All Habs GameDay: Saturday March 16, 2013

On this day in hockey history… 1966 – Montreal and the Maple Leafs combined to set an NHL record by scoring 4 goals within a span of 1:05 during a 7-2 Canadiens win at Toronto.

PROJECTED LINE COMBINATIONS
(Will be updated following game day skate.)

Michael Ryder will not be playing, out with a lower-body injury.
Greg Pateryn was returned to the Hamilton Bulldogs. Petteri Nokelainen cleared waivers and was sent to Hamilton.
Mike Blunden and Jarred Tinordi were called up from the Hamilton Bulldogs and will be in the lineup. Tinordi will wear No. 42.

Forwards

Travis Moen – Tomas Plekanec – Brian Gionta
Max Pacioretty – David Desharnais – Brendan Gallagher
Alex Galchenyuk – Lars Eller – Gabriel Dumont
Mike Blunden – Ryan White – Colby Armstrong

Defensemen

Andrei Markov – Alexei Emelin
Josh Gorges – P.K. Subban
Francis Bouillon – Jarred Tinordi

Goalies

Carey Price, Peter Budaj

Scratches

Rene Bourque (concussion), Raphael Diaz (concussion), Yannick Weber (knee), Tomas Kaberle, Brandon Prust (shoulder separation), Michael Ryder

No updates at this time.

Forwards

Alexei Ponikarovsky – Andrei Loktionov – Ilya Kovalchuk
Patrik Elias – Adam Henrique – Steve Bernier
Ryan Carter – Travis Zajac – David Clarkson
Krys Barch – Stephen Gionta – Tom Kostopoulos

Defensemen

Andy Greene – Adam Larsson
Marek Zidlicky – Bryce Salvador
Anton Volchenkov – Peter Harrold

Goalies

Johan Hedberg – Jeff Frazee

Scratches

Dainius Zubrus, Martin Brodeur, Stefan Matteau, Harri Pesonen, Mark Fayne, Henrik Tallinder

TOP SCORERS

 PROJECTED GOALTENDERS
(Updated following game day skate.)

No updates at this time.

► The Devils on the rise: 

• It’s no secret that the New Jersey Devils are missing Martin Brodeur.
• In relief of the injured Brodeur, Johan Hedberg has racked up more losses than wins while no matter which way you look at the rest of his stats, they are simply below average. 36th at even-strength? Ouch.
• Although the Devils have only won three out of their last ten games, they are not to be taken lightly having gone 3-1-1 in their last five, this after losing six straight.
• The advantage the Montreal Canadiens might have against the Devils is the fact that the Canadiens are coming into New Jersey after two days rest, while the Devils played Friday, in Philadelphia against the Flyers, in a game that needed a shootout before the Flyers claimed victory. May be tired, the Devils.

► Habs power play improving:

• The Montreal Canadiens power play has been improving with the Canadiens picking up at least one power play goal in their last six consecutive games.
• At 20.8 per cent on the season, it’s good enough to rank them eighth overall.
• As for the penalty kill, as every game goes by, the Canadiens keep dropping and now rank 17th in the league at 80.2 per cent.

► Gabriel Dumont gets his first point:

• Gabriel Dumont picked up his first NHL point this past Wednesday.
• After charging the net with the puck, the rebound he created was knocked to the back of the net by Lars Eller.
• The young small forward’s no-quit attitude allows him to fit right into the Canadiens roster, almost seamlessly.
• Hopefully for him, this is the first of many more points in this league.

► Subban at the top of the charts:

• P.K. Subban picked up a goal and an assist in his last game and now leads all NHL defencemen in goals, with seven.
• With 13 assists to his record this season, he now has 20 points and ranks third amongst all Montreal Canadiens’ players, Michael Ryder (23) and Max Pacioretty (22) being ahead of him.

► Desharnais locked in for four:

• The Montreal Canadiens announced on Friday that David Desharnais had been signed to a contract extension.
• The deal is valued at $3.5M over the next four seasons.

“I couldn’t be any happier right now. To be part of the Canadiens, for me, means an incredible amount, I was hoping this was coming, I just didn’t know when,” shared a delighted Desharnais, Friday after practice. “I’ve been thinking back to all the people who helped me a along the way and who believed in me. This is a great validation.”

► Rookie Watch:

• Wednesday night against the Senators, Brendan Gallagher picked up a goal and he now has 8 goals and 8 assists for 16 points on the season.
• Alex Galchenyuk was left off the scoresheet again and still totals 3 goals and 10 assists for 13 points on the season.
• Respectively, they rank third and sixth amongst rookies in the league.

Top 10 NHL Rookies / Total Points

1. Cory Conacher (TBL): 7G, 13A, 20PTS
   
2. Jonathan Huberdeau (FLA): 12G, 5A, 17PTS
3. Brendan Gallagher (MTL): 8G, 8A, 15PTS
4. Justin Schultz (EDM): 5G, 10A, 15PTS
5. Nail Yakupov (EDM): 6G, 8A, 14PTS
6. Alex Galchenyuk (MTL): 3G, 10A, 13PTS
7. Vladimir Tarasenko (STL): 6G, 6A, 12PTS
8. Dougie Hamilton (BOS): 3G, 9A, 12PTS
9. Jake Muzzin (LAK): 5G, 6A, 11PTS
10. Brandon Saad (CHI): 4G, 7A, 11PTS

 Michel Therrien on Lars Eller:

“Lars was phenomenal tonight. He was always on the puck, he was skating really well and he was making good decisions.” said Michel Therrien following the game. “He’s improving and he’s having fun. I really liked the way he played with Alex; they’re playing so well together.”

Lars Eller on Lars Eller:

“You can feel after a couple of shifts if it’s going to be a good night. Tonight was one of those,” said Eller, who scored and had the shootout winner for the Canadiens. “I’ve been waiting for that chance. You want to be in those situations where the game is on the line and you have the chance to win it for your team. You want that responsibility.

“It always feels good to make the difference at the end. Two points is what we wanted and that’s what we got.” he went on to say. “I feel pretty good. It’s hard not to when you’re winning. The whole team is feeling good.”

“I feel it’s been going one way for me and that’s up,” he added. “All season I’ve been feeling pretty confident and I’m sure I can keep getting better. Next game I want to be better than I was tonight.”