The Montreal Canadiens will aim for their sixth win in
eight games when they welcome the Atlanta Thrashers for this evening's clash
at Bell Centre.
The Canadiens had a mediocre 7-7-0 record in October, but they closed the
month by winning five of their last seven contests. Montreal's success this
year has depended greatly on where the club is playing, as the Habs are 5-2-0
at home and just 2-5-0 as the guest. Tonight's test is the finale of a brief
two-game homestand for the Canadiens.
Montreal earned a close win over a visiting rival on Saturday night, as the
Habs edged the Toronto Maple Leafs in a shootout despite blowing a two-goal
lead in the third period. Mike Cammalleri notched the winning score in
the shootout phase to help lift the Canadiens to the 5-4 decision.
Cammalleri began the shootout by wristing a shot just under the crossbar. Lee
Stempniak failed for Toronto, then Scott Gomez put the Habs up by two after a
shot in a similar place as Cammalleri's. Tomas Kaberle's last-ditch effort for
the Leafs was stopped to end the contest.
"I didn't want to tell Gomez where to shoot, cause that gets into a guy's head
and messes with his plan," Cammalleri admitted. "I told him that Toskala
backed in on my shot, and then he went and did it like I did."
Glen Metropolit, Guillaume Latendresse, Hal Gill and Roman Hamrlik notched a
goal apiece for the Canadiens, who had dropped their previous two contests.
Jaroslav Halak made 26 stops to post his fifth win of the season.
The Canadiens played their last game without Matt D'Agostini and the winger
will miss tonight's game as well. D'Agostini suffered a concussion after
getting elbowed in the head Friday by Chicago's Andrew Ladd and it's uncertain
how much time he will miss.
The Thrashers, meanwhile, will try to keep heading in the right direction
after ending a four-game slide their last time on the ice. Atlanta notched a
victory Saturday in Ottawa, giving the Thrashers their first victory since
winning in Buffalo on October 17.
Ondrej Pavelec needed to make 50 saves in Atlanta's recent win as the
Thrashers pulled out a 3-1 decision at Scotiabank Place.
Rich Peverley had a goal and an assist while Zach Bogosian and Maxim
Afinogenov each lit the lamp for the Thrashers.
"It was a tough game but I felt good out there tonight, especially after that
first shot I faced," said Pavelec. "It was nice to help the team snap that
four-game losing skid."
Pavelec is 4-3-1 on the season with a 2.60 goals-against average and is
expected to get the start again tonight.
The Thrashers posted their first road win of the year on Saturday and are
closing a two-game swing tonight.
Montreal hosted the Thrashers on October 20 and notched a shootout victory
over Atlanta. The Habs have taken two straight and five of seven overall in
the series and Atlanta has dropped four in a row and six of seven in Montreal.
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