NHL Game Preview: Montreal Canadiens at Tampa Bay Lightning with Line Combinations 12/28/2025 | Inside The Rink
HomeNHLNHL Game Preview: Montreal Canadiens at Tampa Bay Lightning with Line Combinations 12/28/2025
Photo via NHLI/Getty Images
Montreal Canadiens (20-12-5) at Tampa Bay Lightning (21-13-3)
Venue: Benchmark International Arena
Date: Sunday, December 28
Time: 5:00 pm EST
How To Watch: The Spot, ESPN+
Purchase tickets via Ticketmaster
Montreal Canadiens News & Notes:
The Canadiens come out of the Christmas Break winners of three of their last four games. Montreal has the NHL’s fourth-ranked power play at 26 percent.
Tampa Bay Lightning News & Notes:
The Lightning have won three games in a row after a 4-2 win over the Florida Panthers on Saturday. Tampa Bay beat the Canadiens 6-1 on December 9 in Montreal.
Montreal Canadiens Projected Lines
Caufield-Suzuki-Bolduc
Slafkovsky-Kapanen-Demidov
Texier-Danault-Anderson
Blais-Veleno-Gallagher
Matheson-Dobson
Hutson-Carrier
Struble-Xhekaj
Fowler
Dobes
Get Your Montreal Hockey Merchandise Below:
Montreal Hockey – Inside The Rink
Tampa Bay Lightning Projected Lines:
Goncalves-Point-Kucherov
Guentzel-Cirelli-Bjorkstrand
Holmberg-Gourde-Girgensons
Douglas-Paul-Sabourin
Moser-Raddysh
D’astous-Crozier
Carlile-Santini
Vasilevskiy
Johansson
Buy Tampa Bay Hockey Gear Below!
Tampa Bay Hockey – Inside The Rink
Players To Watch:
Montreal Canadiens
Nick Suzuki leads the Canadiens with 42 points. Cole Caufield is second on the team with 36 points.
Tampa Bay Lightning
Nikita Kucherov leads the Lightning with 47 points. Jake Guentzel has chipped in with 39 points.
Injury Report:
Montreal Canadiens
D Kaiden Guhle – IR
F Patrik Laine – IR
F Alex Newhook – IR
D David Reinbacher – Out
F Jake Evans – Day to day
G Sam Montembeault – Day to day
Tampa Bay Lightning
D Erik Cernak – OUT
D Emil Lilleberg – OUT
D Victor Hedman – IR
LW Brandon Hagel – Day to day
D Ryan McDonagh – Day to day
Next Game:
Discover more from Inside The Rink
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.
Takeaways from Blues 3-2 Win vs. Predators
The Blues got off to a strong start after the Christmas break, beating the Predators 3-2 on Saturday. It’s a big win coming off the break against a Central Division opponent that had dominated them twice earlier this month. St. Louis is now 15-16-8 one win away from being .500 once again. Brayden Schenn Opens […]
2026 World Junior Championship: Day Three Preview
Day two of the 2026 World Junior Championship is wrapped up, and it’s been a significantly closer year compared to the previous few in this tournament. It feels as if there’s a fresh slate of teams this year that can compete, and others that can realistically stay in the top division. Related: Guide to the 2026 […]
© 2021-2025 Inside The Rink®
This website has no affiliation to any of the hockey leagues it reports on. All materials not owned by Inside The Rink LLC are used for editorial purposes only. Privacy Policy