Carbonneau tries to light Higgins's fire

[Habsfan84]

Canadiens head coach Guy Carbonneau thinks Christopher Higgins suffers from an identity crisis.
"Chris has to understand what kind of player he is," Carbonneau said after the Canadiens practised yesterday at the Bell Centre. "He's an up-and-down skater who has to go straight to the net. We want him to be the player we drafted. He has 21 goals and, if you look at them, 15 or 16 of them were scored from five feet away from the net."
Higgins, who is his worst critic, has struggled at times this season and Carbonneau feels it's because the left-winger is trying to do too much.

"You look at a player like (Ottawa's Daniel) Alfredsson," Carbonneau said. "There's a player with all the skills in the world, but there were times when he saw the play wasn't there and he simply dumped the puck in. Sometimes, that's the best play."
Higgins is part of Carbonneau's latest juggling act. When the Canadiens play the New York Islanders tonight (7 p.m., CBC, RDS, CJAD Radio-800), the Long Island, N.Y., native will be on a line with Mikhail Grabovski and Sergei Kostitsyn.
Considering Carbonneau's remarks, it might seem Higgins is out of place on a line with the talented, albeit inexperienced Belarusians. The hope is Higgins can find some space and his linemates will find him.
Higgins and Kostitsyn had been flanking captain Saku Koivu. Tonight, Koivu will be between Guillaume Latendresse and Michael Ryder.
"What we're looking for is some balance. When your No. 2 line doesn't get a shot on goal in the Ottawa game, it's time to look at changes," Carbonneau said.
Koivu, Higgins and the younger Kostitsyn were not only blanked, but they had trouble getting shots off. They saw four of their shots blocked and another attempt by Higgins went wide.
Latendresse and Ryder viewed the latest change as a reunion with Koivu. While each has spent time with the captain this season, their best days as a line came last season when Higgins was sidelined with a high ankle sprain.
Latendresse, blanked in his first 13 NHL games, suddenly came to life with seven goals, five assists and a ton of confidence while Higgins was out.
Ryder had four goals and six assists during the line's time together, but it was Koivu's most productive part of the season until he caught fire over the final 24 games of the season. In the 18 games with Latendresse and Ryder, Koivu had nine goals and 10 assists.
Latendresse is looking forward to playing with Koivu again.
"I've had lots of ups and downs this season, but even when I was down, I tried to work hard and I think the coach sees that," Latendresse said. "Right now, things are going better, the confidence is there and I'm happy to get this chance."
There will be one other change tonight with Jaroslav Halak replacing Carey Price between the pipes.
"It's something we had planned," Carbonneau said. "He was either going to play this game or Tuesday (against St. Louis) and we decided to use him in this one. It's not because Carey played bad (in Thursday's 3-0 loss to Ottawa), it was just the right time."
Halak is 1-0 this season, but will be putting another win streak on the line. He has never lost a game at the Bell Centre after going 7-0 as a rookie last season.
"This is a new season, but I always feel comfortable playing at home," Halak said. "The crowd here is fantastic and they give me a lift."