Video comments from Michael Cammalleri and goaltenders Alex Auld and Carey Price.

7gbm88_hKfk

Maple Leafs’ Phil Kessel is stopped by Canadiens goalie Carey Price and Hal Gill during the second period on Thursday night. Dave Sidaway, The Gazette

Preview | Matchups | Thursday’s

NHL schedule | Boone’s
Game
Blog, Quick

Hits and About last night …
| Stubbs on Twitter | Hickey’s game story

AUDIO: Mike Cammalleri I and II | Carey Price | Alex Auld | Jacques Martin

• At a Glance: Alex Auld didn’t last long in his start against the Maple Leafs on Thursday night, giving up three goals before being pulled in 5-4 loss to the Maple Leafs. The Canadiens opened the scoring when Jeff Halpern redirected a Roman Hamrlik shot 5:43 into the period. But the Leafs scored three before the period was over, chasing Auld. Phil Kessel scored the first two goals, both on the power play. Brett Lebda scored at 13:02, ending Auld’s night after allowing three goals on nine shots. The Canadiens would tie the game early in the second with a pair of power-play goals of their own. Michael Cammalleri beat James Reimer with an accurate wrist shot 3:42 into the period. Only 20 seconds late, James Wisniewski blasted a point shot beyond Reimer to make it 3-3. Tyler Bozak put the Leafs back in the lead with another power-play goal. His shot pinballed behind Carey Price with only two seconds remaining on a questionable call on Wiesniewski. Bozak scored his second of the game 4:26 into the second period not long after the Maple Leafs killed off a penalty, putting the game out of reach. Max Pacioretty made it 5-4 for the Leafs with 2:37 to play when his shot from in front of Reimer found its way behind the Leafs goaltender.

• What It Means: Montreal has lost four of its last five games and falls to 32-23-7 to remain at 71 points, three ahead of the New York Rangers for sixth place in the Eastern Conference.

• What’s Next: The Hurricanes come to the Bell Centre on Saturday night before the Canadiens hit the road for three games starting March 1 in Atlanta, then on to Florida and Tampa Bay.

Defenceman Jaroslav Spacek and forward Mathieu Darche, believed to be rehabbing a knee and a groin, continue to undergo treatment and will be re-evaluated in the days ahead.

Habs lines are expected to be the same as they were for the 3-2 win over the Canucks on Tuesday.

There’s something about Saturday hockey that, the past two weeks at least, is agreeing with the Canadiens.

The Habs blanked the Toronto Maple Leafs 3-0 at the Bell Centre, following last Saturday’s 2-0 whitewash of the New York Rangers.

Both perfect games improved the statistics of Montreal goalie Carey Price, who tonight recorded the sixth shutout of the season and the 10th of his NHL career.

Here are comments postgame of Price, and below the words of teammates David Desharnais, the game’s first star; third-star Benoit Pouliot; and rookie callup Ryan White.

Outside the dressing room after the game, forward Michael Cammalleri said he had skated earlier in the day for the second consecutive day as he continues to mend a separated shoulder.

JQkGrKiju2Y

Canadiens’ Brian Gionta fires the puck past Maple Leafs goalie Jean-Sebastien Giguere during the second period Saturday night. John Mahoney, The Gazette

Preview | Matchups | Saturday’s

NHL schedule | Boone’s
Game
Blog, Quick

Hits and About last night …
| Stubbs on Twitter | Hickey’s game story

AUDIO: Jacques Martin | David Desharnais | Benoit Pouliot | Carey Price | Brian Gionta

• At a Glance: For 20 minutes on Saturday night, the Canadiens appeared to be a little tentative against the Maple Leafs, but they found their legs in the second period en route to a 3-0 win. After a goalless first period, the Canadiens scored twice in the second with nearly identical goals. Benoit Pouliot scored his 12th of the season when he was left alone in the slot and was found by a nice bachand saucer pass from David Desharnais, who was posted behind the net. Pouliot fired a one timer to the top corner before Maple Leafs goalie Jean-Sebastien Giguere could move across the crease 10:12 into the period. Brian Gionta scored his team-leading 21st of the season at 11:52 when Max Pacioretty found him with another backpass from beside the net and Gionta fired it past Giguere. Desharnais scored his fifth of the season 6:19 into the third period when he deflected Scott Gomez’s pass during a power play. Carey Price made 27 saves for his sixth shutout of the season and 27th win of the season, tying him with Detroit’s Jimmy Howard for the league lead. It was Price’s second shutout of the season against the Maple Leafs, winning 2-0 on Nov. 20.

