Buffalo Sabres

Sabres centre Tim Connolly scores on Canadiens goalie Carey Price during the second period Sunday afternoon at the Bell Centre. Peter McCabe, The Gazette

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AUDIO: Brian Gionta | Mike Cammalleri | Carey Price | Jacques Martin

• At a Glance:  One bounce. That was the difference Sunday as the Buffalo Sabres defeated the Canadiens 1-0 in the first game of 2010 for Montreal. Tim Connolly scored his 11th goal of the season 6:56 into the second period after a pass from Jason Pominville bounced into Carey Price’s crease, an easy tip-in for Connolly. It was the only blemish for Price, who stopped the rest of Buffalo’s 30 shots. Ryan Miller, who will defend the U.S. net at the Vancouver Olympics, stood tall against the Canadiens, stopping all 29 shots they fired his way.

• Key Moments: Montreal was unable to score on a pair of power plays in the first period, the only chances they would get with the man advantage during the game.

• What It Means: The Canadiens lost for only the second time in 8 games, watching its record drop to 21-20-3 for 45 points.

• What's Next: The Canadiens are in Washington on Tuesday night before returning home to host the Florida Panthers on Thursday and the New Jersey Devils on Saturday.

• AUDIO: Jacques Martin | Brian Gionta | Scott Gomez | Jaroslav Halak

Andrei and Sergei Kostitsyn's participation tomorrow vs. Buffalo will be a game-time decision by head coach Jacques Martin. Defenceman Paul Mara, who's missed the past five games with a hand/wrist injury, might return to action after having practised today with teammates.

No announcement of the Habs' starting goalie will be made before tomorrow morning, though Martin has scrapped the morning skate with a 3 pm start Sunday. The Sabres skated today at Concordia University and they, too, will not skate Sunday morning.

Both Kostitsyns took a therapy day today, and for family reasons Ryan O'Byrne missed a hard hour-long practice – "They're all hard now," Glen Metropolit joked – at Brossard.

The other news of note from this morning: Jaroslav Halak was named winner of the Molson Cup for the month of December for garnering the most points in three-star selections. He'll be presented the trophy before Sunday's game.

The Canadiens return to practice this morning, the Buffalo Sabres in town tomorrow afternoon for a 3 p.m. Bell Centre matinée.

We expect to have health updates today on Andrei and Sergei Kostitsyn; Andrei left the New Year's Eve game in Florida in the second period after absorbing a hard bodycheck, while Sergi suffered a lower-body injury during the pregame warmup and was unable to play.

Updates to come in this space after practice. I'll be updating live during practice via Twitter here.

• Sean Gordon, in this morning's Globe & Mail, on how a number of Canadiens are turning to protective shells over their skates to save their shot-blocking feet.

The Canadiens are off today, no doubt savouring the conclusion of their 6-1, seven-game road trip that sees them turn the corner into 2010 in seventh place of the Eastern Conference, three points clear of the New York Rangers (who have three games in hand).

Montreal returns to practice on Saturday morning in advance of Sunday's 3 p.m. Bell Centre matinée against the Buffalo Sabres. Then it's back on the road for one game, in Washington on Tuesday, before returning home for dates against Florida, New Jersey, Dallas and Ottawa. The Habs will enjoy four days off at home Jan. 10-14 between the New Jersey and Dallas games.

Saturday's practice should yield some news on the health of brothers Andrei and Sergei Kostitsyn. Andrei left Thursday's game in Florida in the second period after a hard check from Panthers' Keith Ballard, while Sergei came up lame with a lower-body injury suffered during the pregame warmup.

