Early look The full preview opens on Friday 27 November, three days before puck drop, with the expected goalies, the latest team news and game-day prices. Until then this page shows the matchup as it stands.
Early look · NHL 2026-27

Montréal Canadiens at Utah Mammoth: game preview

Puck drop30 Nov · 9:30 PM ET
VenueDelta Center
All-time meetings4 completed
BasisLast 5 meetings + 2025-26
The thesis

Fourteen points apart last season

Montréal finished last season 6th in the league on 106 points. Utah finished 15th on 92.

Game-day prices arrive with the afternoon snapshot, about 4:30 PM ET on the day of the game.

Head-to-head

Meeting number 5

Across 4 completed games, Montréal lead the head-to-head 3-0-1.

All-time record3-0-1Montréal's record in the series
Meetings played4This is number 5
2025-26 series—
Last 43-1Montréal
DateResultShotsPower playWinner
26 Nov 2025MTL 4 – UTA 3——MTL
8 Nov 2025UTA 2 – MTL 6——MTL
14 Jan 2025MTL 5 – UTA 3——MTL
26 Nov 2024UTA 3 – MTL 2 OT——UTA
Head-to-head finder

The table on each 2025-26 meeting night

DateMontréalUtah
8 Nov 202510-3-2 · 22 pts3rd9-6-0 · 18 pts12th
26 Nov 202512-7-3 · 27 pts16th12-9-3 · 27 pts19th

League rank after that night's games; a longer bar is a higher place. On 8 Nov 2025, Montréal were 3rd in the league and Utah 12th. By 26 Nov 2025 it was 16th and 19th.


Where the shots come from · last 4 meetings

Utah out-attempted Montréal 128 to 88

Every attempt from the last meetings, both teams shooting right.

Montréal Canadiens

88 att · 40 on goal · 10 G · 25.0%
Crease4 att · 2 G
Slot48 att · 5 G
Wing26 att · 3 G
Point9 att · 0 G
Neutral zone1 att · 0 G

Utah Mammoth

128 att · 61 on goal · 5 G · 8.2%
Crease11 att · 2 G
Slot43 att · 3 G
Wing52 att · 0 G
Point20 att · 0 G
Neutral zone2 att · 0 G
GoalOn goalMissedBlocked

Expected goals

Utah have created the better chances, last 10 games

Shot quality both ways: expected goals weigh every unblocked attempt by its chance of scoring. Finishing above zero means more goals than the chances.

MontréalUtah
2.61xG for per game3.62
3.61xG against per game2.71
42.0%xG share57.2%
+4.2FinishingGoals minus expected goals+2.5
−3.2GoaltendingExpected goals against minus goals allowed+2.8

This season: 3 games for Montréal, 4 for Utah. Small sample: early-season xG moves a lot from night to night.

Every team’s xG →


Special teams

Power play and penalty kill, season and series

This season's rates first, then 2025-26 and the last meetings between the two. Power-play chances are counted from the penalty log with coincidental minors cancelled; faceoffs are each club's wins over draws taken.

All bars share one scale · 0–100%SeasonLast meetings

Montréal

Small sample
Power play · 2026-2710.0%
Power play · 2025-2623.1% · 10th
Power play · last 4 meetings—
Penalty kill · 2026-2775.0%
Penalty kill · 2025-2678.2% · 18th
Faceoffs · 2026-2753.9% · 96/178
Drawn · 2026-2710 (3.33/gm)
Drawn · last meetings0 (0.00/gm)
Shorthanded · 2026-2712 (4.00/gm)
PP goals · last meetings0

Utah

Small sample
Power play · 2026-2761.5%
Power play · 2025-2620.0% · 18th
Power play · last 4 meetings—
Penalty kill · 2026-2792.9%
Penalty kill · 2025-2678.1% · 19th
Faceoffs · 2026-2753.0% · 124/234
Drawn · 2026-2713 (3.25/gm)
Drawn · last meetings0 (0.00/gm)
Shorthanded · 2026-2714 (3.50/gm)
PP goals · last meetings0

Skaters

Skaters to watch

Each club's top three forwards and defencemen by points this season, with 2025-26 one tap away.

