All Habs GameDay: Saturday April 7, 2012
On this day in hockey history… 1928 – 44-year-old coach Lester Patrick replaced injured netminder Lorne Chabot in goal, and Rangers’ Frank Boucher scored at 7:05 of overtime to give N.Y. a 2-1 win over the Montreal Maroons in Game 2 of the 1928 Stanley Cup Finals.
GAMEDAY: Habs hockey tonight!
TORONTO MAPLE LEAFS (35-36-10) vs.
Last 10: Toronto 4-4-2 ; Montreal 2-3-5
Bell Centre, 7:00 p.m. EST
TV: RDS, CBC
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 – Gabriel Dumont – Aaron Palushaj
Defenseman
Josh Gorges – P.K. Subban
Andrei Markov – Frederic St. Denis
Tomas Kaberle – Chris Campoli
Goaltenders
Peter Budaj (confirmed) – Robert Mayer
Scratches
Petteri Nokelainen – Alexei Emelin
Injuries
Brian Gionta (biceps) – Travis Moen (upper body) – Mathieu Darche (dizziness/upper body) – Raphael Diaz (lower body) – Scott Gomez (concussion) – Yannick Weber (lower body) – Ryan White (flu) – Carey Price (concussion)
Power-play
Pacioretty – Desharnais – Cole – Markov – Subban
Bourque – Plekanec – Leblanc – St. Denis – Campoli
TORONTO MAPLE LEAFS
Forwards
Matt Frattin – Tyler Bozak – Phil Kessel
Clarke MacArthur – Matthew Lombardi – Carter Ashton
Tim Connolly – David Steckel – Joey Crabb
Mike Brown – Colby Armstrong – Jay Rosehill
Defensemen
Mike Komisarek – Dion Phaneuf
John-Michael Liles – Jake Gardiner
Cody Franson – Luke Schenn
Goaltenders
Ben Scrivens (confirmed) – Jonas Gustavsson
Scratches
Injuries
Joffrey Lupul (separated shoulder) – James Reimer (upper body) – Nikolai Kulemin (broken finger) – Carl Gunnarsson (separated shoulder) – Jonas Gustavsson (lower body) – Mikhail Grabovski (lower body)
GAMEDAY: All Habs Headlines
► Leafs or Habs, who has a better future? Toronto has scorers, Montreal has the upper hand on the defense side of the game. The cupboard is bare in Hamilton while the Marlies are one of the better teams in the AHL. Who knows what will happen with the management and coaching searches in Montreal? That’s a wild card.
But the Canadiens have one enormous advantage in Carey Price who is one of the best goaltenders on the planet. Locking him up to a long and generous contract will be the first priority of the new general manager.
James Mirtle and Stephen Brunt both have a go at comparing the two franchises.
Read more: Who’s in better shape: The Habs or Leafs?
Read more: Leafs, Habs: Misery Loves Company.
► QMJHL Golden Puck Awards: The Golden Puck Awards are presented annually by the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League to recognize the twelve most deserving hockey players of the 2011-12 season.
Canadiens prospects Morgan Ellis (Cape Breton Screaming Eagles and Shawinigan Cataractes) and Nathan Beaulieu (Saint John Sea Dogs) were named to the defense of the 2nd All-Star team. 2012 draft-eligible player, Mikhail Grigorenko (Quebec Remparts) was named to the 1st All-Star team and was awarded the RDS Cup as Rookie of the Year.
Read more: The Golden Puck Awards: recognition of excellence
► New at All Habs Hockey Magazine:
Christmas in June: Mikhail Grigorenko
Habs Fans: Welcome to Smashville
Habs GM: Top 10 Bilingual Candidates
10 meilleurs candidats bilingues au poste de DG des Canadiens
Catching the Torch: Playoff March, Round 1
Prendre le Flambeau: Séries Éliminatoires, 1e ronde
► Puck’s take: Need to know who will win tonight? Puck the Bunny’s prediction is here. His record is an impressive 22-12-6.
(Feature photo by REUTERS/Christinne Muschi)