All Habs GameDay: Sunday February 19, 2012
On this day in hockey history… 1980 – Washington beat Montreal 3-1 to end the Canadiens’ 34 game unbeaten streak against the Caps. Washington had been 0-32-2 against Montreal since entering the NHL in October 1974.
GAMEDAY: Habs hockey tonight!
NEW JERSEY DEVILS (33-20-4) vs. 
MONTREAL CANADIENS (24-25-10)
Last 10: New Jersey 7-1-2; Montreal 5-4-1
Bell Centre, 6:00 p.m. EST
TV: RDS, CBC, NBCSN
Projected line combinations (updated following morning skate)
MONTREAL CANADIENS
Forwards
Max Pacioretty – David Desharnais – Erik Cole
Rene Bourque – Tomas Plekanec – Mathieu Darche
Louis Leblanc – Lars Eller – Andrei Kostitsyn
Aaron Palushaj – Scott Gomez – Ryan White
Defenseman
Josh Gorges – P.K. Subban
Chris Campoli – Raphael Diaz
Tomas Kaberle – Alexei Emelin
Yannick Weber
Goaltenders
Carey Price (confirmed) – Peter Budaj
Scratches
Injuries
Mike Blunden (knee) – Andrei Markov (ACL) – Brian Gionta (biceps) – Petteri Nokelainen (upper body) – Travis Moen (upper body)
Power-play
Pacioretty – Desharnais – Cole – Kaberle – Subban
Kostitsyn – Plekanec – Gomez – Weber – Diaz
NEW JERSEY DEVILS
Forwards
Zach Parise – Adam Henrique – Ilya Kovalchuk
Petr Sykora – Patrik Elias – David Clarkson
Alexei Ponikarovsky – Dainius Zubrus – Steve Bernier
Eric Boulton – Jacob Josefson – Nick Palmieri
Defensemen
Andy Greene – Mark Fayne
Anton Volchenkov – Bryce Salvador
Kurtis Foster – Matt Taormina
Goaltenders
Martin Brodeur (will start) – Johan Hedberg
Scratches
Injuries
Ryan Carter – Henrik Tallinder – Travis Zajac – Adam Larsson
GAMEDAY: All Habs Headlines
► Geoffrion makes his mark in debut: The Hamilton Bulldogs were down 2-1 after two periods, but newcomer Blake Geoffrion scored his first goal as a member of the Canadiens’ organization since being acquired for veteran defenseman Hal Gill on Friday afternoon and the ‘Dogs were able to pull off a 5-2 win at the expense of the Rockford Ice Hogs on Saturday night. Geoffrion also had an assist on his way to claiming first-star honours. Meanwhile, Gabriel Dumont got the game-winning goal and added an assist on Phil DeSimone‘s empty-netter to finish second star, and Ian Schultz picked up two helpers and a fight for his third-star performance. Netminder Nathan Lawson turned away 27 shots. The Bulldogs’ next game is this afternoon at Rochester’s Blue Cross Arena, and fans can tune in via 820 CHAM or AHL Live beginning at 5:05 p.m. EST.
►Archambault making progress: Canadiens’ prospect Olivier Archambault is slowly recovering from a concussion resulting from an Adam Erne hit in late January. For a week now he has resumed off-ice workouts, but there is still no clear date for a return to the Drummondville Voltigeurs’ lineup. Head coach Mario Duhamel has estimated that if all goes well, Archambault should be back on the ice practicing within the next two weeks.
“Olivier is feeling better,” he said. “His condition is improving, but he has had some headaches for a few minutes during the evening. Fatigue might also be a cause.”
Read more: De lents progrès pour Archambault et Raymond (French)
► B’s walk free: Two Bruins, Brad Marchand and Scott Thornton escaped supplementary discipline this week with both players delivering questionable hits to Canadiens defenseman Alexei Emelin. Thornton’s cheap, blindside hit in the third period went unpenalized, as did Marchand’s low-bridge on Emelin at the end of the second period.
When NHL disciplinarian Brendan Shanahan didn’t bother to call either Boston player, the issue of Bruins’ owner Jeremy Jacobs’ cozy relationship with NHL commissioner Gary Bettman was raised.
Former NHL official Kerry Fraser tackled the Marchand hit in a recent TSN column. Fraser wrote, “I am somewhat confused by the lack of supplemental discipline [on the Marchand hit] at least a phone call or even a fine might be in order.”
Read more: Why Marchand didn’t face discipline for hit to Emelin
► New at All Habs Hockey Magazine:
Who’s This Guy? — Blake Geoffrion
Habs True Grit Trumps Playoff Math
Plus de rumeurs il y a, plus on se perd
Allure of Draft-eligible Prospects Eases Habs Fans’ Pain: Part II
► Puck’s take: The bunny’s record is an impressive 17-7-4. Unfortunately there won’t be a prediction tonight as Puck nurses his human back to health. Get well soon Louise!
(Photo by REUTERS/Ray Stubblebine)
► Tribute to Gary Carter, “Kid” by Annakin Slayd: