Montreal Canadiens (6-20-3, eighth in the Atlantic) vs. Pittsburgh Penguins (14-8-5, fourth in the Metropolitan)
Pittsburgh; Tuesday, 7 p.m. EST
LINE: Penguins -236, Canadiens +188; over/under is 5.5
BOTTOM LINE: Pittsburgh hosts the Montreal Canadiens after the Penguins shut out Anaheim 1-0. Casey DeSmith earned the victory in the net for Pittsburgh after collecting 33 saves.
The Penguins are 8-6-1 against Eastern Conference opponents. Pittsburgh serves 6.3 penalty minutes per game, the fewest in the league. Sam Lafferty leads the team averaging 1.0.
The Canadiens are 3-11-1 against conference opponents. Montreal scores 2.1 goals per game, the least in the NHL. Nicholas Suzuki leads the team with six total goals.
In their last matchup on Nov. 27, Montreal won 6-3. Josh Anderson recorded a team-high 3 points for the Canadiens.
TOP PERFORMERS: Marcus Pettersson leads the Penguins with a plus-10 in 23 games this season. Sidney Crosby has three goals and 10 assists over the last 10 games for Pittsburgh.
Mathieu Perreault leads the Canadiens with a plus-two in 13 games this season. Christian Dvorak has three goals and two assists over the last 10 games for Montreal.
LAST 10 GAMES: Penguins: 7-2-1, averaging 2.9 goals, 5.6 assists, 2.4 penalties and five penalty minutes while giving up 1.4 goals per game with a .952 save percentage.
Canadiens: 2-7-1, averaging 2.4 goals, 4.1 assists, 3.4 penalties and 8.8 penalty minutes while allowing 3.4 goals per game with a .907 save percentage.
INJURIES: Penguins: None listed.
Canadiens: Sami Niku: out (covid-19), Brendan Gallagher: out (covid-19 protocol), Jake Evans: day to day (undisclosed), Christian Dvorak: day to day (undisclosed).
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