About the Canadiens - 01-20-12
A preview of the Canadiens.
When and where: 7 p.m., EST. Consol Energy Center.
TV: Root Sports, TSN-Habs, RDS, NHL Network (United States outside the Pittsburgh market).
Record: 17-21-8, 42 points. The Canadiens are in 13th place in the Eastern Conference and last place in the Northeast Division.
Leading Scorer: Erik Cole, 33 points (17 goals, 16 assists).
Last Game: 3-0 home loss to the Capitals, Wednesday. Carey Price made 13 saves for the Canadiens.
Last Game against the Penguins: 4-3 overtime home loss, Nov. 26. Kris Letang scored in overtime for the Penguins.
Canadiens Player We Would Bet Money On Scoring: Max Pacioretty. He had a goal and an assist the last time he played the Penguins.
Ex-Penguins on the Canadiens: Randy Cunneyworth (above), head coach; Hal Gill, D.
Ex-Canadiens on the Penguins: Arron Asham, RW.
Useless Canadiens Trivia Vaguely Related to the Penguins: Current Canadiens coach Randy Cunneyworth is one of two former Penguins players who have coached Montreal. The other is Al MacNeil.
Best Canadiens Video We Could Find: Canadiens legend Bernie "Boom Boom" Geoffrion selling some beer:
{youtube width="465" height="345"}2zVQ1lTEBuk{/youtube}
Probable goaltenders: Brent Johnson (2-5-2, 3.47 GAA, .876 SV%) for the Penguins and Peter Budaj (2-4-0, 2.51 GAA, .913 SV%) for the Canadiens.
Injuries: For the Penguins, right winger Arron Asham (head) is out. Centers Sidney Crosby (head), Jordan Staal (knee) and defensemen Simon Despres (knee) are on injured reserve. For the Canadiens, right winger Brian Gionta (biceps), defenseman Andrei Markov (knee) and center Ryan White ("lower body") are on injured reserve.
Potential lines and defensive pairings: The Penguins' did not hold a morning skate today. Their primary lines and defensive pairings against the Rangers last night were:
Chris Kunitz - Evgeni Malkin - James Neal
Pascal Dupuis - Dustin Jeffrey - Tyler Kennedy
Matt Cooke - Richard Park - Steve Sullivan
Eric Tangradi - Joe Vitale - Craig Adams
Kris Letang - Brooks Orpik
Zbynek Michalek - Paul Martin
Deryk Engelland - Matt Niskanen
-The Canadiens had an optional morning skate today. Their primary lines and defensive pairings against the Capitals Wednesday were:
Rene Bourque - Tomas Plekanec - Mike Blunden
Travis Moen - Lars Eller - Andrei Kostitsyn
Erik Cole - David Desharnais - Max Pacioretty
Mathieu Darche - Scott Gomez
Josh Gorges - PK Subban
Hall Gill - Yannick Weber
Alexei Emelin - Raphael Diaz
Tomas Kaberle
Notes:
-The last time the Penguins played the Canadiens, this happened:
{youtube width="465" height="266"}zbkIuftMZSs{/youtube}
-Letang has 149 career points.
-Park has scored 99 career goals.
-Neal has scored 97 career goals.
-Could the Canadiens bench Gill in place of defenseman Chris Campoli in order to boost their sagging power play?
-The Penguins will be wearing their blue mish-mash "Frankenstein" jerseys tonight.
-Our live blog begins at approximately 6 p.m. Please tune in.
(Photo: Penguins Hockey Cards)