Toronto Maple Leafs

• UPDATE, 11:28 am: All present and accounted for, including Plekanec, with the exception of Mara. Butch Bouchard had expressed a desire to see the Brossard facility and again meet Ryan O'Byrne, who gave up his No. 3 for Bouchard's jersey retirement.

• 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

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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

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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.

Our friend Harani sends along this interactive game to welcome Toronto Maple Leafs' Mike Komisarek back to town. All in good fun, Mike. You were a good soldier with the Canadiens (not that every reader of Inside/Out will agree with me on that).

The Canadiens return to practice ice today to prepare for tomorrow's Bell Centre tilt vs the Toronto Maple Leafs. Expected in the Leafs lineup will be former Habs defenceman Mike Komisarek, who missed eight games with a quadriceps tear but was due back in Toronto's roster tonight vs. Buffalo.

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

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• 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

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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.

We're counting down the days until this coming Thursday when the Canadiens open their 2009-10 season in Toronto against the Maple Leafs. A focal part of that game will be facing former Habs defenceman Mike Komisarek, who signed with the Leafs in July as an unrestricted free agent.

The Hockey News' Ken Campbell sat down with Komisarek during Leafs camp in recent days and has a two-part video interview with him, Part I online now, Part II coming Tuesday. Here's Part I.

At about the 5:40 mark of this clip, Komisarek talks about leaving Montreal, a place for which he has "nothing but great memories," saying he had approached the Canadiens "a couple of years ago" about a new contract but that the Habs chose to wait:

"It was a tough situation at the end," he says. "Obviously we all didn't have as a team the success we wanted to last year. I have nothing but great memories of Montreal, the organization, with Bob Gainey and the fans. A lot of great friendships, it's been a great time there.

"But a couple of years ago, before this whole free agency, I couldn't imagine going somewhere else. We approached the team ... and they never really wanted to ... they wanted to wait. And the longer you wait, you're sitting there, a few weeks from free agency, things just work differently. Things work out sometimes for the better or the worse, but more importantly you're looking forward to new challenges and new opportunities."

Former Canadiens defenceman Mike Komisarek, in 10 minutes of audio on nhlhomeice.com, discussing Team USA for Vancouver 2010, and on his joining the Toronto Maple Leafs. Canadiens vs. the Leafs at the Air Canada Centre on Thursday, Oct. 1. Any of you plan to be scoping that one on TV?

Teeder Kennedy during his prime, as captain of the Toronto Maple Leafs.

The hockey world is mourning Friday's loss to heart failure of Ted (Teeder) Kennedy, arguably the greatest Toronto Maple Leaf of all time.

Among those touched by Kennedy's loss is Canadiens legend Elmer Lach, who faced Kennedy many, many times in the faceoff circle during the 1940s and '50s.

The Habs nearly had Kennedy in their lineup, but a rare case of mismanaging a prospect during the 16-year-old's trip to Montreal in the early 1940s prompted him to return to southern Ontario, where former Montreal Maroons star Nels Stewart crafted him into a terrific talent the Leafs would cherish for 14 seasons.

A look at how the Habs nearly had Kennedy, whose play for Toronto helped create the magnificent rivalry between the Leafs and Canadiens beginning in the war years.

Canadiens' Guillaume Latendresse celebrates his first-period goal, giving the Habs a 2-0 lead over the Maple Leafs.
Graig Abel, NHLI via Getty Images

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• POSTGAME AUDIO (forgive the distortion):  • Kovalev  • Latendresse  • Halak  • Higgins  • Lapierre

• AT A GLANCE: The Canadiens won for the fifth time in their last six games, scoring three power-play goals for a 6-2 victory over the Toronto Maple Leafs that was every bit as dominant as the scoreboard suggests. Alex Kovalev's ice-breaker at 6:11 of the first period on Montreal's reborn power play put this Air Canada Centre tilt on its way. Guillaume Latendresse, Alex Tanguay and Christopher Higgins put Montreal up 4-0. Toronto's John Mitchell ended Habs goalie Jaroslav Halak's bid for his second shutout of the season early in the third period, but Maxim Lapierre and Josh Gorges made it 5-1 and 6-1, both on the power play. A Tanguay turnover gave Leafs' Boyd Devereaux a late short-handed goal to make it 6-2. Kovalev finished with a goal and three assists.

• INJURY CONCERNS: The victory might have been costly. Defenceman Mathieu Schneider, a key cog in the PP, left after the first period with an unspecified upper-body injury following a hit by Leafs' Brad May. And former Canadien Mikhail Grabovski drove Habs defenceman Andrei Markov face-first into the glass with 7:03 left to play. Markov, clearly shaken up and helped off the ice, did not return. But CBC's Elliotte Friedman said he made it to the dressing room under his own power, throwing his stick in anger en route.

