The highly anticipated Game 3 in the Eastern Conference featured the Tampa Bay Lightning against the Montreal Canadiens. Both teams aimed to assert their dominance after a thrilling start to the series.
Projected Lineups for Game 3
Tampa Bay Lightning
- Gage Goncalves — Brayden Point — Nikita Kucherov
- Brandon Hagel — Anthony Cirelli — Jake Guentzel
- Zemgus Girgensons — Yanni Gourde — Nick Paul
- Corey Perry — Dominic James – Scott Sabourin
- J.J. Moser — Darren Raddysh
- Ryan McDonagh — Erik Cernak
- Declan Carlile — Emil Lilleberg
- Andrei Vasilevskiy (Goalie)
- Jonas Johansson (Backup Goalie)
Injuries and Scratches
- Scratched: Oliver Bjorkstrand, Conor Geekie, Max Crozier, Brandon Halverson
- Injured: Pontus Holmberg (upper body), Charle-Edouard D’Astous (undisclosed)
Montreal Canadiens
- Cole Caufield — Nick Suzuki — Juraj Slafkovsky
- Alexandre Texier — Alex Newhook — Ivan Demidov
- Zachary Bolduc — Oliver Kapanen — Kirby Dach
- Jake Evans — Phillip Danault – Josh Anderson
- Mike Matheson — Alexandre Carrier
- Kaiden Guhle — Lane Hutson
- Jayden Struble — Arber Xhekaj
- Jakub Dobes (Goalie)
- Jacob Fowler (Backup Goalie)
Injuries and Scratches
- Scratched: Brendan Gallagher, Joe Veleno, Adam Engstrom, David Reinbacher
- Injured: Patrik Laine (lower body), Noah Dobson (upper body)
Status Report
Both teams are expected to use the same lineups from the previous match, which saw Tampa Bay win 3-2 in overtime. D’Astous is anticipated to miss a second consecutive game after sustaining an injury during a hit from Josh Anderson in the first game, which the Canadiens won 4-3 in overtime.
Meanwhile, Anderson’s participation remains uncertain following an incident where he was hit from behind by Scott Sabourin but returned for overtime play on Tuesday. Matheson was seen on the ice after missing practice, indicating a potential return to active gameplay for the Canadiens.
The matchup promises excitement as both teams navigate injuries while competing for a pivotal victory in Game 3 of this tense series.
