All Habs GameDay: Saturday March 31, 2012
On this day in hockey history… 1927 – Montreal’s Howie Morenz scored at 12:05 of overtime as the Canadiens beat the Montreal Maroons 1-0, in the first all-NHL Stanley Cup Playoff overtime game ever played.
GAMEDAY: Habs hockey tonight!
MONTREAL CANADIENS (29-35-14) vs. WASHINGTON CAPITALS (39-31-8)
Last 10: Washington 5-3-2 ; Montreal 3-3-4
Verizonl Center, 7:00 p.m. EST
TV: RDS, CBC, CSN-MA
Projected line combinations (updated following morning skate)
MONTREAL CANADIENS
Forwards
Max Pacioretty – David Desharnais – Erik Cole
Rene Bourque – Tomas Plekanec – Louis Leblanc
Mike Blunden – Lars Eller – Blake Geoffrion
Brad Staubitz – Petteri Nokelainen – Aaron Palushaj
Defenseman
Josh Gorges – P.K. Subban
Andrei Markov – Alexei Emelin
Frederic St. Denis – Chris Campoli
Goaltenders
Carey Price – Peter Budaj (confirmed)
Scratches
Injuries
Brian Gionta (biceps) – Travis Moen (upper body) – Mathieu Darche (dizziness/upper body) – Raphael Diaz (lower body) – Scott Gomez (concussion) – Tomas Kaberle (upper body) – Yannick Weber (lower body) – Ryan White (flu)
Power-play
Pacioretty – Desharnais – Cole – Markov – Subban
Bourque – Plekanec – Leblanc – St. Denis – Campoli
WASHINGTON CAPITALS
Forwards
Alex Ovechkin – Nicklas Backstrom (GTD) – Marcus Johansson
Jason Chimera – Mathieu Perreault – Alexander Semin
Keith Aucoin – Brooks Laich – Troy Brouwer
Matt Hendricks – Jay Beagle – Mike Knuble
Defensemen
Karl Alzner – Dennis Wideman
Roman Hamrlik – Mike Green
John Carlson – Dmitry Orlov
Goaltenders
Michal Neuvirth (confirmed) – Braden Holtby
Scratches
Injuries
Niklas Backstrom (concussion) – Tom Poti (groin) – Tomas Vokoun (lower body) – John Erskine (lower body)
GAMEDAY: All Habs Headlines
► Cox predicts Habs demise : It is somewhat amusing when Toronto-based media try to comment on hockey in Montreal while isolated in Hogtown. Damien Cox takes that “view from a bubble” to a whole new level. Writing that the glory days for the Canadiens are gone, “likely for good” earns him a Captain Obvious award — no single team can ever again dominate the NHL the way the Habs did in the 1950’s and ’70’s.
Cox takes pains to compare the situations in Montreal and Toronto — who will turn the ship around sooner?
“We can argue whether the Leafs have progressed or regressed under Burke’s watch. It is however, indisputable that the Habs went backwards after Gauthier replaced Bob Gainey at the top of the Montreal hockey pyramid, taking a team that enthralled the nation with a run to the 2010 final four, first to an opening-round playoff ouster, then to last place in the conference. Burke inherited a non-playoff team, blew it apart, and it remains a non-playoff team. Gauthier, on the other hand, inherited a conference finalist.” — Damien Cox
Read more: Montreal Canadiens’ glory days are gone, likely for good
► New at All Habs Hockey Magazine:
Christmas in June: Filip Forsberg
My Habs Season — It’s Come Full Circle
Price, Theodore: Welcome to the Goalie Fraternity
How to Get Your Team to Win the Stanley Cup
► Puck’s take: Need to know who will win tonight? Puck the Bunny will be back next game. His record is an impressive 22-11-6.
(Feature photo by REUTERS/Gary Cameron)