• WHAT IT MEANS: The seventh-place Canadiens pulled three points ahead of No. 8-ranked New York Rangers and five ahead of No. 9 Florida. The Habs have one game in hand on the Rangers, while they'll hold one in hand on the Panthers after Florida's 5 pm Sunday game against Pittsburgh. Montreal remains one point behind the Penguins, 3-2 overtime losers to Carolina; the Hurricanes assured themselves a playoff berth with their win.

• KEY MOMENT: How about two? Up 1-0 in the first, the Canadiens killed a penalty and just 11 seconds later doubled their lead with a goal by Latendresse. Then 58 seconds after Latendresse missed a second-period penalty shot, which sometimes can change the game's flow for a trailing team, Alex Tanguay converted a beautiful setup from Saku Koivu to put Montreal up 3-0.

• WHO'S NEXT: Four games in six nights to finish out the regular season: Monday at home vs. the Ottawa Senators; Tuesday in New York vs. the Rangers; Thursday in Boston vs. the Eastern Conference-champion Bruins; and finally back home next Saturday vs. the Pittsburgh Penguins.

There's a limit to Bob Gainey's patience, and Andrei Kostitsyn has just found it.

The underachieving Kostitsyn gets a press-box seat for tonight's game in Toronto, Mathieu Dandenault moving up into Kostitsyn's spot on the line with Tomas Plekanec and Christopher Higgins.

Patrice Brisebois returns to the blue line, which sits Ryan O'Byrne. Matt D'Agostini is also a healthy scratch.

Georges Laraque and Gregory Stewart are on a line with Glen Metropolit. And to think the Habs vacated the Bell Centre tonight for a fight card.

Canadiens goalie Jaroslav Halak makes a stop on Islanders' Frans Nielsen last night on Long Island.
Bruce Bennett, Getty Images

Look for Jaroslav Halak to get his second consecutive start in goal tomorrow night in Toronto, the still-ailing Carey Price not fit to face the Maple Leafs. Pat Hickey says that Price has been for all intents and purposes quarantined in his Toronto hotel room (so presumably roommate Josh Gorges was upgraded to a single?).

Andrei Kostitsyn seems highly doubtful to play tomorrow, having been cut over the eye by a high stick last night on Long Island. But there are suggestions, too, that he could be a healthy scratch. Last time the Kostitsyn brothers' parents come to North America: Sergei was drilled into the boards and missed last night's game, and now Andrei is hammered.

Goaltending callup Marc Denis was returned to Hamilton to play with the Bulldogs tonight, but will be back to support Halak tomorrow in Toronto.

The Canadiens did not practice today, but instead had a team meeting at the Ricoh Centre.

Canadiens goalie Jaroslav Halak watches goal by Maple Leafs' Mikhail Grabovski Saturday night. REUTERS/Shaun Best

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AUDIO:  Bob Gainey  Josh Gorges  Saku Koivu I and II (when Pat Hickey asked if the Canadiens just weren't good enough  Maxim Lapierre (in French, but heartfelt and oputstanding, like his play tonight)

The Canadiens are still holding on to a playoff spot in the Eastern Conference, but it's not because of the way they played Saturday night in a 5-2 loss fo the Toronto Maple Leafs, a fifth straight loss for the Canadiens.

Instead, the Canadiens can thank the Columbus Blue Jackets, who scored three goals in the last three minutes of their game against the Florida Panthers to defeat them 3-1 and keep them in ninth spot in the East.

Once again, the culprit for the Canadiens was poor defensive play and shaky goaltending. Jaroslav Halak, who replaced Carey Price in Ottawa on Thursday night after Price allowed four goals, allowed five goals on 37 shots. At least two of those goals were ones Halak should have had.

But as has been the case in far too many games for the Canadiens lately, their best players simply weren't at their best. And with 10 games to play, those players will have to pick it up if there is any hope of the team making the postseason.

The only bright spot for the Canadiens was Maxim Lapierre, who scored two goals and was the most impressive player for Montreal.

The Maple Leafs, who have nothing to play for other than their pride, gave the Canadiens a lesson in hockey on Saturday night, specifically on working hard and winning battles.

Not that there's a great deal riding on the Bell Centre game against the Toronto Maple Leafs, but the Canadiens could emerge tonight out of a playoff berth for the first time since – they lost to the Leafs in Toronto on their final game of the 2006-07 season. Remember?