Habs Inside/Out will be at Saturday's practice. Look for a post-practice report in this space early in the afternoon, with live updates on Twitter here beginning around 10:30 a.m. ET

Canadiens' Hal Gill clears loose puck from the crease in front of goalie Jaroslav Halak during first period Monday night at the Bell Centre. John Mahoney, The Gazette

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PRE-GAME AUDIO: Mike Cammalleri | Jacques Martin

POSTGAME AUDIO: Jacques Martin | Andrei Kostitsyn | Mike Cammalleri | Tomas Plekanec

• At a Glance: Until the Canadiens learn to stop taking dumb penalties, what happened over the last two games will keep happening. After losing 4-3 to the Atlanta Thrashers on Saturday night - with the winning goal scored on the power play - the Canadiens dropped another game thanks to careless penalties, again by a 4-3 score to the Northeast Division leading Buffalo Sabres. On Monday night, the Canadiens were down two men when Clark MacArthur scored the winning goal with just more than five minutes to play. What makes it doubly frustrating is that the Canadiens had just scored the game 3-3 when Glen Metropolit was handed a double-minor only six second after Michael Cammalleri scored Montreal's third goal. Ryan O'Byrne took a penalty 37 seconds later and MacArthur took advantage. For the second straight game, Andrei Kostitsyn scored a pair of goals, both on the power play. Andrej Sekera, Patrick Kaleta and Tim Kennedy were the other Buffalo goal scorers. Ryan Miller stopped 21 of 24 Montreal shots, while Jaroslav Halak made 23 saves on 27 shots.

• Key Moments: The Canadiens enjoyed a power play for the final two minutes of the game but were unable to score the game-tying goal.

• What It Means: Montreal has now lost three straight games and its record has dropped to 15-16-3.

• What's Next: The Canadiens are in New Jersey on Wednesday night before returning home to welcome Guillaume Latendresse and the Minnesota Wild to town on Thursday. They then travel to Long Island to take on the Islanders on Saturday night.

Sabres left-winger Tim Kennedy (left) celebrates his second period goal with teammate Thomas Vanek while Canadiens goaltender Jaroslav Halak looks on Thursday night. Adam Wieper, Reuters

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AUDIO: Jacques Martin | Jaro Spacek | Josh Gorges | Jaro Halak

• At a Glance: Just when you thought things couldn't get worse, they did for the Canadiens. After a 3-0 loss to the Toronto Maple Leafs, the Canadiend laid another egg against the Buffalo Sabres, this time losing by 6-2. And this one was over almost before it could get started, with Buffalo taking a 3-0 lead only 8:20 into the game. It was not the way Jaroslav Halak wanted to play in his first start in almost a month. Clarke MacArthur, Jason Pominville and Derek Roy scored in the first period,  with Tim Kennedy scoring in the second. Andrej Sekera and Mike Grier capped the scoring for the Sabres in the third period. The Sabres ended the game with 37 shots on Halak. Ryan Miller hardly had to break a sweat in this one, but he was beat by Scott Gomez in the second period and then Josh Gorges in the third period, two of only 23 shots for the Canadiens, a figure that is flattering to the Canadiens, who had only eight shots after two periods.

• Key Moments: The opening faceoff.

• What It Means: That is the fourth straight loss for the Canadiens, dropping their record to 12-14-2. And if the losing streak continues, the Habs could soon be in the basement of the Northeast Division, a spot now occupied by the Maple Leafs, who are only three points behind Montreal after beating the Columbus Blue Jackets on Thursday.

• What's Next: The Canadiens are back home to the Boston Bruins on Friday night. Next week, things do not get any easier with games against the Flyers, Senators and Penguins.

• AUDIO: Jacques Martin | Andrei Kostitsyn | Scott Gomez | Carey Price | Hal Gill

The Canadiens practised today in Brossard then headed to Buffalo, where they'll meet the Sabres Thursday. It's immediately back to Montreal after that, for the much-trumpeted 100th anniversary game vs. the Boston Bruins on Friday at the Bell Centre.

Andrei Kostitsyn expects to be back in the lineup, his foot injury healed, while Hal Gill, recovering from a hairline foot fracture, should be ready to go vs. Buffalo or Boston, coach's choice.

