Vancouver Canucks

Canadiens' Jaroslav Halak stops a shot by Canucks' Kyle Wellwood during the first period on Tuesday night. John Kenney, The Gazette

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AUDIO: Benoit Pouliot | Ryan O'Byrne | Brian Gionta | Sergei Kostitsyn | Jaro Halak | Tomas Plekanec | Jacques Martin

• At a Glance: The Canadiens faced one of the best teams in the Western Conference on Tuesday night and, despite missing their top scorer in Michael Cammalleri, came away with a 3-2 win. Jaroslav Halak set the tone with key saves early in the first period in his way to a 45 save night. Sergei Kostitsyn opened the scoring 5:56 into the period when he cut to the net and beat Roberto Luongo with a nice shot from the slot with Luongo's view obstructed. Mikael Samuelsson got that one back for the Canucks at the 8:26 mark on the power play, but Maxim Lapierre gave the Canadiens a 2-1 lead with two minutes to play. After a scoreless second period, Tomas Plekanec gave Montreal a 3-1 edge when he flipped the puck over Luongo during a goal-mouth scramble. But the Canucks didn't stop coming and Ryan Kesler scored another power-play goal with Mathieu Darche in the penalty box for four minutes. Luongo made 25 saves while the Canucks went 2-for-5 on the power play. Montreal was 0-for-2 with the man advantage.

• Key Moments: Montreal was able to weather a storm by the Canucks at the start of every period, mostly thanks to Halak, and was able to score a key goal midway through the third period to secure the victory.

• What It Means: The Canadiens improve to 26-25-6 on the season and have 58 points, good for seventh spot in the Eastern Conference pending the outcome of the New York Rangers game in Los Angeles late Tuesday night.

• What's Next: Montreal is in Boston on Thursday and is then home for a pair of afternoon game on Super Bowl weekend as the Penguins come to town on Saturday and the Bruins are at the Bell Centre on Sunday.

• Martin juggles Habs' depleted ranks: Hickey
• Good ship CH loses another first mate: Stubbs
• Spat with Markov hugely overblown, Price says: Stubbs
• Lecavalier not the catch we thought: Hickey

• Michael Cammalleri will speak to the media following morning skate and coach Jacques Martin's update. We'll post audio. Paul Mara skated alone this morning. Matt D'Agostini, called up from Hamilton Sunday but unable to practise yesterday with the flu, is on the ice. So is defenceman Jaroslav Spacek, who's been out with an upper-body injury. D Paul Mara skated alone this morning, before practice.

Not the typical morning skate for the Canadiens today in Brossard, held a few hours before tonight's Bell Centre game vs. the Vancouver Canucks.

The Habs will update the condition of injured forward Michael Cammalleri. We'll learn whether the team must summon someone from the farm, if Matt D'Agostini isn't fit to go – if he's not, D'Agostini (flu), Paul Mara and Jaroslav Spacek (upper body) and Cammalleri (right leg) will leave the Canadiens with just 19 players. So who comes up? And... who's in net?

We'll be at the skate, an update to come here shortly before 11 am, and on Twitter for those plugged in.

• AUDIO: Jacques Martin | Brian Gionta | Scott Gomez | Carey Price | More Price | Ryan O'Byrne | Benoit Pouliot | Glen Metropolit

KEY PRACTICE POINTS: No Jaroslav Spacek or Paul Mara or Matt D'Agostini at practice. Mara continues to rehab an upper-body injury, as does Spacek. D'Agostini, who was recalled from Hamilton Sunday, arrived in Montreal with the flu. Coach Jacques Martin says if D'Agostini isn't fit to go Tuesday vs. Vancouver, there should be a callup.

--> The Canadiens this morning confirmed that forward Michael Cammalleri has suffered a right knee injury. He went for an MRI on Sunday and was further examined Monday by a team orthopedic specialist. Official word from the club is expected to be released at Tuesday's morning skate. I'll update his condition at that time and hope to have audio of an interview with Cammalleri, if available, uploaded very early in the afternoon.

One report has him out for 6-8 weeks with damage to his right medial collateral ligament, another says it might be a sprain worth a six-week rehab.

The Canadiens' leading goal-scorer left Saturday's game in Ottawa on one leg, his right having suffered knee and/or ankle damage after being slammed into the boards by Senators' Anton Volchenkov.

Monday's practice lines: Pouliot-Plekanec-Sergei Kostitsyn; Maxwell-Gomez-Gionta; Lapierre-Metro-Moen; Darche-Bergeron-

Defence pairings:Hamrlik-Gorges; Gill-Weber; Markov-O'Byrne.

Not every fan is enthralled with yet another Canucks goal scored Wednesday night in Vancouver.
Andy Clark, Reuters

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

• PRE-GAME AUDIO: Jacques Martin | Roberto Luongo | Alex Burrows

• At a Glance: One team was playing its second game in 24 hours. The other, with a night off, had opened the season 0-3 and was frantic to crack the win column. No contest on paper. Or, as it turned out, on the ice. The Canadiens dropped their second game in as many nights Wednesday against the Vancouver Canucks at GM Place, a thoroughly and embarrassingly beaten 7-1. And it was a light-year from the feel-good, hard-fought loss they'd had in Calgary the night before. The Habs are now 2-2 on this five-game road trip after having opened with encouraging overtime victories in Toronto and Buffalo – those two due almost exclusively to the goaltending of Carey Price.

