Game Thread | Pittsburgh vs. Canadiens | 01/19/08

[Habsfan84]

2007-08 Regular Season Record:




26-17-3 : 55 Points
(5th Place in the Eastern Conference)



24-14-8 : 56 Points
(4th Place in the Eastern Conference)










Projected goalies for this game are:


Penguins


# 30 Dany Sabourin
Wins: 7
Loses: 8
OTL: 1
GAA: 2.69
Save%: .904



Canadiens


# 39 Cristobal Huet
Wins: 15
Loses: 7
OTL: 5
GAA: 2.37
Save%: .923
















Penguins Player Stats
Link


Canadiens Player Stats
Link











(46)A.Kostitsyn - (14)Plekanec - (27)Kovalev
(21)Higgins - (11)Koivu - (74)S.Kostitsyn
(84)Latendresse - (20)Smolinski - (73)Ryder
(6)Kostopoulos - (40)Lapierre - (25)Dandenault




(79)Markov - (8)Komisarek
(32)Streit - (44)Hamrlik
(51)Bouillon - (26)Gorges


(39)Huet

[Habsfan84]

Meetings This Year:


Oct. 10th, 2007: 3 2


Oct. 27th, 2007: 4 3 (SO)









This game can be seen live at 7:00pm eastern on:
, &









Listen to the game live at 7:00 pm on CJAD 800 AM

OR


Listen to the game live (In French) at 7:00 pm on CKAC 730 AM

[Habsfan84]

[Habsfan84]

http://www.canada.com/topics/sports/...6d7f73&k=78840


Crosby on limp for Pens


By PAT HICKEY


Maxim Lapierre probably won't have Sidney Crosby to kick around when the Pittsburgh Penguins visit the Bell Centre tonight.

Lapierre demonstrated an ability to get under Crosby's skin last season, but The Kid is extremely doubtful for the first of his two scheduled visits to Montreal this season.

Crosby suffered a right-ankle injury midway through the first period of the Penguins' home loss to the Tampa Bay Lightning last night.

The superstar crashed into the end boards as he attempted to maintain control of the puck after being slashed by the Lightning's Paul Ranger. Crosby was helped from the ice. He sat down on the bench, but then headed to the dressing room.

The NHL's most valuable player did not accompany his teammates to Montreal last night, but the Penguins wouldn't rule him out of tonight's game (7 p.m., CBC, RDS, CJAD Radio-800), which will provide the Canadiens with rare national exposure on Hockey Night in Canada. The team said Crosby's condition would be re-evaluated this morning in Pittsburgh.

The Canadiens are hoping to translate their success on the road this season to a productive run on home ice, and their chances of winning tonight improve if Crosby isn't in the lineup. He has been on a hot streak lately with five goals and 15 assists in 12 games before last night.

The Lightning took advantage of Crosby's absence to post a 3-0 win last night and that allowed the Canadiens to maintain a one-point edge over Pittsburgh in the battle for fourth place in the Eastern Conference.

The Canadiens are coming off a successful road trip, that saw them win three of four games. Head coach Guy Carbonneau expressed his satisfaction after a 3-2 shootout win in Atlanta Thursday and gave his players a day off yesterday.

The victory gave the Canadiens a 16-7-3 record on the road.

"Starting with the beginning of the season, we seem to be a lot more comfortable on the road," Carbonneau said. "We still have a young team and you have less distractions on the road. Everyone kind of sticks together and that makes it a lot easier." Carbonneau said the team appears to be coming together, but he wants to see an improvement on an 8-7-5 home record. The good news on that front is the Canadiens took five of a possible six points on their most recent three-game homestand.

Cristobal Huet was a winner in a shootout for the first time in four tries and he'll make his sixth consecutive start tonight. He has started 11 of the last 13 games and has an 8-1-2 record during that stretch.

Carbonneau will have some decisions with defenceman Patrice Brisebois and forward Steve Bégin both cleared to play. He has shown a tendency to stick with winning lineups, but the team could use Brisebois on the power play, while Bégin could help a penalty-killing unit that ranks 21st in the NHL.

The Habs are home vs. Boston Tuesday and their final game before the all-star break will be Thursday in New Jersey.




© The Gazette (Montreal) 2008

[Habsfan84]

[Habsfan84]

The Game has begun

[Habsfan84]

Pittsburg Scores.............Crap.

1-0 Pens.

[Habsfan84]

Thats the end of the first period.

[Habsfan84]

Not a terrible period but we need a good second.

Go Habs Go!

[Habsfan84]

The second is about to start.

[Habsfan84]

End of the second Period.

[Habsfan84]

Heres the start of the third.

[Habsfan84]

Evgeni Malkin scores an emty net with 11 seconds left to make it 2-0 Pens.

[Habsfan84]

The Pens beat the Habs 2-0.

[Habsfan84]

My Three Stars:

1) Dany Sabourin
2) Cristobal Huet
3) Evgeni Malkin