Canadiens goaltender Carey Price stands tall in front of Sabres' Matt Ellis Saturday night. Rick Stewart/Getty Images

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AUDIO: Carey Price  Brian Gionta  Mike Cammalleri

• At a Glance: Take the four points and head west, my friends! The Canadiens defeated the Buffalo Sabres 2-1 in overtime Saturday night in a game they were never really in. And it was newcomer Brian Gionta who played the hero on this night as he took the puck off the boards and redirected it past Ryan Miller with only the Canadiens third shot since the second period.
For the second straight game, Carey Price kept the Canadiens in the game and has allowed only four goals in 81 shots he has faced over two games.

• Key Moments: After a solid second period, the Habs recorded only one shot on Ryan Miller in the third period, while the Sabres fired 11 at Carey Price, who made a miraculous save with seconds to go in the third period to force overtime.

• What It Means: The Canadiens might have four points after their first two games, but their players are dropping like flies. Saturday night saw Ryan O’Byrne and Glen Metropolit go down with injuries during the first period.

• What's Next: The Canadiens head to Calgary where they begin a three-game Western Canadian swing with a game on Tuesday night.

Canadiens' Alexei Kovalev scores his second goal of the game Saturday night under the arm of Sabres goalie Ryan Miller. Allen McInnis, The Gazette

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AUDIO:  Bob Gainey  Saku Koivu  Christopher Higgins  Carey Price

The Canadiens made up at least some ground on the New York Rangers despite a 4-3 shootout loss to the Buffalo Sabres on Saturday night, a game the Sabres desperately needed as they continue a push for a playoff position.

With the Canadiens picking up a point, the Sabres, who sit 10th in the Eastern Conference, are four points behind the Canadiens, who have 86 points, one behind the New York Rangers in seventh spot. The Rangers lost their game Saturday afternoon against the Pittsburgh Penguins.

Carey Price looked much better in the shootout, stopping Tim Connolly, Drew Stafford, Derek Roy and Thomas Vanek, while Jason Pominville missed the net. Toni Lydman was the only one to score in the shootout, giving the Sabres a much needed second point.

Ryan Miller stopped Alex Kovalev, Saku Koivu and Andrei Markov, while Alex Tanguay missed the net and Tomas Plekanec hit the post with his team's fifth shot and Maxim Lapierre missed the net with a chance to extend the shootout.

Miller, who was playing his second game since returning from an ankle injury, played well and has given his teammates renewed hope of postseason play with a 32 save performance. At the other end of the ice, Price stopped 34 of 37 shots.

Sabres goaltender Patrick Lalime watches the puck after Canadiens right-winger Alex Kovalev was tripped by Sabres defenceman Andrej Sekera during first period Wednesday night in Buffalo. Gary Wiepert, Reuters

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AUDIO: • Carbo  • Price  • Koivu  • Kovalev

Carey Price was given a chance to show he has regained his form on Wednesday night, but the results were far from conclusive in a 5-1 loss to the Buffalo Sabres. Price was given the start after Jaroslav Halak, who had won four straight games, was forced to miss the game because of the flu.

It was a game that started well for the Canadiens, who dominated most of the first period and outshot the Sabres 18-10. But the Sabres camw out of it with a 1-0 lead after Derek Roy scored on a power-play near the end of the period.

The Canadiens went 0-for-3 on the power play in the first period, and were 0-for-5 overall and even gave up a shorthanded goal. The Sabres were 2-for-3.

Roy doubled the Sabres lead early in the second period when he was left all alone in front of Price after a turnover deep in the Canadiens' zone. Even though Roy flubbed his shot, Price couldn't get over in time to make the stop.

A few minutes later, off another turnover, Jaroslav Spacek broke in on Price and blasted a slap shot to Price's glove side, leaving the goaltender looking dazed and confused and giving the Sabres a 3-0 lead.

From Buffalo, from the mp3 recorder of Pat Hickey:

• Canadiens coach Guy Carbonneau;
• Canadiens defenceman Mike Komisarek;
• Canadiens defenceman Josh Gorges.

• Sabres coach Lindy Ruff on tonight's game;
• Sabres forward Jason Pominville on the signing of teammate Tim Connolly. He was commenting before the deal was confirmed, which has since happened;
• Sabres' Tim Connolly on his new contract.

