All Habs GameDay: Thursday March 21, 2013

On this day in hockey history… 1948 – Montreal’s Elmer Lach scored twice in the final game of the season to win the Art Ross Trophy as NHL scoring champion by one point over the New York Rangers’ Buddy O’Connor.

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

Rene Bourque will make the trip to Uniondale to train with his teammates but will not play against the Islanders.

Forwards

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

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 Grabner who has missed the last three games with a shoulder injury may play against the Canadiens.

Forwards

Matt Moulson – John Tavares – Brad Boyes
Josh Bailey – Frans Nielsen – Kyle Okposo
Casey Cizikas – Keith Aucoin – Colin McDonald
Matt Martin – Marty Reasoner – Eric Boulton

Defensemen

Andrew MacDonald – Travis Hamonic
Mark Streit – Radek Martinek
Thomas Hickey – Lubomir Visnovsky

Goalies

Evgeni Nabokov, Kevin Poulin

Scratches

Brian Strait, Jesse Joensuu, Matt Carkner, Michael Grabner, David Ullstrom, Joe Finley

TOP SCORERS

 PROJECTED GOALTENDERS
(Updated following game day skate.)

Carey Price is the confirmed starter for the Canadiens.
Kevin Poulin is the confirmed starter for the Islanders.

► Carey’s Revenge? 

• It’s a little unlike Michel Therrien to announce his goalies prior to game day. At least, we haven’t seen much of it this season, but it happened this week.
• Therrien announced on Wednesday that Carey Price would be the starter against the New York Islanders Thursday night.
• Many felt Budaj should have gotten the start considering Price has lost both of his starts to the Islanders this season, giving up nine goals in both games combined.
• This will be Price’s biggest test this season, as he’s now out to prove that Therrien was right, in choosing him to start over Budaj.

► The Canadiens keep picking up precious points:

• In a shortened season where every little point matters so much with all games being played within the conference, the Canadiens just keep picking some up.
• Although the Tuesday loss against the Buffalo Sabres was a heartbreaker in some ways, partly because it ended what could have been a beautiful come back; partly because the Canadiens had the game winning goal on their stick with only seconds left in the third; the Canadiens still managed to pick up a point pushing their record to 13-1-4 in their last 18 games.
• The Canadiens now have an overall record of 19-5-5 for 43 points, good for second in the conference, three points back of the Pittsburgh Penguins.

► The penalty kill looks dead:

• The Montreal Canadiens keep moving down the standings when it comes to penalty killing.
• They currently rank 20th in the league and have allowed four goals in ten power play opportunities over the past three games.
• They will need to get their act together as the Islanders rank 5th in the league on the power play, scoring on 23.4 per cent of their chances.

► Rookie Watch:

• Tuesday night against the Sabres, Brendan Gallagher and Alex Galchenyuk both picked up an assist in what was a tremendous game for both players.
• Gallagher now has 8 goals and 9 assists for 17 points on the season.
• As for Galchenyuk, he now tallies 3 goals and 11 assists for 14 points on the season.
• Respectively, they rank third and tied for fifth amongst rookies in the league.

Top 10 NHL Rookies / Total Points

1. Cory Conacher (TBL): 8G, 14A, 22PTS
   
2. Jonathan Huberdeau (FLA): 12G, 7A, 19PTS
3. Brendan Gallagher (MTL): 8G, 9A, 17PTS
4. Justin Schultz (EDM): 5G, 10A, 15PTS
5. Nail Yakupov (EDM): 6G, 8A, 14PTS
6. Vladimir Tarasenko (STL): 6G, 8A, 14PTS
7. Brandon Saad (CHI): 4G, 10A, 14PTS
8. Patrick Wiercioch (OTT): 4G, 10A, 14PTS
9. Alex Galchenyuk (MTL): 3G, 11A, 14PTS
10. Jake Muzzin (LAK): 6G, 7A, 13PTS

Gallagher on how the team feels about the game:

“I just think we were sitting back a little too much.” said Gallagher after the game. “They were coming at us hard and we were a half-second late reacting to a lot of things. They had some good chances but ultimately we feel that it was us that made the mistakes. We weren’t happy with the way we were playing at the start, but we stayed with it and stayed focused and we were able to get back in the game.” he added. “We try and use the crowd as much as we can. We’re looking at what we need to do better. Once the third period came around, we started to get on the forecheck and get our legs going a little bit.”

Subban on his overtime penalty:

“It’s tough in overtime when you’re sitting in the box and they score.” admitted Subban. “I obviously didn’t want to put my team down a man at that point in time. The call was made and I have to swallow that pill, but I had the support of all my teammates and it always helps when guys are supporting you and saying to put it behind you.”

Therrien on the team’s semi-failed come back attempt:

“We never quit,” said Therrien. “I thought the guys worked really hard to make a comeback. As long as the effort is there, I’m going to be satisfied.”