Detroit Red Wings that resulted in a 4-0 loss, with Fowler stopping 20 of the 23 shots sent his way.
Even with that difficult outing in the books, Fowler has managed to maintain a better save percentage (.909) than his goaltending counterparts Jakub Dobes (.888), and Samuel Montembeault (.874).
As for the skaters, defenceman Kaiden Guhle will return to the lineup, again. To be more accurate, he’s not recovering from an injury this time around. The Canadiens opted to sit Guhle in the second leg of back-to-back games on Tuesday, in a bid to avoid overloading him upon his return to play.
To make place for Guhle on the blueline, defenceman Jayden Struble will watch Thursday’s game from the press box as a healthy scratch.
Montreal Canadiens Projected Lineup
Cole Caufield – Nick Suzuki – Alex Texier
Juraj Slafkovsky – Oliver Kapanen – Ivan Demidov
Zachary Bolduc -Phillip Danault – Josh Anderson
Samuel Blais – Joe Veleno – Brendan Gallagher
Mike Matheson – Noah Dobson
Lane Hutson – Alex Carrier
Kaiden Guhle* – Arber Xhekaj
Jacob Fowler
Buffalo Sabres Projected Lineup
Zach Benson – Tage Thompson – Alex Tuch
Noah Ostlund – Josh Norris – Josh Doan
Jason Zucker – Ryan McLeod – Jack Quinn
Jordan Greenway – Peyton Krebs – Beck Malenstyn
Mattias Samuelsson – Rasmus Dahlin
Bowen Byram – Owen Power
Jacob Bryson – Zach Metsa
Colten Ellis
How To Watch The Habs Vs. The Sabres
The Montreal Canadiens versus the Buffalo Sabres, Thursday, January 15, 2026, will be aired on TSN2 and RDS. An instant recap complete with highlights will be available on Sportsnaut as soon as the final whistle blows.