The Canadiens this morning have recalled goaltender Marc Denis from the AHL Hamilton Bulldogs. He will back up Carey Price in Buffalo tonight, with Jaro Halak suffering from the flu.

Denis has a 21-14-10 record in 36 games this season with the Bulldogs, with a 2.57 average and .917 save percentage.

The 31-year-old appeared in one game with the Canadiens this season, playing one period in New Jersey on Jan. 2 and stopping all seven shots he faced.

He wasn't called for this one: Canadiens' Alex Kovalev, who was penalized twice tonight in Buffalo, bulldogs Sabres' Jochen Hecht during the second period of the Habs' 3-2 loss.

Bill Wippert, NHLI via Getty Images

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AUDIO:  • Price  • Higgins

The Buffalo Sabres took full advantage of a gift and of a badly handled puck to beat the visiting Canadiens 3-2 tonight, sending Montreal home less than overjoyed to face the Toronto Maple Leafs in the second of back-to-back games.

Buffalo, terribly outplayed and outshot 15-5 in the first period, jumped on the board first with something nicely wrapped and tied up with a bow, Canadiens goalie Carey Price whiffing on a 55-footer by Jaroslav Spacek at 27 seconds of the second.

Canadiens captain Saku Koivu pulled his team even with a gritty, hard-earned equalizer at 10:21 on the power play. Max Pacioretty did some good work in the corner to allow Koivu to carry in front and bang the puck past Sabres netminder Ryan Miller for his ninth goal of the season.

Canadiens fourth-line winger Georges Laraque has a good time during Thursday practice.
Dave Sidaway, Gazette

DAVE STUBBS
The Gazette

Georges Laraque  plays his 18th game for the Canadiens on Friday night. And it seems entirely up to him whether he’s on the ice for five minutes or 10, whether he suits up for each of the club’s remaining 31 games or just a handful of them.

Montreal’s popular heavyweight free-agent signing of last July finally is in fighting form, so to speak, ready and eager to face the Buffalo Sabres.

It will be the first of the Canadiens’ back-to-back games, the Toronto Maple Leafs providing Bell Centre opposition Saturday, before the team sets out on a huge six-game road trip.

Laraque has missed the past 18 games with a back injury. He’s been sidelined for a total of 34 this season – 27 with groin and back problems and listed, perhaps generously, as a healthy scratch for seven more. On Thursday, Canadiens head coach Guy Carbonneau welcomed Laraque back to his lineup – without a single promise.

The Canadiens practice this morning in Brossard, then board a charter flight this afternoon to Buffalo where they take on the Sabres Friday night.

Back home to play the Toronto Maple Leafs in a Saturday night special, then it's on the road for the longest trip of the season: Calgary, Edmonton, Colorado and Vancouver, with a brief pitstop back in Montreal before setting off to face Washington and Pittsburgh.

Lines on the ice now:

Plekanec between Kovalev and Andrei K
Koivu between Higgins and D'Agostini
Lapierre between Pacioretty and Sergei K
Bégin between Kostopoulos and Laraque/Dandenault

No Brisebois, at least for now.

Canadiens' Roman Hamrlik battles in front of the net with Sabres' Andrej Sekera and goalie Ryan Miller Saturday night. (THE GAZETTE/John Kenney) 

AUDIO:   Guy Carbonneau   Alex Kovalev  Jaroslav Halak  Pure gold from the always quotable Sergei Kostitsyn

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Updated by Kevin Mio

Alex Kovalev went from potential goat to hero Saturday night at the Bell Centre as he scored the overtime winner as the Canadiens defeated the Buffalo Sabred 4-3.
Kovalev placed his team in a tough situation in the third period when his penalty led to the Sabres scoring a goal to give them a 3-2 lead with seven minutes to play.
But only two minutes later, Kovalev's second effort led to Sergei Kostitsyn's second goal of the night to tie the game 3-3 and send it to overtime.
Kovalev scored the game winner, his eights of the season, on the power play with 25 seconds to play in the extra frame. It was his third goal in as many games after a prolonged drought and gave the Canadiens their second straight win.
Kovalev snapped a wrist shot over Ryan Miller's shoulder. Miller, coming off a 40-shot shutout over the Los Angeles Kings on Friday night, was bombarded again with 46 shots.
The Canadiens have now won two straight after snapping a three-game losing skid on Thursday night against the Philadelphia Flyers. They will look to go into the Christmas break riding on a three-game winning streak as they take on the Carolina Hurricanes on Sunday night.

