Kostopoulos

Bracing for the speed of the Nashville Predators, Canadiens head coach Guy Carbonneau scratches forwards Steve Bégin and Tom Kostopoulos and inserts forward Mikhail Grabovski and defenceman Josh Gorges. The versatile Mark Streit moves back up front.

The Gazette's Pat Hickey reports from today's Canadiens practice that Cristobal Huet will get the start in goal tomorrow night on Long Island against the New York Islanders.

Tom Kostopoulos, back from an automatic one-game suspension for having been tagged with an instigator penalty in the last five minutes of Saturday's 7-4 win over the Boston Bruins, is expected to play "a larger role," according to head coach Guy Carbonneau.

All hands were on deck for today's practice.

Forward Tom Kostopoulos has drawn a one-game suspension for instigating a fight in the final five minutes of Saturday's Canadiens-Bruins game. With 47 seconds to play, Kostopoulos went after Boston's Mark Stuart, who earlier in the period had fought Andrei Kostitsyn. Head coach Guy Carbonneau also drew an automatic NHL-imposed $10,000 fine, but don't think that's coming out of Carbo's pocket.

Mikhail Grabovski will be in the lineup tonight with Kostopoulos out against the Ottawa Senators. Christopher Higgins will be in uniform tonight, despite having limped through much of Saturday's game with what appeared to be a left ankle injury.

Defenceman Josh Gorges yields his place of Saturday to Patrice Brisebois, and Cristobal Huet gets the start in goal.

The Gazette's Pat Hickey writes today of head coach Guy Carbonneau's loss of patience with first-line winger Michael Ryder, who seems bound for the club's third line tomorrow night in Buffalo. The hard-working Tom Kostopoulos was elevated to the first line in Wednesday's practice.

Hickey also speaks to Canadiens goaltending coach Rollie Melanson, who speaks of the "healthy" competition between Cristobal Huet, tomorrow's starter in Buffalo, and Carey Price, Saturday's starter back home against Boston. 

Pat Hickey reports from this morning's Canadiens practice that Michael Ryder skated on the third line, with Tom Kostopoulos elevated to the first, working out with Saku Koivu and Christopher Higgins.

The likely lines to face the Buffalo Sabres on Friday:

First line: Higgins, Koivu, Kostopoulos
Second line: Plekanek, Kovalev, Kostitsyn
Third line: Begin, Smolinski, Ryder
Fourth line: Latendresse, Chipchura, Dandenault

Defence pairings seem likely to remain the same. Cristobal Huet is expected to get the start in goal, with Carey Price getting the call at home Saturday vs. Boston.

Canadiens forward Tom Kostopoulos
Phillip MacCallum, Getty Images

Tom Kostopoulos wasn't the big free-agent signing Canadiens fans had hoped for during the summer, but the hard-working forward quickly found his role on the team. In this week's one-on-one with The Gazette's Kevin Mio, the Mississauga, Ont., native talks about how easy it was to sign with the Habs and the prank he pulled on head coach Marc Crawford while playing in Los Angeles.

Here's one of his answers:

Being from the heart of Leafs Nation, how hard was it to sign with Montreal, and have you or your family taken any ribbing back home?

"It was easier than you think. Growing up watching the rivalry, just to be a part of it, it was exiting. Just growing up in Toronto, playing for a Canadian team is exciting, and Montreal, the winningest franchise in history and all the history. I was really excited about it and my heart was set as soon as I heard they were interested."