About the Canadiens - 01-06-11
A preview of the Canadiens.
When and where: 7:30 p.m., Bell Centre.
TV: FSN Pittsburgh, RDS, TSN, NHL Network (United States).
Record: 21-16-3, 45 points. The Canadiens are in eighth place in the Eastern Conference and second place in the Northeast Division.
Leading Scorers: Tomas Plekanec (right), 32 points (12 goals, 20 assists).
Last Game: 4-3 home overtime loss to the Thrashers, Sunday. James Wisniewski had two assists for the Canadiens.
Last Game against the Penguins: 3-2 road win, Oct. 9. Marc-Andre Fleury made 24 saves for the Penguins.
Canadiens Player We Would Bet Money On Scoring: Mike Cammalleri. He scored two goals Oct. 9.
Ex-Penguins on the Canadiens: Hal Gill, D.
Ex-Canadiens on the Penguins: Arron Asham, RW; Andre Savard, professional scout.
Useless Canadiens Trivia Vaguely Related to the Penguins: Three men have coached for both the Canadiens and Penguins. Bob Berry, Scotty Bowman and Michel Therrien
Best Canadiens Video We Could Find: Chances are, this is the best French rap video you'll watch all day:
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Probable goaltenders: Brent Johnson (8-3-1, 2.14 GAA, .925 SV%) for the Penguins and Carey Price (19-14-3, 2.37 GAA, .919 SV%) for the Canadiens.
Injuries: For the Penguins, forward Eric Godard (nose) is out. Forward Mike Comrie (hip) and defenseman Alex Grant (wrist) are on injured reserve. For the Canadiens, defensemen Josh Gorges (knee) and Roman Hamrlik (undisclosed) are out. Defenseman Andrei Markov (knee) is on injured reserve.
Potential lines and defensive pairings: The Penguins primary lines and defensive pairings against the Lightning last night were:
Chris Kunitz - Sidney Crosby - Pascal Dupuis
Tyler Kennedy - Jordan Staal - Evgeni Malkin
Matt Cooke - Mark Lestestu - Chris Conner
Mike Rupp - Maxime Talbot - Craig Adams
Brooks Orpik - Kris Letang
Paul Martin - Zbynek Michalek
Alex Goligoski - Ben Lovejoy
-The Canadiens primary lines and defensive pairings in practice yesterday were:
Max Pacioretty - Scott Gomez - Brian Gionta
Mike Cammalleri - Tomas Plekanec - Andrei Kostitsyn
Tom Pyatt - Jeff Halpern - Travis Moen
Benoit Pouliot - David Desharnais - Mathieu Darche
Hal Gill - P.K. Subban
Jaroslav Spacek - James Wisniewski
Alexandre Picard - Yannick Weber
Notes:
-Talbot has 49 career goals, 49 career assists and 98 career points.
-Martin has 149 career assists.
-Television Heads-Up: Don't forget tonight's game is on NHL Network in the United States. If you are a Center Ice or Game Center Live customer and you are located outside of the Pittsburgh market, please make sure you have NHL Network or make alternate plans to watch it.
-Our live blog begins at approximately 7 p.m. Please tune in.
(Photo: Bruce Bennett/Getty Images)