About the Canadiens - 02-07-12
A preview of the Canadiens.
When and where: 7:30 p.m., EST. Bell Centre.
TV: Root Sports, TSN-Habs, RDS.
Record: 20-24-9, 49 points. The Canadiens are in 14th place in the Eastern Conference and last place in the Northeast Division.
Leading Scorer: Erik Cole, 39 points (19 goals, 20 assists).
Last Game: 3-0 home win against the Jets, Sunday. Carey Price (right) made 23 saves for the Canadiens.
Last Game against the Penguins: 5-4 shootout road loss, Jan. 20. Dustin Jeffrey had two regulation goals and an assist for the Penguins.
Canadiens Player We Would Bet Money On Scoring: Cole. He has four points in his past two games against the Penguins.
Ex-Penguins on the Canadiens: Randy Cunneyworth, head coach; Hal Gill, D.
Ex-Canadiens on the Penguins: Arron Asham, RW.
Useless Canadiens Trivia Vaguely Related to the Penguins: Canadiens legend Guy Lafleur has six seasons with 50 or more goals. He recorded his 50th goal against former Penguins goaltender Denis Herron three times.
Best Canadiens Video We Could Find: Canadiens forward Russ Courtnall running over Flames goaltender Mike Vernon in the 1986 Stanley Cup Final:
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Probable goaltenders: Marc-Andre Fleury (28-13-2, 2.30 GAA, .912 SV%) for the Penguins and Carey Price (18-19-8, 2.38 GAA, .915 SV%) for the Canadiens.
Injuries: For the Penguins center Tyler Kennedy (suspected leg) is out. Centers Sidney Crosby (head/neck), Jordan Staal (knee), right winger Arron Asham (head) and defensemen Simon Despres (knee) are on injured reserve. For the Canadiens, right wingers Mike Blunden ("lower body"), Brian Gionta (biceps), defenseman Andrei Markov (knee), left winger Travis Moen ("upper body") and center Petteri Nokelainen ("upper body") are on injured reserve.
Potential lines and defensive pairings: The Penguins' did not hold a full morning skate today. Based on their lines yesterday and their injuries, consider this a guess:
Chris Kunitz - Evgeni Malkin - James Neal
Matt Cooke - Dustin Jeffrey - Pascal Dupuis
Steve Sullivan - Cal O'Reilly - Colin McDonald
Richard Park - Joe Vitale - Craig Adams
Brook Orpik - Kris Letang
Paul Martin - Zbynek Michalek
Matt Niskanen - Deryk Engelland
-The Canadiens's lineup has been in flux as of late. Consider this a guess:
Max Pacioretty - David Desharnais - Erik Cole
Andrei Kotitsyn - Tomas Plekanec - Rene Bourque
Lars Eller - Scot Gomez - Mathieu Darche
Travis Moen - Louis Leblanc - Chris Campoli
Josh Gorges - PK Subban
Tomas Kaberle - Alexei Emelin
Hal Gill - Raphael Diaz
Notes:
-The last time the Penguins played the Canadiens, this happened:
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-This too:
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-If the Penguins win tonight, they will sweep a season series against the Canadiens for the first time in franchise history.
-Welcome back Jason Williams.
-Park has scored 99 career goals.
-Moen is considered a game-time decision.
-Our live blog begins at approximately, 7:15. Please tune in.
(Photo: Richard Wolowicz/Getty Images)