Canadiens Pre Game
Canadiens Preview: Dobes Set To Start Versus Red Wings
The Montreal Canadiens (0-1-0) are set to face the Detroit Red Wings, with the puck drop scheduled for 7 pm ET.
This will be the second leg of back-to-back road games to open the season, presenting the Habs with an opportunity to redeem their frustrating loss to the Toronto Maple Leafs on Wednesday night.
Things started relatively well for Martin St-Louis’ team, with rookie Oliver Kapanen scoring his first career goal off the rush, while shorthanded. Kapanen, along with Alex Newhook, formed a very interesting penalty killing duo that focused on speed to clear the zone and turn defensive assignments into scoring opportunities. The last Canadiens player who managed to score his first career goal on the penalty kill was defenceman Chris Chelios, way back in 1984.
Newcomer Zachary Bolduc also made a good impression, pouncing on a rebound to score in his first game while wearing a Canadiens uniform. Unfortunately, things went awry in the third period, which led to the Maple Leafs emerging with a 5-2 win that included a pair of empty-net goals.
ON TOPIC: Canadiens Highlights: Kapanen Scores First In Losing Cause
Seeing as the team was forced to travel following the loss in Toronto, St-Louis did run practice lines on Thursday, which means news of any lineup changes beyond Jakub Dobes starting will have to be updated as the information becomes available. Dobes, 24, produced a 7-4-3 record last season, along with a 2.74 goals against average, as well as a .909 save percentage.
As for the Red Wings, this will mark their first game of the 2025-26 campaign, and will be yet another year in which the team hopes to finally break out of the NHL’s rebuilding basement, and into the playoff picture. Detroit has not qualified for the playoffs since 2016, and the pressure on general manager Steve Yzerman, who was hired in 2019, has reached a boiling point.
For the view from the other side of the rink, don’t forget to visit our sister site Detroit Hockey Now.
Montreal Canadiens Potential Lineup
| Left Wing | Centre | Right Wing |
|---|---|---|
| Cole Caufield | Nick Suzuki | Juraj Slafkovsky |
| Alex Newhook | Oliver Kapanen | Ivan Demidov |
| Zachary Bolduc | Owen Beck | Owen Beck |
| Josh Anderson | Jake Evans | Brendan Gallagher |
| Mike Matheson | Noah Dobson |
| Jayden Struble | Lane Hutson |
| Arber Xhekaj | Alex Carrier |
| Samuel Montembeault |
| Jakub Dobes |
Projected Detroit Red Wings Lineup
Finnie – Larkin – Raymond
DeBrincat – Kasper – Kane
Copp – Compher – Brandsegg-Nygard
Soderblom– Rasmussen – Appleton
Chiarot – Seider
Edvinsson –Sandin-Pellikka
Johansson-Hamonic
Gibson
Talbot
How to Watch the Montreal Canadiens vs. the Detroit Red Wings, Thursday, October 9, 2025
The Canadiens game versus the Red Wings will be aired on TSN2 and RDS. Once the game is over, an instant recap complete with highlights will be available on Montreal Hockey Now.
