All Habs GameDay: Tuesday February 7, 2012
On this day in hockey history… 1965 – Detroit’s Gordie Howe became the first player in NHL history to score 100 career goals against every opposing team in the league, during a 6-0 win over the visiting Montreal Canadiens.
GAMEDAY: Habs hockey tonight!
PITTSBURGH PENGUINS (30-19-4) vs. 
MONTREAL CANADIENS (20-24-9)
Last 10: Pittsburgh 8-2-0; Montreal 4-4-2
Bell Centre, 7:30 p.m. EST
TV: RDS, ROOT, TSN-HABS
Projected line combinations (updated following morning skate)
MONTREAL CANADIENS
Forwards
Max Pacioretty – David Desharnais – Erik Cole
Rene Bourque – Tomas Plekanec – Andrei Kostitsyn
Travis Moen – Lars Eller – Scott Gomez
Yannick Weber – Louis Leblanc – Mathieu Darche
Defenseman
Josh Gorges – P.K. Subban
Hal Gill – Raphael Diaz
Tomas Kaberle – Alexei Emelin
Goaltenders
Carey Price (confirmed) – Peter Budaj
Scratches
Chris Campoli
Injuries
Mike Blunden – Andrei Markov – Brian Gionta – Petteri Nokelainen
Power-play
Pacioretty – Desharnais – Cole – Kaberle – Subban
Bourque – Plekanec – Gomez – Diaz – Weber
PITTSBURGH PENGUINS
Forwards
Chris Kunitz – Evgeni Malkin – James Neal
Steve Sullivan – Cal O’Reilly – Colin McDonald
Matt Cooke – Dustin Jeffrey – Pascal Dupuis
Richard Park – Joe Vitale – Craig Adams
Defensemen
Brooks Orpik – Kris Letang
Paul Martin – Zbynek Michalek
Deryk Engelland – Matt Niskanen
Goaltenders
Marc-Andre Fleury (probable) – Brent Johnson
Scratches
Injuries
Sidney Crosby – Jordan Staal – Arron Asham – Simon Despres – Tyler Kennedy
GAMEDAY: All Habs Headlines
► Gomez maligned, supported: A few websites sprung up to mark the one-year anniversary of Scott Gomez’s goal drought. There was also a campaign to sing Happy Birthday at 11:11 of each period on Sunday — it mostly fizzled. Some even crossed the line into the territory of being offensive by donning sombreros — can you say blackface?
But there were a substantial number of Canadiens fans who were cheering Gomez trying to urge him along to a goal. When Tomas Plekanec was announced as scoring the Canadiens third goal, boos rained down from the Bell Centre faithful — perhaps a first for a Habs goal scorer. It was because, after a lengthy delay, it was determined that Gomez had not touched the puck on the way into the Winnipeg goal.
► Price stands up for a teammate: Carey Price held court after his shutout win against the Jets offering some candid quotes.
“We had hunger today. We were strong on the puck. We were hunting everything down. We were backchecking hard,” said Price. On the reason for his team’s turnaround effort against Winnipeg after a loss to the Capitals, he said “A lot of guys just got pissed off, to be honest.” After a win, and a shutout, Price intended to watch the Super Bowl, saying “It will be nice to have a couple of cold ones and relax.”
Then Price’s attention turned to Scott Gomez.
“He’s a teammate of mine. I’ll stick up for him everyday of the week. We have to support the guy,” said Price. “It doesn’t help putting the guy down. He’s a human being too. He needs help. It’s a tough spot to be in. He’s contributing in other ways. He’s a leader in our room. He’s a big part of our hockey club.”
► Stewart sparks chatter: You can’t blame Canadiens fans. They have watched the mismanagement of their team the entire season, and they are desperate for a move. So when the Carolina Hurricanes put forward Anthony Stewart on waivers, Habs supporters cried out for Pierre Gauthier to pick him up.
With 14 goals and 25 assists for the Thrashers last season, Stewart was expected to make up for the loss of Erik Cole. It hasn’t really worked out that way — he has only six goals this season for the Hurricanes. Stewart is a big body player who plays soft and who couldn’t stick with two non-playoff teams.
“Anthony has played pretty well for us,” said GM Jim Rutherford. “But part of this is (Muller) wanting guys who he thinks are a good fit, on certain lines and in certain areas.”
► Does the injury affect his trade value? There are opposition players fans are quick to hate but would love to have them on their team. If the same thing exists for coaches, Buffalo’s Lindy Ruff would be on that list. It is a rare event in recent memory when a Habs bench boss has out-coached Ruff — some would like to see him interviewed for the Canadiens job at the end of the season.
Ruff left practise on Monday after colliding with Sabres’ defenseman Jordan Leopold. Ruff was sent airborne landing on the with a loud scream. The Buffalo coach suffered three broken ribs but was back at practise on Tuesday.
► Puck has fans: Puck the Bunny, our furry prognosticator from Brazil has developed quite a following on Twitter. But he also gets his share of fan mail.
Here’s one from All Habs reader Tony B: “Love Puck the Bunny, and wanted to show you Stashu the Redwings Bunny (by the way Stashu is Polish for Stanley)”
► Celebrate Hockey Day in Canada with All Habs: All Habs Hockey Magazine has scheduled two parties on February 11th to bring together hockey fans in Toronto and Montreal.
In Montreal, hockey fans who RSVP via the All Habs link will be given VIP access — prime seating and a reduced-price menu — to McLean’s Pub on Peel Street. Join the All Habs crew to watch the Canadiens take on the Maple Leafs. For the same game, Habs fans in Toronto (and some Leafs fans too) will be joining All Habs hosts Michael and Dayes at St Louis Bar and Grill on Bay St. RSVP here for the Toronto event!
You’ll have great food and drink, a lot of laughs, and a whole lot of fun as you meet new friends and cheer your team to victory. Test your team knowledge during the All Habs Trivia Challenge for a chance to win prizes, too!
► New at All Habs Hockey Magazine:
Guest Post: On the Ice, Language Does not Matter
Catching for Torch: Beaulieu Reigns
Video: Carey Price Talks About Rollercoaster Season
► Puck’s take: Need to know who will win tonight? You can find his prediction here. His record is an impressive 15-6-3.
(Photo by Justin K. Aller/Getty Images)