Habster:
It would appear that Guy Carbonneau is growing tired of the inconsistent play of some of his forwards and also wants more speed up front against the quick Nashville Predators. Having Mark Streit and Josh Gorges in the lineup gives Carbonneau some added options in case the ailing Andrei Markov has difficulties finishing the game.
There is a growing concern about the unknown lingering injury that seems to have altered the usually solid Andrei Markov game. Markov has been making mistakes in his own zone and just doesn’t look right ever since he took that fall into the boards, give him full credit for playing through the injury but wouldn’t it be better if he sat out a few games to rest and convalesce the injury.
Tonight’s lineup:
Forwards
Latendresse-Koivu-Higgins
Kostitsyn-Plekanec-Kovalev
Ryder-Chipchura-Dandenault
Smolinski-Grabovski-Streit
Defence
Markov – Komisarek
Hamrlik – Brisebois
Bouillon – Gorges
Goaltender
Huet
Spares:
Begin
Kostopoulos