- Max Pacioretty and Tomas Plekanec both took therapy days on Friday morning but will be available against the Senators.
- Carey Price will look to build on his 11-5-2 career record against the Sens when he makes his 63rd start of the season – and sixth against Ottawa – this year.
- It was a therapy day for Petteri Nokelainen on Thursday.
- Randy Cunneyworth announced that Carey Price will start in nets for the Habs Friday night when the Ottawa Senators visit the Bell Centre. He also announced Peter Budaj will likely be playing the game on Saturday against the Flyers in Philadelphia.
- Montreal’s coach also announced that Mathieu Darche will be practicing with the team come next week. Darche has been skating on his own for the past few days.
Lines at practice
Pacioretty-Desharnais-Cole
Eller-Plekanec-Bourque
White-Leblanc-Blunden
Staubitz-Palushaj-Geoffrion
D-pairs
Campoli-Weber
Gorges-Subban
Markov-Emelin
- The Canadiens held an optional practice Wednesday morning at the First Niagara Center in Buffalo.
- Both Max Pacioretty and David Desharnais opted to skip the team's morning skate but are still expected to be in the lineup for tonight's game.
- Carey Price will get his 62nd start of the season against the Sabres Wednesday night. He currently holds a record of 1-2-1 against the Buffalo squad.
All players were on the ice for practice on Tuesday, with the exception of the injured players who will not be making the trip with the team to Buffalo, including Brian Gionta, Travis Moen, Tomas Kaberle, Scott Gomez and Raphael Diaz. Mathieu Darche skated on the second ice but will also not accompany the team to Buffalo.
Lines at Practice
Pacioretty-Desharnais-Cole
Eller-Plekanec-Bourque
White-Leblanc-Blunden
Staubitz-Palushaj-Nokelainen-Goeffrion
Campoli-Weber
Markov-Emelin
- Canadiens prospects, Mac Bennett and Greg Pateryn have helped the University of Michigan Wolverines set a new NCAA record by earning a 22nd consecutive berth in the NCAA tournament. They’ll begin their run for the title on Friday by going up against the Cornell University Big Red.
- Brian Gionta and Mathieu Darche were both practicing on the other ice this morning in Brossard. Darche says he's aiming to be back on the regular lineup soon enough.
- Lines at practice:
Cole-Desharnais-Pacioretty
Bourque-Plekanec-Eller
Blunden-White-Leblanc
Nokelainen-Geoffrion-Palushaj-Staubitz
- Randy Cunneyworth confirmed that Peter Budaj will get the start in nets for the Habs Saturday night against the Islanders. The game will mark Budaj's third start in the last 10 days.
- The Canadiens head coach also confirmed that defenseman Andrei Markov will make his return to the lineup after missing Friday night's game against the Senators with an upper body injury. Tomas Kaberle will miss his third consecutive game due to an upper body injury of his own.
- Frédéric St-Denis has been assigned to Hamilton.
- Tomas Kaberle was absent from the Habs’ Friday morning skate due to an upper body injury. The Canadiens’ defenseman is expected to rejoin the team tomorrow in Montreal.
- Carey Price will step between the pipes for the Canadiens on Friday night for his 61st game of the 2011-12 season. The 24-year-old goaltender has a career record of 11-5-1 against the Senators.
- Erik Cole, Andrei Markov and Josh Gorges were all at practice Friday morning and Cole and Gorges are both expected to be in the lineup to face the Sens.
- Randy Cunneyworth confirmed that Andrei Markov will not play in Friday night’s game due to an upper-body injury. Alexei Emelin will rejoin the Canadiens’ lineup after missing the Habs’ last game against Buffalo with an upper-body injury of his own.
- Mike Blunden has been officially cleared for action and will available to return to the Habs' lineup Friday night after missing 20 games with a lower body injury.
- Josh Gorges, Andrei Markov and Erik Cole all opted for therapy days instead of practice on Thursday.
- Tomas Kaberle was still absent from practice, spending time with his girlfriend Julia and son Lukas, born yesterday. He’ll be on hand to face the Sens Friday night.
- Head coach Randy Cunneyworth mentioned following his team’s morning skate, that while Andrei Markov may not play in both back-to-back games this weekend, if he does, he could see reduced ice time against the Senators and Islanders as a precaution.
Lines at practice:
Palushaj-Nokelainen-Staubitz
Geoffrion-Eller-Blunden
Bourque-Plekanec-White
Leblanc-Desharnais-Pacioretty
- Mike Blunden participated in the Canadiens’ morning stake at the Bell Sports Complex in Brossard. Wednesday marked the first time that Blunden hit the ice to practice with his teammates since sustaining a lower-body injury on Feb. 2 in New Jersey.
- Tomas Kaberle was absent from practice, spending the day with his girlfriend Julia who is expected to give birth to their first child.
- Canadiens prospect Patrick Holland kept his point streak alive last night, nabbing another two assists in the Americans’ game against the Cougars. Holland’s streak now stands at eighteen games and 37 points, with 33 of them coming in the form of assists.
- Raphael Diaz and Scott Gomez were also both absent from the team’s morning skate. Randy Cunneyworth confirmed that Gomez has suffered an upper-body injury from the Tyler Myers hit in their game against Buffalo for which he was suspended for three games. Cunneyworth also stated that while Diaz hasn’t had any major set backs, his recovery still necessitates further treatment.
- Defenseman Frederick St-Denis was recalled from the Hamilton Bulldogs for the Habs tilt against the Sens. Randy Cunneyworth confirmed that St-Denis will be in the lineup for the match.
- Travis Moen is back on the ice beginning to skate solo, while Mathieu Darche is still waiting to take his first strides.
Lines at practice:
Pacioretty-Desharnais-Cole
Bourque-Plekanec-White
Geoffrion-Eller-Leblanc
Staubitz-Nokelainen-Palushaj
- After four games spread out over an eight-day road trip, the Canadiens are back in Montreal and enjoying a much needed day off. They'll be back at practice Wednesday morning to prepare for their match-up with the Senators.
