Montreal @ Columbus preview

Last Meeting ( Nov 12, 2019 ) Columbus 2, Montreal 3

The Montreal Canadiens have enjoyed plenty of highs in their surprising start, beating reigning Stanley Cup champion St. Louis twice and ending Washington's 13-game point streak on Friday. The latter victory, however, came at a cost for Montreal, which will be without two key players when they visit the Columbus Blue Jackets on Tuesday night.

The Canadiens announced Monday that forwards Jonathan Drouin (wrist) and Paul Byron (knee) will undergo surgery and be sidelined indefinitely. “We’ll a better idea of a timeline after the surgery,” said Montreal coach Claude Julien, whose club is on a six-game point streak (4-0-2) that included a 3-2 shootout win over Columbus last week. The sputtering Blue Jackets had dropped seven of eight (1-5-2) before squeezing out a 3-2 overtime win over the Blues on Friday in the opener of a three-game homestand. "I hope a win will relax this hockey club. We are one uptight ... team," coach John Tortorella said. "Hopefully it will help them. It's a good win."

TV: 7 p.m. ET, TSN2, RDS (Montreal), FS Ohio (Columbus)

ABOUT THE CANADIENS (11-5-3): Drouin, fourth on the team in scoring, underwent surgery Monday and Byron is set to go under the knife Tuesday after both players were injured Friday and missed Saturday's loss to New Jersey. "We didn't get good news," Julien said. "We'll know more about duration after surgery. You find out things once you're in there, so we're hoping for the best news possible." Nick Suzuki, bumped up to center the second line, has scored in two straight and has a three-game point streak.

ABOUT THE BLUE JACKETS (7-8-4): Tortorella is ignoring his gut and sticking with the lines he shuffled in the third period Friday. “Basically, the opposite. It may sound a little silly, but that’s basically what I was doing," Tortorella said. "Isn’t there a ‘Seinfeld’ episode (about) doing the opposite? Well, that’s what I did.” Among the moves were elevating Boone Jenner and Riley Nash, the Nos. 3 and 4 centers, and shifting top-line center Pierre-Luc Dubois to play with bottom-six forwards Sonny Milano and Emil Bemstrom.

OVERTIME

1. Canadiens F Tomas Tatar has seven points during a four-game point streak, including a last-minute goal versus Columbus last week.

2. Dubois leads the team with seven goals and 12 points but has only one tally in seven games versus Montreal.

3. Canadiens G Carey Price improved to 10-4-1 with a 2.18 goals-against average versus Columbus with last week's win.

PREDICTION: Canadiens 3, Blue Jackets 2