Early look The full preview opens on Sunday 21 February, 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 Los Angeles Kings: game preview

Puck drop24 Feb · 10:00 PM ET
VenueCrypto.com Arena
All-time meetings164 completed
BasisLast 5 meetings + 2025-26
The thesis

Sixteen points apart last season

Montréal finished last season 6th in the league on 106 points. Los Angeles finished 20th on 90.

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

Head-to-head

Meeting number 165

Across 164 completed games, Montréal lead the head-to-head 107-51-6.

All-time record107-51-6Montréal's record in the series
Meetings played164This is number 165
2025-26 series—
Last 54-1Los Angeles
DateResultShotsPower playWinner
7 Mar 2026MTL 4 – LAK 3——MTL
11 Nov 2025LAK 5 – MTL 1——LAK
5 Feb 2025MTL 3 – LAK 6——LAK
17 Oct 2024LAK 4 – MTL 1——LAK
7 Dec 2023LAK 4 – MTL 0——LAK
Head-to-head finder

The table on each 2025-26 meeting night

DateMontréalLos Angeles
11 Nov 202510-4-2 · 22 pts6th8-5-4 · 20 pts11th
7 Mar 202628-17-7 · 63 pts9th21-16-13 · 55 pts22nd

League rank after that night's games; a longer bar is a higher place. On 11 Nov 2025, Montréal were 6th in the league and Los Angeles 11th. By 7 Mar 2026 it was 9th and 22nd.


Where the shots come from · last 5 meetings

Los Angeles out-attempted Montréal 147 to 102

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

Montréal Canadiens

102 att · 45 on goal · 5 G · 11.1%
Crease4 att · 0 G
Slot42 att · 1 G
Wing33 att · 3 G
Point18 att · 1 G
Neutral zone5 att · 0 G

Los Angeles Kings

147 att · 65 on goal · 8 G · 12.3%
Crease11 att · 0 G
Slot49 att · 6 G
Wing57 att · 0 G
Point26 att · 2 G
Neutral zone4 att · 0 G
GoalOn goalMissedBlocked

Expected goals

Los Angeles 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.

MontréalLos Angeles
2.61xG for per game2.88
3.61xG against per game2.43
42.0%xG share54.2%
+4.2FinishingGoals minus expected goals+0.4
−3.2GoaltendingExpected goals against minus goals allowed−7.7

This season: 3 games for Montréal, 3 for Los Angeles. 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 5 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

Los Angeles

Small sample
Power play · 2026-2716.7%
Power play · 2025-2617.0% · 28th
Power play · last 5 meetings—
Penalty kill · 2026-2761.5%
Penalty kill · 2025-2674.6% · 30th
Faceoffs · 2026-2756.9% · 103/181
Drawn · 2026-2712 (4.00/gm)
Drawn · last meetings0 (0.00/gm)
Shorthanded · 2026-2713 (4.33/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
10Artemi Panarin32131.00
56Erik Haula31231.00
14Alex Laferriere31231.00
Points leaders
PlayerGPGAPP/GP
48Lane Hutson30441.33
8Mike Matheson30110.33
92Brandt Clarke30220.67
8Drew Doughty30110.33
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 22 Feb: a back-to-back depends on who plays that night.

Expected starter after their game on 20 Feb: a back-to-back depends on who plays that night.

Montréal crease

MTL · 2026-27 Starter estimate from 21 Feb

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

No appearances against Los Angeles in the last meetings.

Los Angeles crease

LAK · 2026-27 Starter estimate from 21 Feb

Darcy Kuemper.8252 GP · 0-2-0 · GSAx −4.2
Anton Forsberg.8001 GP · 0-0-1 · GSAx −3.5

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 5 meetings

7 Mar 20267 · MTL 4–3 LAK
11 Nov 20256 · LAK 5–1 MTL
5 Feb 20259 · MTL 3–6 LAK
17 Oct 20245 · LAK 4–1 MTL
7 Dec 20234 · LAK 4–0 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
Los Angeles3.005.002.743.01

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 5 meetings6.2Goals per game
Line—No total posted yet
Books at the line—With the game-day prices

Team news

8 on the injury lists

Montréal · injuries

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

Los Angeles · injuries

Jakub DvorakUpper BodyIRReturn31 Oct
Jan JenikUndisclosedIRReturn24 Oct
Kevin FialaLower LegIRReturn17 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 · LAK

Placed D Otto Salin on the injured non-roster list. Loaned G Erik Portillo to Ontario (AHL).

24 Sep · LAK

Waived for the purpose of assignment to Abbotsford (AHL) Fs Martin Chromia, Cole Guttman, Lane Pederson and Francesco Pinelli and D Joe Hicketts. Loaned Fs Aatu Jamsen and Koehn Ziemmer, Ds Angus Booth, Kirill Kirsanov and Jared Woolley to Ontario. Placed F Jan Jenik and D Jakub Dvorak on injured reserve.

15 Jul 2026 · LAK

Signed F Elton Hermansson to a three-year, entry-level contract.

Injury report
#26Gleb PugachyovRound 1 · Nizhny Novgorod Jr.RW
#57Timofei RuntsoRound 2 · VictoriaD
#93Cooper CleavesRound 3 · DartmouthD
#117Brayden KlimpkeRound 4 · SaskatoonD
Full draft
#19Elton HermanssonRound 1 · ModoRW
#46Liam LefebvreRound 2 · ChicoutimiC
#49Adam GoljerRound 2 · TrencinD
#80Blake ZielinskiRound 3 · Des MoinesC
Full draft

Updated after every final