Credit: Eric Bolte-Imagn Images

Game 80: Montreal Canadiens vs. Columbus Blue Jackets

Start time: 7:00 PM EDT / 4:00 PM PDT
In Canada: CityTV, Sportsnet East (English), TVA Sports (French)
In the Blue Jackets region: FanDuel Sports Network Ohio
Streaming: ESPN+, Sportsnet+

The Ottawa Senators closed off the Columbus Blue Jackets’ path to a wild-card spot with a win this afternoon. That leaves just the third seed in the Metropolitan Division as an option for them to make the post-season. To get there, they will need to overtake both the New York Islanders and Philadelphia Flyers in the final three games of their season.

Even with the situation as dire as it is, Columbus hasn’t been able to respond over the last few weeks, with mounting losses putting them in such a position. They won’t finish the season on a six-game regulation winning streak like they did a year ago, as their only win in the past eight games has come in the shootout versus a Detroit Red Wings team experiencing a similar freefall.

This is the final regular-season game that the Canadiens will play in front of their home fans, and the question is whether they will return to the Bell Centre for Game 1 of the opening round. That’s the current outlook with them holding a games-played edge on the Tampa Bay Lightning, who got a win earlier today by beating the Boston Bruins. The Canadiens can seal home-ice advantage by winning the final three games, but that won’t be easy versus three teams locked in the Metro fight.

Montreal Canadiens projected lineup

Left Wing
Centre
Right Wing

#13 Cole Caufield
#14 Nick Suzuki
#20 Juraj Slafkovský

#85 Alexandre Texier
#91 Oliver Kapanen
#93 Ivan Demidov

#15 Alex Newhook
#24 Phillip Danault
#77 Kirby Dach

#90 Joe Veleno
#71 Jake Evans
#17 Josh Anderson

Left Defence
Right Defence

#8 Mike Matheson
#53 Noah Dobson

#47 Jayden Struble
#48 Lane Hutson

#72 Arber Xhekaj
#42 Adam Engström

Starter
Backup

#75 Jakub Dobeš
#32 Jacob Fowler

Injured: Alexandre Carrier, Kaiden Guhle
Scratched: Brendan Gallagher, Patrik Laine, Samuel Montembeault

Columbus Blue Jackets projected lineup

Left Wing
Centre
Right Wing

Kirill Marchenko
Adam Fantilli
Isac Lundestrom

Cole Sillinger
Charlie Coyle
Danton Heinen

Mason Marchment
Boone Jenner
Conor Garland

Miles Wood
Sean Monahan
Kent Johnson

Left Defence
Right Defence

Zach Werenski
Dante Fabbro

Ivan Provorov
Denton Mateychuk

Jake Christiansen
Erik Gudbranson

Starter
Backup

Jet Greaves
Elvis Merzlikins