• Key Moments: Pacioretty appeared to injure his shoulder or forearm late in the third period when he was hit into the boards by Luke Schenn. He left the game and did not return.

• What It Means: Montreal snaps a three-game losing streak and improves to 31-20-6 for 68 points, the same number of points as the Washington Capitals, who sit in fifth place in the Eastern Conference because they hold a game in hand.

• What’s Next: The Buffalo Sabres visit the Bell Centre on Tuesday night before the Canadiens head to Western Canada for games against the Oilers, Flames and Canucks.

Canadiens goaltender Alex Auld made only his third start of the season Saturday night in Toronto. Dave Sandford, Getty Images

Preview | Matchups | Saturday’s NHL schedule | Boone’s Game
Blog, Quick hits
and About last night …
| Stubbs on Twitter | Hickey’s game story

AUDIO: Brian Gionta | Alex Auld | Mike Cammalleri | P.K. Subban | Jacques Martin

• At a Glance: The Canadiens came out flat in the opening period Saturday night, being outshot and outscored 2-0 and that was all the Maple Leafs would need in a 3-1 win. The Maple Leafs jumped out to a 2-0 first-period lead with goals from Phil Kessel and Tomas Kaberle. Kessel took advantage of a bouncing puck off the boards behind Alex Auld to slip the puck behind the Canadiens goaltender, who was caught out of position. Kaberle scored his first goal since March on an odd-man rush off a pass from Fredrik Sjostrom. The Maple Leafs outshot the Canadiens 11-4 in the first period, but were outshot 10-3 in the second period, during which the Canadiens narrowed the lead to 2-1. Michael Cammalleri scored his 10th of the season 14:38 into the period, beating Jean-Sebastien Giguere with a quick wrist shot from the high slot. Kris Versteeg completed the scoring into an empty net.
.
• Key Moments: Defenceman Jaroslav Spacek left the game in the first period with an upper-body injury after a fight with Clarke MacArthur, who attacked Spacek after a whistle in the Toronto zone.

• What It Means: Montreal has lost two straight and the Canadiens’ record falls to 18-10-2.

• What’s Next: The Canadiens are home for games against the Flyers and Bruins next Wednesday and Thursday, respectively. There is no game next Saturday night, with the Canadiens in Colorado for a Sunday night game on Dec. 19.

The image of Pat Burns is projected onto Bell Centre ice Saturday during the Canadiens’ pregame tribute to their late coach.
Shaun Best, Reuters

Preview | Matchups | Saturday’s

NHL schedule | Boone’s
Game Blog, Quick hits and About
last night … | Stubbs on Twitter

• POSTGAME AUDIO: Carey Price | Brian Gionta | Jeff Halpern | Jacques Martin
• PREGAME VIDEO: Bob Cole on Pat Burns; Henri Richard
• POSTGAME VIDEO: Carey Price, Brian Gionta, Jeff Halpern

PAT HICKEY
The Gazette

The goal
came moments after Price used hs glove to bat away a scoring chance by
Kris Versteeg. Price was also in the right spot to make a save on Tyler
Bozak’s shot off a goalmouth scramble at 7:45.

Cammalleri scored
in the dying seconds of the Canadiens’ only power play. The goal was
unassisted because Leafs defenceman Mike Komisarek seemed to forget
that he wasn’t a Canadien any more and his pass from the side bioards
found Cammalleri alone in the slot.

Gustavsson lived up to his
nickname in the first period as the Canadiens took advantage of a series
of odd-man rushes to outshoot the Leafs 17-10.

Neither team was
able to score but there were a couple of shots that hit posts.
Komisarek, a defenceman not known for his prowess, hit a post midway
through the period. The Canadiens’ Andrei Kostitsyn, who is known as a
scorer, hit a post in the final two minutes after jockeying for position
in the slot on a 2-on-1 break.

It was the 12th win this season for Price and that’s one fewer than his win total for all of last season.

Canadiens coach Jacques Martin reached another milestone as he coached his 1,200th game and picked up his 569th win.

