GameDay: Rangers vs Habs Lineups, Gallagher, White, Faceoffs

All Habs GameDay: Saturday February 23, 2013

On this day in hockey history… 1985 – Rookie goalie Patrick Roy played in his first career NHL game, and recorded his first victory, a 6-4 Montreal win over the Winnipeg Jets, at the Forum.

GAMEDAY: The Rangers, Again.

NEW YORK RANGERS 8-6-2 8th in the East	vs.	MONTREAL CANADIENS 11-4-2 1st in the East
	Bell Centre, Montreal, QC 7:00 p.m. EST TV: CBC, RDS
Road Record: 2-3-1 Goals For: 41 Goals against: 41 PP percentage: 11.9 (30th) PK percentage: 83.3 (9th)		Home Record: 7-3-1 Goals For: 49 Goals against: 39 PP percentage: 18.3 (14th) PK percentage: 82.0 (17th)

Projected line combinations (updated following morning skate)

MONTREAL CANADIENS

Optional skate for Habs.

Prust is in.
Rene Bourque is out with the flu.
Gallagher cleared to play. Prust will be a game-time decision.

 Forwards

Brandon Prust – Tomas Plekanec – Brian Gionta
Max Pacioretty – David Desharnais – Brendan Gallagher
Alex Galchenyuk – Lars Eller – Erik Cole
Travis Moen – Ryan White – Colby Armstrong

Defensemen

Andrei Markov – Alexei Emelin
Josh Gorges – Raphael Diaz
Francis Bouillon – P.K. Subban

Scratches

Rene Bourque, Tomas Kaberle, Yannick Weber

NEW YORK RANGERS

Steve Eminger is out.
Marc Staal is in.
Stu Bickel is in.
Del Zotto is out.
Del Zotto took the morning skate, will be a game-time decision along with Marc Staal.

Forwards

Taylor Pyatt – Brad Richards – Marian Gaborik
Carl Hagelin – Derek Stepan – Ryan Callahan
Chris Kreider – J.T. Miller – Jeff Halpern
Brian Boyle – Brandon Mashinter – Christian Thomas

Defensemen

Marc Staal – Dan Girardi
Ryan McDonagh – Anton Stralman
Matt Gilroy – Stu Bickel

Scratches

Rick Nash, Darroll Powe, Michael Sauer, Arron Asham (back), Michael Del Zotto, Steve Eminger

PROJECTED GOALTENDERS

Carey Price confirmed as starter for Canadiens.
Martin Biron confirmed as starter for Rangers.

Martin Biron (Confirmed)	vs.	Carey Price (Confirmed)
Record: 1-0-1 GAA : 2.31 Sv%: .928 SO: 0 EV GA/60: 2.33		Record: 9-3-1 (Tied for 1st in wins) GAA : 2.12 (12th) Sv%: .919 (12th) SO: 1 EV GA/60: 1.41 (5th)

(updated following morning skate)

GAMEDAY: All Habs Headlines

► Gallagher expected to get the green light:

• Brendan Gallagher was cleared for his first full-contact practice Friday since getting injured in last Saturday’s game against the Flyers, when Luke Schenn hit him hard into the boards.
• He’s expected to get the green light to play Saturday night against the Rangers.
• Michel Therrien had this to say about Gallagher following Friday’s practice:

“He looked really good. He got permission to have a contact practice today and it looks good for tomorrow night. We have to wait for tomorrow morning to see what the doctor is going to say, but I’m optimistic.”

• Gallagher spoke about what he needs to do when he gets back on the ice:

“When I come back in the lineup I just have to do whatever I can to help the team and continue to have success here. When I get back on the ice, from the first shift, I’ll play the same way. That’s the way I’ll be successful and it’s something I can’t change.”

► Improvement at the faceoff circle: 

• The Montreal Canadiens are finally improving at the faceoff circle.
• In Thursday’s game against the New York Islanders, Tomas Plekanec was 13 for 19 (67 per cent) at the faceoff circle while David Desharnais was 11 for 18 (61 per cent). Although Desharnais is still only averaging 47.1 per cent in faceoffs, Plekanec improved to 50 per cent on the season with last game’s tally.
• Lars Eller is also averaging 50 per cent on the season while Ryan White, who’s only taken 71 faceoffs this season leads the team with an average of 56.3 per cent.

► Speaking of White…

• Ryan White has an interesting stat going for him this season.
• Although he’s spent a lot less time on the ice than most players on the Canadiens’ roster, with only 94:54 played on the season; with the exception of Yannick Weber who’s only played 10:17 this season; not one goal has been scored against the Canadiens while White has been on the ice.
• So if the Price is right, and White is right, does that mean that the Price is White, or that they’re both right? If two rights make a wrong, than I’m very confused right now.

► The eruption of Max Pacioretty:

• Max Pacioretty should send Cam Ward a thank you card.
• Since Pacioretty scored on Carolina Hurricanes goaltender Ward, after lobbing the puck while approaching the red line, which funny-hopped by a startled Ward, Pacioretty has been a little tear.
• After scoring against the Hurricanes, Pacioretty scored against the Rangers and twice against the Islanders, and now has goals in three consecutive games. He had a shooting percentage of 36.4 during this period.

► Desharnais next on the eruption list?

• After picking up two assists for setting up both of Pacioretty’s goals last Thursday against the Islanders, David Desharnais now has five points in the past four games, improving his point-tally to ten points on the season.
• Desharnais has a team low PDO of 955 which would indicate he’s been rather unlucky so far this season.
• Considering this number tends to gravitate around 1000, you would like to think that his luck is bound to improve.

► Rick Nash out, Eminger Recalled:

• New York Rangers forward Rick Nash did not make the trip to Montreal and will not play in Saturday’s game. This will be the third straight game that Nash has missed with an injury and the Rangers have not won without him so far.
• The Rangers recalled Steve Eminger from the Connecticut Whale of the American Hockey League (AHL). Michael Del Zotto left Thursday night’s game against the Ottawa Senators and did not return after suffering a devastating check into the boards. Although no word has been given on Del Zotto’s status and whether he will play against the Canadiens, Eminger’s call-up leads to believe that he [Del Zotto] won’t play.

► Scoring Leaders:

• RANGERS:

Rick Nash: 3G, 9A
Brad Richards: 2G, 9A
Marian Gaborik: 7G, 4A

• CANADIENS:

Tomas Plekanek: 8G, 5A
Max Pacioretty: 4G, 9A
Raphel Diaz: 1G, 11A

► 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:

• All Habs Mailbag: Tinordi, Kristo, Armstrong, Lineup Choices, Entry Draft
• CH : La saison 2011-2012, une série de malchances?
• Comic Strip: On the Menu
• 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

(Feature Photo: John Morstad)