The Blackhawks seek their third straight win when they visit the Canadiens on Wednesday in Montreal.
Chicago (21-20-6) won its second consecutive game with a 3-2 victory Tuesday at Ottawa behind Jonathan Toews’ game-winner 42 seconds into overtime to cap a two-goal comeback. Chicago has found success in the second half of back-to-backs this season with a 7-1-0 record.
Rookie Dominik Kubalik scored two goals against Ottawa to give him seven goals during his five-game goal streak. He passed Buffalo’s Victor Olofsson for the NHL lead among rookie goal scorers with 18 goals.
Patrick Kane had two assists to extend his point streak to seven games. He has 10 points (four goals, six assists) during his point streak, but hasn’t scored a goal in five straight games. He is three points shy of 1,000 for his career, and has 14 points (seven goals, seven assists) in 16 games against Montreal.
Corey Crawford is expected to start in his hometown. The Montreal native is 9-2-2 and allowed more than two goals only once in 13 games against the Canadiens. He’s 7-13-2 with a 3.09 goals-against average and .906 save percentage this season.
Brandon Saad and Dylan Strome remain out with right-ankle injuries, though, head coach Jeremy Colliton said the forwards could return at some point during the team’s three-game Canadian road trip.
Montreal (20-20-7) has won two in a row after a 2-0 victory against the Flames on Monday. Jordan Weal and Ryan Poehling both scored, and Carey Price made 31 saves for his 46th career shutout to tie Hall of Famer Ken Dryden for third on the franchise’s all-time list. Only Jacques Plante (58) and George Hainsworth (75) sit ahead of Price in shutouts.
Price has started the past three games for Montreal and six of seven this month. Charlie Lindgren, who is 0-2 with a 3.08 GAA and .908 save percentage this season, will take the net against Chicago to give Price the night off.
Tomas Tatar leads the Canadiens in goals (16), assists (23) and points (39), while Max Domi is right behind him with 33 points (12 goals, 21 assists).
Defenseman Ben Chiarot returned to the Canadiens’ lineup Monday following a two-game absence caused by an upper-body injury. Forward Brendan Gallagher has missed the past two games with headaches from a concussion. Gallagher’s 15 goals are second to Tatar on the team.
Season series
The Blackhawks and Canadiens split last season’s series, with each team winning on the road. Chicago is on a seven-game point streak and five-game win streak (5-0-2) in Montreal.
Tale of the Tape
Blackhawks — Statistic — Canadiens
48.5% (23nd) — Corsi For — 53.82% (2nd)
2.87 (t-20th) — Goals per game — 2.70 (t-22nd)
3.15 (t-20th) — Goals against per game — 3.13 (19th)
15.3% (27th) — Power play — 20.9% (11th)
82.6% (8th) — Penalty kill — 78.3% (23rd)
Lineups
Blackhawks
Kubalik — Toews — Caggiula
DeBrincat — Kampf — Dach
Nylander — Carpenter — Kane
Highmore — Smith — Sikura
Keith — Boqvist
Gustafsson — Murphy
Maatta — Koekkoek
Crawford
Lehner
Canadiens
Tatar — Danault — Kovalchuk
Lehkonen — Domi — Suzuki
Poehling — Kotkaniemi — Cousins
Weal — Thompson — Weise
Chiarot — Weber
Scandella — Petry
Mete — Fleury
Lindgren
Price
How to watch
When: 6:30 p.m.
Where: Bell Centre, Montreal
TV: NBC Sports Chicago
Live stream: NBC Sports app, NHL.TV