The
Canadiens are back on the road Monday night when they have a rematch
with the Flyers in Philadelphia. The Canadiens beat the Flyers 3-0 on
Tuesday.

The Canadiens are back home to meet the Los Angeles Kings
Wednesday and wrap up the week with back-to-back games Friday in
Atlanta and Saturday at home to the Buffalo Sabres.

Scroll down for two clips of Canadiens legend Henri Richard talking about his team and its enduring global popularity, a clip of the dramatic moment of silence for Pat Burns and, postgame, comment from the Canadiens’ dressing room.

lPcIgIfOBz4

Maple Leafs’ Francois Beauchemin gets bumped by Canadiens’ Andrei Kostitsyn during the first period on Thursday night. Getty Images

Preview | Matchups | Thursday’s NHL schedule | Boone’s Game Blog and About last night … | Stubbs on Twitter | Hickey’s game story

• Audio: Jacques Martin English French | Brian Gionta | Carey Price | Hal Gill | P.K. Subban

• At a Glance: The Canadiens dropped their season opener to the Toronto Maple Leafs on Thursday night, a 3-2 loss at the Air Canada Centre signed by Leafs goaltender Jean-Sébastien Giguère.
The Leafs jumped out to a 2-0 lead before the game was nine minutes old on goals by Tim Brent and Phil Kessel.
Dustin Boyd got one back for the Canadiens 12:19 into the period after some good work forechecking by Maxim Lapierre.
After a scoreless second period, Leafs forward Clarke MacArthur made it look easy in the third period, walking around Jaroslav Spacek and firing an accurate backhand past Carey Price 1:36 into the period.
The Canadiens came right back though, with another newcomer, Jeff Halpern, scoring less than a minute later to narrow the Toronto lead to 3-2.
Carey Price, who was questionable for the game with the flu, made 21 saves on 24 shots. Giguère made 26 stops for the Maple Leafs, including several game-savers in the dying seconds.

• Key Moments: Missing Michael Cammalleri and Andrei Markov on the power play, the Canadiens were unable score on three consecutive power plays in the second period and that would come back to haunt them down the stretch.

• What It Means: For now, it means the Maple Leafs are ahead of the Canadiens in the standings. But there are 81 games to go, so it’s still a little early to panic.

• What’s Next: The Canadiens go onto Pittsburgh for Saturday’s game, then return to Montreal to open the home portion of their schedule on Oct. 13 with a visit from the Tampa Bay Lightning.

The Canadiens celebrate a goal on Saturday night against the Maple Leafs at the Bell Centre. Phil Carpenter, The Gazette

Preview | Matchups | Saturday’s NHL schedule | Boone’s Game Blog and About last night … | Stubbs on Twitter | Hickey’s game story

AUDIO: Jacques Martin | Mike Cammalleri | Brian Gionta | Hal Gill | Andrei Markov | Marc-André Bergeron | Mathieu Darche

• At a Glance: The Canadiens grabbed the lead three times on Saturday night, but were never able to hold on to them as the Maple Leafs defeated Montreal 4-3 in overtime, with Dion Phaneuf scoring the winner. The point for the overtime loss was enough to guarantee the Canadiens a spot in the playoffs, however. Andrei Markov opened the scoring 6:14 into the game when his shot went in off Mikhail Grabovski’s skate in front of Jean-Sébastien Giguère. But Christian Hanson scored his first career NHL goal three minutes later when he took advantage of Jaroslav’s Halak puckhandling miscue to slide the puck into an empty net. Brian Gionta scored his team-leading 28th of the season 16:17 into the period on the power play on a nice pass from Scott Gomez. The Leafs tied it again in the second period when Viktor Stalberg beat Halak top shelf with a nice shot 11:55 into the period. The Canadiens took a 3-2 lead before the end of the second period when Marc-André Bergeron scored with a bullet from the point off a faceoff. But the Leafs were not going to go quietly with Hanson scoring a shorthanded goal 3:32 into the third period, one Halak would definitely like to have a second chance at. That was the Leafs’ third goal on only 17 shots up to that point in the game.

• What It Means: The overtime loss gives the Canadiens a 39-33-10 record for the season and 88 points, giving them seventh place in the East.