Canadiens goalie Jaroslav Halak follows a puck into his glove during his spectacular shutout performance. Halak made 34 saves to lead Montreal's 3-0 win over Vancouver.
Phil Carpenter, Gazette

Preview | Rosters | Tale of the Tape | Play-by-Play | Faceoffs | Game Summary | Event Summary | Boone

AUDIO:  Jaroslav Halak  Guy Carbonneau  Tomas Plekanec  Christopher Higgins

Otherworldly goaltending by Jaroslav Halak and opportunistic goal-scoring by the red-hot Tomas Plekanec and clever defenceman Andrei Markov paced the Canadiens to a 3-0 victory over the Vancouver Canucks tonight.

• AUDIO: Guy Carbonneau (begins with discussion about Tanguay, also covers tonight's game, Carey Price and the pressures of playing in Montreal)

Canadiens forward Alex Tanguay, who tonight misses his 24th game since suffering a separated shoulder Dec. 30 vs. Tampa Bay, did not get medical clearance today from a team doctor, and isn't expected to get the green light much before early next week.

Jaroslav Halak is in goal for the Canadiens vs. Vancouver tonight. Captain Saku Koivu has rebounded from the flu and is expected to be in Carbo's lineup, which should look something like this:

Kostitsyn-Plekanec-Kovalev
Higgins-Koivu-D'Agostini
Pacioretty-Lapierre-Kostopoulos
Stewart-Chipchura-Dandenault

That again leaves forward Steve Bégin on the sidelines, for the fourth straight game and 17th time this season, along with forward Georges Laraque and injured defenceman Francis Bouillon.

Some reading as the Canadiens prepare to face Vancouver on Tuesday:

• Halak No. 1 in goal, for now: Hickey
• Re-energized Kovalev focuses on the positive: Stubbs column
• Gloom meets Canucks in Montreal: MacIntyre, Vancouver Sun

From Monday:

• Schneider bolsters Canadiens power play: Hickey

From Sunday:

• Three-point night for Kovalev in return: Stubbs

From the room after tonight's 4-2 loss to Vancouver Canucks:

• Carbo (bilingual)  • Koivu  • Kovalev  • Higgins 1  • Higgins 2

Canucks' Ryan Kesler is stopped by Canadiens'
Jaroslav Halak during first period Sunday night. REUTERS/Lyle Stafford

Preview | Rosters | Tale of the Tape | Play-by-Play | Faceoffs | Game Summary | Event Summary | Boone

The Canadiens fell to 1-3 on their six-game road trip after a 4-2 loss to the Vancouver Canucks on Sunday night.

Jaroslav Halak, who stood on his head during the Canadiens' win in Colorado on Friday night, couldn't repeat the performance, but was left to fend for himself far too often by his teammates.

The Canucks offence was led by the Sedin twin, with Daniel and Henrik each collecting a goal and an assist. Alexander Edler and Ryan Kessler, on a pass from Mats Sundin, scored the other Vancouver goals.

The only Canadien to beat Roberto Luongo was captain Saku Koivu, who accepted a feed from behind the net from Tom Kostopoulos and snapped a one-timer past Luongo.

And if you're looking for bright spots in this one, that was pretty much it for the Canadiens, who did play a pretty solid second period until Henrik Sedin scored with 49 seconds to go in the frame.

The second period also featured a scary moment when Alex Kovalev was clipped in the face by a skate. Luckily, he was only cut on the chin and returned for the third period.

Canadiens goaltender Carey Price made the morning truly unforgettable for a group of nearly 1,000 First Nations children and adults today, putting aside his personal disappointment to share with them a message of keeping your head up and doing your best in life.

Helping to organize the remarkable day were Gino Odjick, a former Canadien and influential First Nations figure, and Lynda Price, the goalie's mother and chief of the Ulkatcho First Nation in Anahim Lake, B.C., where Price was born.

Guy Carbonneau expects to use the same lineup that won 4-2 in Colorado on Friday night. Mike Komisarek and Saku Koivu did not participate in the optional morning skate. The Canucks were flying in theirs.

Jaroslav Halak makes one of his 46 saves Friday in Denver against the Colorado Avalanche.
Rick Wilking, Reuters

• Bitter homecoming for Price in Vancouver
• Canadiens catch their breath after thin air of Denver

VANCOUVER – Jaroslav Halak's gain is Carey Price's loss tomorrow night.

Head coach Guy Carbonneau has tipped Halak, the author of a 46-save, career-best performance Friday vs. the Colorado Avalanche, as his starting netminder for Sunday night's game against the Vancouver Canucks.

It spoils the homecoming of British Columbian Carey Price, who like fellow B.C. natives Josh Gorges and Ryan O'Byrne has a flood of family and friends coming to the game. Better than good chance that O'Byrne sits, too.

Audio after today's 70-minute practice at GM Place:

• Carbo English  • Carbo French  • Halak  • Kovalev  • Kostopoulos  • Dandenault  • Gorges  • Laraque

If you have absolutely nothing better to do – and that might include watching the snow melt:

Tune your computer at 1 pm ET today (10 am Pacific) to Canucks TV (a click on that link will take you directly there), where you'll see live streaming of a panel discussion featuring the Canucks' Barry Macdonald, Matt Sekeres of the Globe & Mail, CJAD Canadiens play-by-play man Rick Moffat and myself discussing 100 years of the Habs. The program is archived at the site for later viewing.

I suspect there will be a word or two about the recent plight of the team.