Should Montreal lose tonight and the Florida Panthers beat the visiting Columbus Blue Jackets, the Canadiens will find themselves in ninth place, albeit with games in hand over at least two teams ahead of them. But should they win, they'll be in sixth place in the Eastern Conference. Unless the Rangers beat Buffalo, in which case a victory puts the Habs in seventh. Depending on Carolina's result vs. Washington. Notwithstanding one or more three-point games. Scoreboard-watching, anyone?

(And yes, the Canadiens' 100th-season logo here is supposed to be upside down. For obvious reasons.)

A week before the trade deadline, Toronto Maple Leafs boss Brian Burke held a teleconference today with NHL reporters. Read it all here – just because the Leafs and Canadiens are joined at the hip.

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' Tomas Plekanec and Toronto's Alexei Ponikarovsky lock up during second-period action.
Shaun Best, Reuters

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AUDIO: Guillaume Latendresse I, II and III;  Maxim Lapierre, Francis Bouillon, Yannick Weber

Three-point games for Andrei Kostitsyn and Patrice Brisebois carried the Canadiens to a 6-2 victory over Toronto Maple Leafs tonight in Thursday Night Fights at the Bell Centre.

It was Montreal's eighth win in their last 10 games, an ugly bit of business that was a lot of work for two points. And the result was a nice way for the Canadiens to avenge their embarrassing 6-3 loss on Nov. 8 in Toronto.

Canadiens goalie Jaroslav Halak played his second strong game in as many nights, making 30 saves to backstop Montreal to the win.

A wild second period settled down for the most part in the third, but the game ended with a flourish when former Hab Mikhail Grabovski and Canadiens' Sergei Kostitsyn did their best to scrap, restrained by officials.

The Habs picked up in this one from where they had left off in Manhattan against the Rangers last night, Sergei Kostitsyn finding a yawning net on a cross-ice, power-play pass from defenceman Patrice Brisebois at 2:35.

Remember Mikhail Grabovski? Traded to the Toronto Maple Leafs in a deal that ultimately yielded new Habs forward Robert Lang?

(The Canadiens sent a second-round, 2010 draft pick to Chicago nine days ago in exchange
for Lang, that selection acquired in July from Toronto with defence prospect Greg Pateryn for Grabovski.)

Well, Paul Hunter, a friend at the Toronto Star, reports that Grabovski seems to be very happy in Toronto, where for now he's the Leafs' No. 1 centre on an all-Russian line. We'll see Grabovski against the Canadiens when Montreal pays a visit to the Air Canada Centre on Oct. 11.

 This just in:

The lines at practice this morning:

First line: Higgins, Koivu, Kostopoulos

Second line: Plekanek, Kovalev, Kostitsyn

Third line: Begin, Smolinski, Ryder

Fourth line: Latendresse, Chipchura, Dandenault 

 •  •  •

Here's the OT and the future of the two franchises in a nutshell:

Bryan MacCabe's salary this season: $5.75 million in the second year of a five-year deal.

Mike Komisarek: $1.5 million in the first year of a two-year deal.

Any questions?

• • •

Here's another one to ponder:

Cristobal Huet/Carey Price

Vesa Toskala/Andrew Raycroft

• • •

Aren't you happy that Alex Kovalev is happy this season?

That line was by far the Canadiens' best (some might say only) last night.

• • •

As Kovy pointed ut after the game, the amazing thing about Komisarek's OT breakaway was the distance between him and his pursuers.

The big guy looked like Pavel Bure ... and poor McCabe and Nik Antropov looked like Pierre Bouchard and Moose Vasko.

• • •

What's Guy Carbonneau going to do with Michael Ryder?

The coach has to find a productive RW for Saku Koivu and Christopher Higgins.

The candidates: Mathieu Dandenault, Tom Kostopoulos, Guillaume Latendresse on his off-wing, Sergei Kostitsyn, Matt D'Agostini.

• • •

What's Carbo going to do about faceoffs?

Canadiens were 24-38 last night. Kyle Chipchura was 2-8, Pleks 7-12, Koivu 10-10, Bryan Smolinski 5-7.

• • •

Who put a bug up the south end of Andrei Markov last night?

One goal (his sixth, matching last season's total) and four penalties (he had 56 PIM in 2006-'07)?

Colleague Pat Hickey tells me Darcy Tucker got under Markov's skin ... as has been known to happen with the Leafs' agitator.

• • •

Carey Price has to come up with some new clichés. As usual, he said his teammates played great in front of him last night.

Which game was he watching?

• • •

More on where the two franchises are headed:

David Shoalts' story in last Saturday's Globe and Mail.