• What’s Next: The Canadiens will be watching the scoreboard Sunday, but it won’t be to see if they make the playoffs or not. The results of Sunday’s games will determine where they finish in the Eastern Conference standings. If the Flyers defeat the Rangers, Montreal will finish in eighth place and will face the Washington Capitals in the first round of the playoffs.

The logo you see at left is one that Canadiens fans – and the team, you’d expect – hope we can use much more of in the days ahead.

The Habs are home tonight to the Toronto Maple Leafs, their opponent 81 games ago when the NHL season opened for Montreal at the Air Canada Centre.

One difference: Carey Price started that game. Jaro Halak gets the call tonight.

With the New York Rangers’ inspired 4-3 victory over the Philadelphia Flyers last night, the guillotine tightened (to quote Price) just a little more.

The Habs are still in control of their own destiny, if barely – take the Leafs to overtime tonight, no matter the final result, and the Canadiens are in the playoffs.

Lose in regulation, however, and all bets are off. Such a loss by Montreal combined with one more point earned by the Bruins in their two remaining games and an OT win by the Rangers over Philly tomorrow will be the season’s end fore (that’s not a typo) the Canadiens.

Canadiens goalie Jaroslav Halak makes a pad save behind Maple
Leafs forward Nikolai Kulemin and Canadiens defenceman Hal Gill Saturday night. Mike
Cassese, Reuters

Preview | Matchups | Saturday’s NHL schedule | Boone’s Game Blog and About last night … | Stubbs on Twitter | Hickey’s game story

AUDIO: Scott Gomez | Brian Gionta | Benoit Pouliot | Jaro Halak | Jacques Martin

• At a Glance: The Canadiens played catchup all night on Saturday, bouncing back from 1-0 and 2-1 deficits to force overtime in Toronto before losing 3-2 in a shootout, snapping a season-high six game winning streak. Tyler Bozak opened the scoring for the Maple Leafs on the power play 16:05 into the first period. Brian Gionta got that one back before the end of the first on a great feed from Benoit Puliot. Gionta beat Jonas Gustavsson with a backhand shot. Phil Kessel gave the Maple Leafs a 2-1 lead near the end of the second period, beating Jaroslav Halak from the faceoff circle. Montreal came out flat in the third period despite starting the period on the power play, with only two shots on goal halfway through the period. But Fredrik Sjostrom took a tripping penalty 12:31 into the period, and Gionta tipped in a Scott Gomez shot to tie the game 2-2. It was Montreal’s only power-play goal on six opportunities on Saturday, while the Maple Leafs scored on their lone man advantage.

• Key Moments: Gionta’s goal with six minutes to play was only Montreal’s fourth shot of the third period, but it gave the Canadiens at least a point.

• What It Means: The Canadiens fall to 36-29-7 and move to 79 points with the shootout loss, moving them into a tie with the Senators and Flyers for fifth spot in the East.

• What’s Next: Montreal has a busy week ahead of it with games on Monday against the Senators at home, then in Buffalo on Wednesday to take on the Sabres, then back home to take on the Panthers on Thursday and the Devils next Saturday.

• UPDATE, 11:19 am: Cammalleri on ice with Habs. Legendary former captain Émile (Butch) Bouchard was at the players bench not long ago in his wheelchair. What a place.

• UPDATE, 10:45 am: Habs goalies Halak and Price have been on the ice since 10:15, taking shots from Darche and Maxwell with goalie coach Proulx. Cammalleri’s water bottle is on the boards in front of the bench, suggesting he might practice with the team today for the first time since his knee injury Jan. 30 in Ottawa.

The Canadiens are on Brossard practice ice this morning at 11:30 before chartering to Toronto for Saturday’s game vs. the we’ll-get-’em-next-year Toronto Maple Leafs.

The Air Canada Centre game will begin a stretch of five games in eight nights for Montreal, continuing Monday at home vs. Ottawa, in Buffalo Wednesday, home to Florida on Thursday and home to New Jersey next Saturday. Then, three days off before facing Carolina at home on March 31.

We’ll be at practice today. Updates and audio to come here after the workout; live updates on Twitter here.

