Translated from La Presse
Experience won over youth as Guy Carbonneau will let forwards Sergei Kostitsyn and Guillaume Latendresse and defencemen Ryan O’Byrne in the press box against the Atlanta Thrashers.
“I listened to you you guys” joked Guy Carbonneau when asked to explain his decision, “The real reason are between me and the players.
The Coach took some time in the morning skate to talk with all those players, particularly Sergei Kostitsyn who is let in the stand for the first time in his career.
“When he joined the team last year he made us a better team. We raised our tempo because our young players were pushing our veterans. In Sergei’s case it was a better attitude.”
As for Latendresse, Carbonneau didn’t explain but with only two goals (one in October and one in November) the forward who had only 1 goal and one assist in his last 15 games needs to produce more. He has to pay the price in front of the net more often.
Finally Carbo didn’t comment on O’Byrne who is missing a second game in a row but the defencemen is aware that he could be the target of Montreal fans after his error against the Islanders.
“It’s possible that the fans treat me that way and it’s possible it’s a reason for my absence in the lineup but the problem is we are playing at home for three weeks. I hope the fans will forgive me” finished O’Byrne with a smile.
Tentative Lineup
Andrei K – Koivu – D’Agostini
Higgins – Lang – Kovalev
Tanguay – Plekanec – Kostopoulos
Bégin – Lapierre- Laraque
Markov – Gorges
Hamrlik – Brisebois
Bouillon – Dandenault
Carey Price in the net