Montreal has its own hole on defense. Mike Matheson, who usually plays the 2nd-most minutes on the team, missed the Buffalo game and the Washington game with a lower-body injury and is listed as out. Owen Beck came up from Laval to fill in at forward. The Canadiens are also without Ivan Demidov, Oliver Kapanen and Sam Montembeault, so the lineup is thinner than it should be this early in the year.
The biggest question for Saturday is in goal. Jakub Dobes started on opening night but sat at a .857 save percentage and a 4.43 GAA after 3 games. Then at Washington he gave up 3 goals on 18 shots through 2 periods while his team outshot the Capitals, and the Caps pulled away 5-3 on Alex Tuch's late goal. Jacob Fowler, 21, came up after Montembeault got hurt in practice and stopped 30 shots in a 1-0 shootout win over Detroit. He then started the first Buffalo game as well. Montreal hasn't named a starter for Saturday. If it's Fowler, the Canadiens are playing the hot hand. If it's Dobes, they're betting he can turn his season around against a team that has already seen them once this week.
On the other side, Buffalo's scoring has swung a lot: 0 against Dallas, 1 against Utah, then 5 against Florida and 3 in Montreal. Josh Anderson scored twice in Washington, so the Canadiens can produce even while their goaltending struggles. A lot depends on whether Dahlin is back by Saturday and how the Sabres come out of the Toronto game. If he returns, Buffalo's blue line looks much better. If he doesn't, Jones and Laatsch will need to get settled fast in a loud building.