Canadiens’ Glen Metropolit collides with Maple Leafs
goalie Jonas Gustavsson during the first period Saturday night. Mike Cassese, Reuters

Gazette preview | Matchups | Saturday’s NHL schedule | Boone’s Game Blog and About last night … | Stubbs on Twitter | Pat Hickey’s game story

AUDIO: Jacques Martin | Jaro Halak | Scott Gomez | Tomas Plekanec

• At a Glance: The Canadiens continue to give up way too many shots, but once again, they managed to come out on top, this time a 3-2 overtime win against the Toronto Maple Leafs on Saturday night. Jaroslav Halak, making his fourth straight start, faced 49 shots and allowed only two goals. He has faced 186 shots in his four starts, stopping 180 of them. The Canadiens had jumped out to a 2-0 lead early in the first period when Scott Gomez beat Jonas Gustavsson on the power play. Then, less than a minute later, Andrei Markov sent Tomas Plekanec into the clear and he beat Gustavsson with a chip shot over the shoulder. But the Leafs didn’t back down and dominated the second and third periods, getting goals from Ian White in the second and Jason Blake early in the third to tie the game 2-2. Only 34 seconds into overtime, Andrei Kostitsyn fired a wrist shot past the Maple Leafs goaltender to salvage what was a weak overall effort. It was Kostitsyn’s 12th goal of the season and he has been on fire as of late.

• Key Moments: With only seconds to go in the third period, Phil Kessel missed a golden chance to give the Maple Leafs the win, but fanned on his shot on a perfect pass from behind the net by Matt Stajan.

• What It Means: The Canadiens have won four straight games and improved to 19-18-3 and 41 points. Montreal is now a perfect 4-0 on their seven-game road trip. The Canadiens have moved into seventh place in the Eastern Conference.

• What’s Next: The Canadiens are in Ottawa on Monday and then head to Florida to play the Lightning on Wednesday and the Panthers to wrap up 2009 with a New Year’s Eve game.

Canadiens goalie Carey Price can’t stop Maple
Leafs’ Colton Orr from opening the scoring Tuesday night in Montreal. Allen McInnis, The Gazette

Gazette Preview | Matchups | Tuesday’s NHL schedule | Boone’s Game Blog and About last night … | Stubbs on Twitter | Hickey’s game story

AUDIO; Jacques Martin | Mike Cammalleri | Ryan O’Byrne | Jaro Spacek | Glen Metropolit

• At a Glance: This time, there was no coming back. For the second straight game, the Canadiens gave up the first two goals to their opponent, this time the Toronto Maple Leafs. But the Canadiens were unable to recover as they did on Saturday against the Washington Capitals as the Leafs posted a 3-0 shutout win that appeared far too easy a night after they were blanked by the Buffalo Sabres. Colton Orr, Jeff Finger and Matt Stajan were the goal scorers for the Leafs, who outshot the Canadiens 31 to 26. The Leafs starting goaltender, Jonas Gustavsson, did not return after the first period as he was suffering from an irregular heartbeat and was taken to hospital as a precaution.

• Key Moments: After a good start for the Canadiens, Orr opened the scoring and it was all downhill from there for the Habs, who never really came close to threatening the Leafs in this one.

• What It Means: The Canadiens have now lost three games in a row after losses to the Pittsburgh Penguins and Capitals.

• What’s Next: The Canadiens are in Buffalo Thursday night before returning home to welcome the Bruins on Friday for the team’s 100th anniversary.

Pat Hickey will update news and injuries from practice later today.

Canadiens’ Mike Cammalleri celebrates a goal by Hal Gill
in front of Maple Leafs’ Vesa Toskala and Mikhail Grabovski Saturday night. John Kenney, The Gazette

Gazette Preview | NHL.com preview | Saturday’s NHL Schedule | Matchups | Mike Boone’s Game Blog and About last night … | Pat Hickey’s game story

• Postgame Audio: Jacques Martin (barely audible: batteries were dying)| Mike Cammalleri | Scott Gomez | Hal Gill | Tomas Plekanec | Jaro Halak

• Leafs Postgame Audio: Ron Wilson | Mike Komisarek (two clips joined) | Vesa Toskala | Tomas Kaberle

