All Habs GameDay: Thursday October 20, 2011
Happy Birthday to… Todd Richards (45), drafted by the Canadiens in the 2nd round (33rd overall) of the 1985 NHL Entry Draft.
MONTREAL CANADIENS vs PITTSBURGH PENGUINS
CONSOL Energy Center 7:00 pm. TV: RDS, TSN
►Canadiens hockey tonight!
Projected line combinations:
MONTREAL CANADIENS
Forwards
Erik Cole – Tomas Plekanec – Lars Eller | Mike Cammalleri
Travis Moen – Scott Gomez – Brian Gionta
Max Pacioretty – David Desharnais – Andrei Kostitsyn
Mathieu Darche – Andreas Engqvist – Aaron Palushaj
Defenseman
Josh Gorges – P.K. Subban
Hal Gill – Raphael Diaz
Alexei Emelin – Yannick Weber
Goaltenders
Carey Price -Peter Budaj
PITTSBURGH PENGUINS
Forwards
Steve Sullivan – Mark Letestu – James Neal
Chris Kunitz – Jordan Staal – Arron Asham
Matt Cooke – Joe Vitale – Pascal Dupuis
Steve MacIntyre – Richard Park – Craig Adams
Defensemen
Brian Strait – Deryk Engelland
Paul Martin – Zbynek Michalek
Matt Niskanen – Ben Lovejoy
Goaltenders
Marc-Andre Fleury – Brent Johnson
UPDATE: Cammalleri will play on Thursday in Pittsburgh. To make room, Aaron Palushaj will be a healthy scratch. Expect Cammalleri to start on a line with Plekanec and Cole. After that, the roulette wheel comes out to pick line combinations, and the juggling will begin (particularly if the Canadiens trail.)
Brooks Orpik will return to the line-up for Pittsburgh. Malkin and Crosby will not play.
►Injury update: Mike Cammalleri left on the plane with his teammates but coach Jacques Martin said that he is unlikely to play on Thursday but will hopefully be ready to go on Saturday. Andrei Markov will not return before November.
Mike Cammalleri – leg laceration
Chris Campoli – hamstring tear
Jaroslav Spacek – ribs
Andrei Markov – knee
Ryan White – sports hernia
►Happy 1000th Hal!: On Thursday night, Hal Gill is scheduled to play his 1000th game when the Canadiens meet the Penguins. Gill won a Stanley Cup with Pittsburgh in 2009. The Canadiens defenseman made his NHL debut with the Boston Bruins in 1997, along with Joe Thornton (now in San Jose, Thornton will celebrate his 1000th game on Friday.)
“It’s very important to have a guy that will keep pushing us in the right direction. His words carry a lot of weight with the guys in the room, so if you lose a guy like that maybe the player can be replaced (on the ice), but what he brings to the room is tough to find. I just thought it needed to be said that I believed in him, and maybe people around Montreal who don’t know those things should know about them.” — Josh Gorges on Hal Gill
Read more by Arpon Basu: Gill has carved career proving detractors wrong
►Photos on Facebook: The photo journalists of the All Habs team have been busy over the past month documenting events for you. Find new galleries at our Facebook page from the Canadiens Training Camp, All Habs visit to Quebec City for the Habs – Lightning game, and the crew attending the Canadiens home opener.
While you are there don’t forget to “Like” All Habs to stay connected.
Check out the photos here: All Habs Hockey Magazine on Facebook