GAME DAY: Red Wings look to rebound in Montreal after shutout loss to Caps (7:00 p.m. ET, BSDET+)

Just two days after being shut out by a 26-year-old goaltender making his National Hockey League debut, the Detroit Red Wings will return to action on Saturday looking for their first win against the Montreal Canadiens this season in their third try.

Washington Capitals goalie Zach Fucale stopped all 21 Red Wings shots he faced in his team’s 2-0 shutout win over Detroit on Thursday. The Canadiens originally selected Fucale in the second round of the 2013 NHL Entry Draft.

Detroit has lost twice to Montreal this season, falling 6-1 on Oct. 23 before losing 3-0 on Nov. 2. Half of Montreal’s four wins this season have come against the Red Wings.

Montreal enters Saturday’s game looking for a second consecutive win. The Canadiens beat the Calgary Flames by a 4-2 score on Nov. 11, with @Ben Chiarot, @Brendan Gallagher, @Nick Suzuki, and @Jake Evans notching goals in the victory.

Detroit currently ranks third in the Atlantic Division with a 7-6-2 record. Montreal, at 4-10-1, sits seventh.

Detroit went with these combinations against the Capitals on Thursday:

@Tyler Bertuzzi – @Dylan Larkin – @Lucas Raymond
@Filip Zadina – @Pius Suter – @Robby Fabbri
@Vladislav Namestnikov – @Michael Rasmussen – @Adam Erne
@Givani Smith – @Mitchell Stephens – @Sam Gagner

Danny DeKeyser – @Moritz Seider
@Nick Leddy – @Filip Hronek
@Marc Staal – Gustav Lindström

@Thomas Greiss is coming off a .931 SV% performance in Washington. @Alex Nedeljkovic most recently posted a .939 SV% against the Oilers. It’s hard to predict who Jeff Blashill will choose in Montreal, but we’ll predict a well-rested Nedeljkovic gets the nod.

Montreal deployed these combinations against Calgary on Thursday:

@Mike Hoffman – @Nick Suzuki – @Tyler Toffoli
@Josh Anderson – @Christian Dvorak – @Brendan Gallagher
@Artturi Lehkonen – @Jake Evans – @Joel Armia
@Michael Pezzetta – @Ryan Poehling – @Alex Belzile

@Ben Chiarot – @Jeff Petry
@Brett Kulak – @David Savard
@Alexander Romanov – @Chris Wideman

@Jake Allen will probably start once again for Montreal while @Carey Price continues to prepare to make his return.

Detroit: @Tyler Bertuzzi (nine goals, 15 points); @Lucas Raymond (six goals, 14 points); @Moritz Seider (two goals, 11 points); @Dylan Larkin (four goals, nine points); @Vladislav Namestnikov (seven goals, nine points).

Montreal: @Nick Suzuki (four goals, 14 points); @Tyler Toffoli (three goals, nine points); @Jonathan Drouin (two goals, seven points); @Mike Hoffman (four goals, seven points); @Brendan Gallagher (three goals, seven points).

Detroit: Who better than the captain to kickstart the Red Wings’ offense after a shutout loss? @Dylan Larkin is off to a nice start this season but he has just one goal on his last 23 shots, good for a 4.3 conversion percentage. That’s bound to improve soon.

Montreal: In July, the Canadiens signed @Joel Armia to a four-year extension carrying a $3.4 million annual cap hit. 15 games into that contract, Armia has exactly zero goals and one assist. That’s not great, especially considering how Armia scored just 14 points in 41 games with the Canadiens last season. They really need him to get things going.

Friday’s Red Wings game will be broadcast on Bally Sports Detroit Plus starting at 7:00 p.m. ET. It’ll be sent over the airwaves on WXVT-FM 97.1 “The Ticket” in the Detroit area, as well as on the Red Wings’ official website.