All Habs GameDay: Thursday February 21, 2013
On this day in hockey history… 1974 – Defenseman Tim Horton of the Sabres died in an automobile accident in Ontario. Horton, a six time NHL All-Star, had played 22 seasons with the Maple Leafs, NY Rangers, Pittsburgh Penguins and Buffalo.
GAMEDAY: Going for Six.
| NEW YORK ISLANDERS (6-9-1) |
vs. | MONTREAL CANADIENS (10-4-1) |
 |
Bell Centre, Montreal, QC 7:30 p.m. EST TV: RDS, TSN-HABS |
 |
|
Away Record: 4-3-1 |
Home Record: 7-3-0 Goals For: 46 Goals against: 35 PP percentage: 18.0 (14th) PK percentage: 83.8 (11th) |
Projected line combinations (will be updated following morning skate)
MONTREAL CANADIENS
No updates
Forwards
Rene Bourque – Tomas Plekanec – Brian Gionta
Max Pacioretty – David Desharnais – Erik Cole
Brandon Prust – Alex Galchenyuk – Lars Eller
Travis Moen – Ryan White – Colby Armstrong
Defensemen
Andrei Markov – Alexei Emelin
Josh Gorges – Raphael Diaz
Francis Bouillon – P.K. Subban
Scratches
Brendan Gallagher (concussion), Tomas Kaberle, Yannick Weber
NEW YORK ISLANDERS
No Updates
Forwards
Matt Moulson – John Tavares – Brad Boyes
Michael Grabner – Marty Reasoner – Kyle Okposo
Josh Bailey – Frans Nielsen – Keith Aucoin
Matt Martin – Casey Cizikas – Colin McDonald
Defensemen
Andrew MacDonald – Travis Hamonic
Joe Finley – Mark Streit
Thomas Hickey – Lubomir Visnovsky
Scratches
Brian Strait, Eric Boulton, Jesse Joensuu, David Ullstrom
PROJECTED GOALTENDERS
No Updates
| Evgeni Nabokov (Confirmed) | vs. |
Carey Price (Confirmed) |
 |
 |
|
| Record: 6-6-1 (19th in wins) GAA : 3.13 (34th) Sv%: .894 (33rd) SO: 0 EV GA/60: 2.79 (32nd) |
Record: 9-3-0 (1st in wins) GAA : 1.98 (8th) Sv%: .925 (11th) SO: 1 EV GA/60: 1.42 (5th) |
(updated following morning skate)
GAMEDAY: All Habs Headlines
► Brandon Prust enjoyed his return to MSG:
- Brandon Prust looked right at home so to speak, in his return to MSG this past Tuesday to the face the New York Rangers, with whom he had played the past three seasons.
- Prust lead the team in hits and picked up an assist on the night. He later spoke of his excitement and nervousness before the game.
“It was more excitement, but there were definitely some nerves. I didn’t have much of a nap this afternoon. I was a little anxious to get here but once the puck drops and you get a couple of shifts in you, it goes away. Obviously you’re up for a game against your old team, back in Madison Square Garden, so I was definitely amped up, but we were pretty tired out there. It was a slow start; we got in pretty late last night and had just played a game so we were focused on grinding out a win.”
- Michel Therrien was also pleased with Prust’s play against the Rangers.
“Brandon is a gamer, we like him a lot. That was a special game for him and I thought he was a real warrior on the ice for us.”
► Production from the blue line:
- On Tuesday night when the Montreal Canadiens visited the Rangers, Josh Gorges picked up an assist and Raphael Diaz netted his first of the season, adding two points for the Montreal Canadiens’ defence on the season.
- The defence now has a league-leading 39 points on the season.
- Diaz leads all Canadiens’ defencemen with 12 points (1G, 11A) and is tied for third in the league in this same category.
► Matt Moulson: Current Islanders Ironman:
- In the New York Islanders’ last game, Matt Moulson reached a milestone with the Isles as he tied Denis Potvin for third place on the team’s ironman list with 262 consecutive games played.
- Second place in this category is currently occupied by Bob Nystrom with 301, and Billy Harris leads the pack with an impressive 576 consecutive games played with the team.
► Max Pacioretty has two goals in two games:
- After going scoreless in his first ten games of the season, Max Pacioretty has now scored a goal in both of his past two games. Added to his nine assists, that’s 11 points on the season, good for third on the team in points behind Diaz and Tomas Plekanec, who leads the team with 13 points.
► New lids for Habs goalies
- Carey Price debuted a new mask on Tuesday night at Madison Square Garden. It was created by David Gunnarsson to produce a layered (almost 3D) effect, something he calls his “2-in-1 design.” Peter Budaj chose the same designer this time but went with a more traditional look than in the past. His new mask pays tribute to the history of the Montreal Canadiens.
Read more at InGoal Magazine: History, not Ned Flanders on Budaj’s new Montreal Mask
► Scoring Leaders:
- ISLANDERS:
John Tavares: 11G, 9A
Matt Moulson: 7G, 10A
Brad Boyes: 4G, 8A
- CANADIENS:
Tomas Plekanek: 8G, 5A
Raphel Diaz: 1G, 11A
Max Pacioretty 2G, 9A
► Puck’s take:
- Need to know who will win tonight? Click the link to watch Puck the Bunny’s prediction.
► Habs Tickets:
- With games against the Hurricanes and Rangers upcoming, click the link to find the best selection of Montreal Canadiens tickets.
► New at All Habs Hockey Magazine and Hockey Pub:
- In Brandon We Prust
- State of the Habs, Part 4 – Games 13-16: Perfection
- Catching the Torch: Hudon Rallies
- Highlight of the Night: Carey Price from the Bench [VIDEO]
- Tokarski Shines but ‘Dogs Winning Streak Ends at Four [with AUDIO]
- Out of the Red, White and Blue: Habs Injuries, Markov, Cole, Pacioretty, Gallagher
- Good Causes: Kids Help Phone
- All Habs Rewind: Three Games, Three Wins [VIDEO]
- Habs Weekly Forecast: Bourque, Plekanec, Markov, Diaz
- Where Are They Now? Oleg Petrov
- My Story: Meditations of a Latter-day Habs Fan
- Un voyage victorieux sous le soleil de la Floride!
- Habs Choices: When Politics Enters the Mix
- Viagem à Flórida Termina Com Vitória e Shutout
- State of the Habs, Part 3 – Games 9-12: The Plot Thickens
- All Habs Mailbag: Eller, Desharnais, Grabovski, Beaulieu, Faceoffs, Subban, Trades
- Official Release: Canadiens Acquire Tokarski for Desjardins
- Beaulieu, Bulldogs Best Marlies in Final Battle of Ontario [with AUDIO]
- Catching The Torch: Leblanc Rises
- All Habs Rewind: Galchenyuk, Gallagher, Subban, Pacioretty [VIDEO]
- Win Canadiens Tickets from La Cage aux Sports
(Feature Photo: John Morstad)