Canadiens' Andrei Kostitsyn celebrates his goal against the Sabres.
Christinne Muschi, Reuters

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AUDIO :

• Christopher Higgins  Andrei Markov  Steve Bégin  Mike Komisarek (on his coaching debut)  Matt D'Agostini

Andrei Kostitsyn emerged from coach Guy Carbonneau's doghouse to score a goal and add an assist tonight, helping lead the Canadiens to a 3-2 come-from-behind victory over the Buffalo Sabres at the Bell Centre.

It was a happy, if nervy, homecoming for the Habs, who had lost ugly in Washington Friday night, dropping a 3-0 decision to the Capitals. That was Montreal's eighth loss in their past 12 games, three by shootout.

Montreal opened a seven-game homestand tonight, the longest in team history, with a victory coming on goals by Kostitsyn, Steve Bégin and Andrei Markov.

Kostitsyn had been called out earlier in the day by Carbonneau, who said that he and his younger brother, Sergei, could get no lower. They were demoted to the fourth line for the start of tonight's game, and Sergei did himself no favours with an undisciplined game, taking three penalties, the first resulting in Buffalo's first goal.

Alex Kovalev is reunited tonight with Robert Lang, with whom he made magic in Pittsburgh. Can he rekindle that, now goalless in 12 games?

Matt D'Agostini is in the lineup tonight vs. Buffalo, getting plenty of ice time on a line with Koivu and Higgins. Dandenault moves back to the blue line to take the place of O'Byrne, a healthy scratch for the fourth time this season. Tanguay and Laraque remain out. Price will be in goal.

The Kostitsyn brothers move to the fourth line with Lapierre. Message sent. Kovalev and Lang are reunited. Bégin with Plekanec and Kostopoulos. Defence combos likely Markov-Gorges, Dandenault-Hamrlik and Bouillon-Brisebois.

I introduce myself to the Inside Out family by telling a little story, with visuals.

The Canadiens will play their second pre-season game against the Buffalo Sabres Tuesday night at Centre Benoît-Levesque in picturesque Roberval.

Yes, Roberval. The city that won the CBC's Hockeyville contest going away (by a huge margin) gets to host the Habs.

This edition of ALN will be terse and pithy.

What is there to say? Your Montreal Canadiens played pithy ... yeth, they did.

Seeing their heroes for the first time in a week, 21.273 fans filled the expensive seats of the Bell Centre. They drank overpriced beer, gobbled overpriced hot dogs, bought REALLY overpriced souvenirs and yelled themselves hoarse – at least until the third period, when the inevitability of the outcome became obvious and the giant arena turned into a sold-out Urgel Bourgie (although booing is considered bad form at a visitation.)

Joceleyn Thibault – who had spent 18 of the previous games 20 at the end of the Buffalo bench, watching Ryan Miller – made 24 fairly easy saves. I can't remember who was prime minister the last time Thibault posted a shutout.

Here's the game in a shots-on-goal nutshell:

Christopher Higgins: 1

Saku Koivu: 0

Michael Ryder: 0

Jochen Hecht: 7

And what's that noxious pall hanging over Montreal this morning? It
smells like .... last season. People who have respiratory problems or hopes of this team making the playoffs are advised to stay indoors.

On to Toronto, where – should the Canadiens lay another ACC egg – the panic will officially begin.

Jocelyn Thibault returns to blank the Canadiens at the Bell Centre, mqaking 24 saves as the Buffalo Sabres win the two-game, two-night, too-depressing total-goal series 7-2.