PlayerGPGAPP/GP
14Nick Suzuki32462.00
22Chris Kreider31341.33
76Zachary Bolduc33031.00
8Nick Schmaltz45271.75
11Dylan Guenther43361.50
Points leaders
PlayerGPGAPP/GP
48Lane Hutson30441.33
8Mike Matheson30110.33
20Andrew Peeke41120.50
Defencemen stats

Goaltending

Who has stopped this matchup

Save percentage in the last meetings by goalie. Starters are confirmed on game day.

Expected startersAn estimate until the teams confirmEvery game tonight →

Expected starter after their game on 28 Nov: a back-to-back depends on who plays that night.

Expected starter after their game on 28 Nov: a back-to-back depends on who plays that night.

Montréal crease

MTL · 2026-27 Starter estimate from 27 Nov

Jakub Dobes.8573 GP · 1-1-1 · GSAx −3.0

No appearances against Utah in the last meetings.

Utah crease

UTA · 2026-27 Starter estimate from 27 Nov

Karel Vejmelka.9133 GP · 2-1-0 · GSAx +1.7
Sebastian Cossa.9471 GP · 1-0-0 · GSAx +1.4

No appearances against Montréal in the last meetings.


Totals

Scoring rates point to about 6.5 goals

No total is posted yet: it arrives with the game-day prices. Until then, the scoring rates and the recent meetings set the range.

Goals in the last 4 meetings

26 Nov 20257 · MTL 4–3 UTA
8 Nov 20258 · UTA 2–6 MTL
14 Jan 20258 · MTL 5–3 UTA
26 Nov 20245 · UTA 3–2 MTL

Bar length is total goals, coloured by the winner.

Scoring rates

Team26-27 GF26-27 GA25-26 GF25-26 GA
Montréal4.004.673.453.12
Utah4.252.003.272.93

Goals for and against per game. The estimate averages each team’s scoring with the other’s goals allowed, and leans on 2025-26 until a team has played 20 games.

Scoring rates suggest6.5Goals in this game
Last 4 meetings7.0Goals per game
Line—No total posted yet
Books at the line—With the game-day prices

Team news

7 on the injury lists

Montréal · injuries

Bryce PickfordUndisclosedIRReturn17 Oct
Ivan DemidovLower BodyIRReturn31 Oct
Kaiden GuhleGroinIRReturn20 Oct
Lucas CondottaUndisclosedIRReturn10 Oct
Oliver KapanenLower BodyOutReturn8 Oct

Utah · injuries

Maveric LamoureuxShoulderIRReturn12 Feb
Mikhail SergachevUpper BodyDay-to-dayReturn8 Oct
27 Sep · MTL

Placed D Reilly Walsh, D Maksymilian Szuber, D Ethan Samson, C Sam Poulin, RW Sasha Pastujov, C Hunter McKown, G Kaapo Kähkönen, LW Brett Berard, and RW Alex Belzile on waivers for the purpose of loaning them to Laval (AHL).

12 Sep · MTL

Signed F Chris Kreider to a one-year contract.

9 Aug 2026 · MTL

Loaned F Vinzenz Rohrer to EV Zug (Switzerland).

27 Sep · UTA

Placed LW Ben McCartney on waivers.

25 Sep · UTA

Assigned Fs Yegor Borikov, Caleb Desnoyers, Tij Iginla, Gabe Smith and G Michael Hrabal to Tucson (AHL). Waived for the purpose of assignment to Fs Brandon Tanev and Joshua Roy and D Zac Jones.

23 Jul 2026 · UTA

Signed D Max Psenicka to a three-year contract.

Injury report
#26Gleb PugachyovRound 1 · Nizhny Novgorod Jr.RW
#57Timofei RuntsoRound 2 · VictoriaD
#93Cooper CleavesRound 3 · DartmouthD
#117Brayden KlimpkeRound 4 · SaskatoonD
Full draft
#17Ethan BelchetzRound 1 · WindsorLW
#96Adam ValentiniRound 3 · MichiganC
#115Carl AxelssonRound 4 · MuskegonG
#130Theodor KnightsRound 5 · Modo Jr.D
Full draft

Updated after every final