Montreal @ Chicago preview

Last Meeting ( Nov 5, 2017 ) Montreal 2, Chicago 0

The Montreal Canadiens have answered their longest losing streak of the season with three wins in four contests and look to continue moving forward when they visit the slumping Chicago Blackhawks on Sunday. The Canadiens ended last month with five straight defeats before knocking off the New York Rangers to start December and responded to a loss to San Jose by sweeping a home-and-home set with Ottawa.

“For the most part, we had a pretty complete game, and it’s nice when everyone contributes,” Montreal right wing Brendan Gallagher told reporters after Thursday’s 5-2 win at Ottawa. “We’re trying to get on a bit of a win streak and pick up some points. We knew we had some time off after this one, so we put a lot of emphasis on these two games and we got it done.” The Canadiens snapped an eight-game losing streak in the series in their last meeting with Chicago, which has dropped six straight contests overall - allowing 30 goals in that span. The Blackhawks netted three consecutive tallies to take a lead at Vegas on Thursday but gave up two in a 12-second span to cough it up and suffered a 4-3 setback. “Anytime you’re in a slump, whether it’s as a player or as a team, it’s hard to get out of it,” Chicago captain Jonathan Toews told reporters. “It’s a mental thing. You’ve just got to find a way to relax and stay with your process when things are going well and when you’re in control of the game.”

TV: 6 p.m. ET, NHL Network, Sportsnet, Sportsnet One, RDS (Montreal), NBCS Chicago

ABOUT THE CANADIENS (14-10-5): Jonathan Drouin has recorded one goal, five assists and a plus-5 rating during his four-game point streak and has collected 26 points overall - four fewer than linemate Max Domi for the team lead. Gallagher has scored in back-to-back games to tie Domi for first on the club with 13 goals while Paul Byron has notched four points in as many contests since returning from injured reserve. Jeff Petry has scored two of his four goals in the last three games and fellow defenseman Shea Weber has recorded four points in his first five contests of the season following knee surgery.

ABOUT THE BLACKHAWKS (9-16-5): Not much has been going right for Chicago over the past few weeks, but Dylan Strome has recorded three goals and an assist in six games since being acquired from Arizona. Toews has scored two goals in his last three games to tie for the team lead of 13 with Patrick Kane, who has managed just one in his last 14 contests but tops the Blackhawks with 32 points - including seven in his last seven matches. Connor Murphy (back) has been activated and could make his season debut Sunday while fellow defenseman Gustav Forsling (shoulder) was placed on IR.

OVERTIME

1. Toews needs two points to reach 700 for his career and Chicago D Brent Seabrook is two goals away from 100.

2. Montreal G Carey Price has won three of his last four games overall but is 3-5-0 lifetime against the Blackhawks.

3. Chicago C Artem Anisimov has recorded three of his six goals on the season in his last five contests.

PREDICTION: Canadiens 4, Blackhawks 3