• At a Glance: As expected, Mike Komisarek was booed loudly by Canadiens fans as the defenceman returned to Montreal with his new team, the Toronto Maple Leafs. But Komisarek will have to wait for another day before defeating his former team as the Canadiens got the better of the Leafs 5-4 Saturday night in a shootout. The Maple Leafs opened the scoring when Alexei Ponikarovsky pounced on a rebound during a power play and beat Jaroslav Halak, who was back in nets after Carey Price lost to the Chicago Blackhawks Friday night. The Canadiens then scored three straight times to take a 3-1 lead, with goals from Glen Metropolit, Guillaume Latendresse and Hal Gill, his first with the Canadiens. Lee Stempniak made it 3-2 with another power-play goal for the Leafs before the end of the second period. Roman Hamrlik was credited with Montreal’s fourth goal, the result of a Scott Gomez shot that went off the defenceman’s leg. Ponikarovsky also scored Toronto’s third goal with a little more than three minutes left to play, and Tomas Kaberle scored with 54 seconds remaining in regulation time, tying the game 4-4. Halak stopped 26 of Toronto’s 30 shots, while Vesa Toskala allowed four goals on 39 shots. Michael Cammalleri and Gomez beat Toskala in the shootout, while Halak stopped Stempniak and Kaberle.

• Key Moments: The Canadiens gave up two power-play goals and failed to score on any of their opportunities with the man advantage. But two of Montreal’s four goals were scored seconds after the Maple Leafs player left the penalty box, and yes, on one of those, the player leaving the box was Komisarek.

• What It Means: The Habs are now 2-0 against the Maple Leafs this season and put an end to a two-game losing streak with the win. It also means the Canadiens have won only one of their games in regulation time, but they are a perfect 6-0 in overtime and the shootout.

• What’s Next: The Canadiens are home to the Atlanta Thrashers on Tuesday before heading to Boston to face the Bruins for the first time this season on Thursday. The Canadiens wrap up their week with a game against the Tampa Bay Lightning next Saturday.

Mike Komisarek returns to the Bell Centre tonight in the blue and white jersey of the Toronto Maple Leafs.

The veteran defenceman expects, shall we say, a spirited greeting from Montreal fans.

“I’m sure it’s going to be loud,” he said, “but I don’t think it’s going to be open arms. … It’s not like it’s Brett Favre is back in town.”

Here’s Komisarek interviewed this morning as the Leafs took part in an optional morning skate. Habs Inside/Out thanks CJAD’s Mark Shalhoub and, from CKAC, reporter Martin McGuire and producer Frédéric Perron for their generosity; they’ve shared their audio with HIO, which wasn’t on site. Credit where it’s due…

Canadiens’ Josh Gorges scores the game-winning goal against Maple
Leafs goalie Vesa Toskala as Francois Beauchemin, Luke
Schenn and John Mitchell look on. REUTERS/Mark Blinch

Gazette preview | Today’s NHL Schedule | Boone game blog and About last night … | Hickey’s Game Story | Inside the Locker Room | Stubbs column

Canadiens audio: Mike Cammalleri | Hal Gill 1 | Hal Gill 2 | Ryan O’Byrne | Max Pacioretty | Jacques Martin
Leafs audio: Mike Komisarek 1 | Komisarek 2 | Garnet Exelby | Luke Schenn
Audio: Stubbs-Hickey postgame PuckCast from Toronto

• At a Glance:  In their first game after a massive offseason makeover, the Canadiens looked out of sync for most of Thursday’s game against the Maple Leafs, but still came away with the 4-3 win when Josh Gorges scored with only seconds to go in overtime on Thursday. The winning goal was the result of some nice work by newcomer Mike Cammalleri, who was one of the best players for the Canadiens. But some other newcomers also made their presence felt with Brian Gionta and Travis Moen also scoring, as did Glen Metropolit.
Head coach Jacques Martin can thank Carey Price for a nice birthday present on his 57th birthday, because if not for the play of his goaltender, the Leafs would have run away with this one after ousthooting the Canadiens 46-27.

• Key Moments: Canadiens fourth-line centre Glen Metropolit scored on the power play – yes, you read that right – with four minutes to play in the third period to tie the game 3-3 and force overtime. The goal was scored with former Hab Mike Komisarek in the penalty box, the second time Thursday that the Canadiens scored with Komisarek in the box.

• What It Means: It’s the first game of a long season, so there is no need to panic despite the lacklustre performance. But an injury to Andrei Markov midway through the third period forced him to miss the rest of the game could be something to be concerned about.

• What’s Next: The Canadiens head a little further south where the will face the Buffalo Sabres on Saturday night, the second of a season-opening five-game road swing that heads to Western Canada after Saturday.