"It was a bad effort all around," said Christopher Higgins, reflecting on the 3-0 loss in a subdued Canadiens dressing room. "We made bad decisions, a lot of turnovers, not working the puck deep.

"We were losing a lot of battles."

And the war. Buffalo is still six points behind Canadiens in the Eastern Conference standings, but the Sabres have two games in hand and are showing signs of regaining their 2006-'07 form.

The scary thing is the Canadiens are starting to evoke disquieting memories of last season.

No flu bug, no serious injuries like the one that sidelined Higggins. But there are troubling signs – an impotent power play, futile line juggling – that the team has systemic problems.

"We don't have a 50-goal scorer," Higgins said. "We don't have a Hart or Norris Trophy winner. For us to win we all have to work hard."

Higggins' Long Island pal Mike Komisarek said the Canadiens "can't continue playing like this."

"We have to do something about it. It's the responsibility of each and every one of us – forwards, D, young guys, older guys.

"We have to play smart," Komisarek added. "We have to play with passion and show pride when we go out there."

Canadiens have Sunday off and will return to the practice ice on Monday, preparing for a rare Tuesday date with the Leafs at the Air Canada Centre.

Let's be clear about something on this crisp, sunny Saturday morning in Montreal: the penalty call was brutal, but your Montreal Canadiens did not deserve to win the game.

For the second straight Friday in Buffalo, the home team outhustled and – gasp! – outskated the visitors, with the predictable result that the Sabres bagged two points to continue their climb back into playoff contention.

Once again, the Canadiens gave up the first goal ... and it would have been more were it not for some good Carey Price stops in the first period.

They wasted a four-minute power-play.

Their PK gave up two goals in three Buffalo opportunities.

With the exception of some flurries of activity by Tomas Plekanec's line in the third period, the Canadiens generated no sustained offence.

The NHL does not offer stats on intercepted passes or first-on-the-puck. If it did, the Sabres were in triple figures.

The Ol' EEEEE-mailer, who has never played ice hockey in his long life, offers this one word of advice for tonight's rematch at the Bell Centre: Hit.

The Sabres are one of the few teams in the NHL that are less physically imposing than the Canadiens. It's imperative that the guys in red sweaters lay a bit of smack-down on the visitors tonight to take them off their skating, slick-passing game.

In particular, the Canadiens have to target Brian Campbell. They can't let the Sabres' superb defenceman dance out of his zone and cruise up the ice to QB the offence. Make Campbell and the other Buffalo defencemen work to clear their zone. Puck cough-ups will ensue, as will scoring opportunities.

Intensity and hard-work just might salvage a split of this home-and-home. An effort like last night's will hand the Sabres a sweep.

After Tomas Plekanec scored a spectacular goal to complete the Canadiens comeback from a 2-0 deficit, Mike Komisarek was called for a trip that wasn't.

Thomas Vanek then scored Buffalo's second power-play goal and Daniel Paillé added an empty-netter in a 4-2 win that will stick in Guy Carbonneau's craw for a while ... or at least until Saturday night, when Buffalo is at the Bell Centre.

Wuz we robbed?

Yes ... but the Canadiens played a poor game, on balance, and probably didn't deserve two points.

But one would have been nice. 

The Gazette's Pat Hickey writes that Canadiens rookie goaltender Carey Price will make his eighth start of the season tonight, but it will be his sixth on the road. Price is 4-1 when playing away from the Bell Centre, but he doesn't really care where he plays.

"I treat every game the same way," Price said when asked whether he would rather start on the road or at home. "I've been saying that a lot this year, but it's true. Playing at home is nice, but if the opposition fans are booing me, it doesn't matter."

Head coach Guy Carbonneau says he is impressed by how far Price has come in such a short time.

"I don't see too many flaws in his game," the coach said.

Read Hickey's full article from today's Montreal Gazette here.

The Buffalo Sabres were desperate for a win and played like it.

The Canadiens confronted desperation with disinterest, and the result was a 4-1 pasting.

A forgettable game, best consigned to memory because the Canadiens have to focus on two Bell Centre games, tomorrow night against Boston and a Monday date with the mighty Senators.