NHL Game Preview: Montreal Canadiens at Buffalo Sabres with Line Combinations 1/15/2026

AP Photo/Jeffrey T. Barnes

Montreal Canadiens (26-14-7, 59 pts) at Buffalo Sabres (25-16-4, 54 pts)

Venue: KeyBank Center
Date: Thursday, January 15
Time: 7:00 pm EST
How To Watch: ESPN+/TSN2/RDS/MSG-B
Radio: TSN 690/550 WGR

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Montreal Canadiens News & Notes:

The Canadiens suffered a 3-2 loss to the Capitals on Tuesday night. They’ve come away with points in 12 of their last 14 games, averaging 3.8 goals per game while allowing 2.6 goals per game.

Buffalo Sabres & Notes:

The Sabres got back in the win column with a 5-2 win over the Flyers. They’ve won four of their last five games, averaging 4.6 goals per game while allowing 2.8 goals per game.

Montreal Canadiens Projected Lines

Caufield-Suzuki-Texier
Slafkovsky-Kapanen-Demidov
Bolduc-Danault-Anderson
Blais-Veleno-Gallagher

Matheson-Dobson
Hutson-Carrier
Struble-Xhekaj

Montembeault
Dobes

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Buffalo Sabres Projected Lines:

Benson-Thompson-Tuch
Zucker-McLeod-Quinn
Ostlund-Norris-Doan
Kozak-Krebs-Malenstyn

Samuelsson-Dahlin
Byram-Power
Bryson-Metsa

Ellis
Luukkonen

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Players To Watch:

Montreal Canadiens

Oliver Kapanen scored one of the four Montreal goals in their win over Buffalo back in October.

Buffalo Sabres

Zach Benson had an assist in Buffalo’s 4-2 loss to the Canadiens back on October 20th. He also led the team in shots on goal in that game with seven.

Injury Report:

Montreal Canadiens

F Jake Evans – IR
F Patrik Laine – IR
F Alex Newhook – IR
D David Reinbacher – Out
D Kaiden Guhle – Out
F Kirby Dach – IR

Buffalo Sabres

D Conor Timmins – IR
F Jiri Kulich – IR
F Justin Danforth – IR
D Michael Kesselring – IR
F Josh Dunne – Out
G Alex Lyon – IR

Next Game:

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