Game preview: Habs welcome Thrashers back to the Bell Centre

November 3, 12:33 PMMontreal Canadiens ExaminerHeather Engel

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Guillaume scored his first goal in 11 games
on Saturday. (AP Photo/Ryan Remiorz)

Game time: 7:30 PM EST
TV: RDS
Canadiens: 7-7-0; 14 points; 3rd in the Northeast
Thrashers: 5-4-1; 11 points; 3rd in the Southeast

Two weeks ago, the Canadiens were mired in a five-game losing streak. They snapped out of that funk with a 2-1 shootout win over Atlanta, subsequently reeling off four straight victories.

Tonight, they look to make it two in a row and continue their historical Bell Centre success over the Thrashers.

Saturday night, the Habs looked well on their way to recording their second regulation win this season, holding 3-1 and 4-2 leads over the Maple Leafs. Toronto, however, wasn’t going down without a fight against their division rival and rallied to tie the game in the final five minutes. It took a shootout to determine a winner; Mike Cammalleri and Scott Gomez beat Vesa Toskala with identical shots to give Montreal its league-leading sixth win in extra time.

Jacques Martin’s squad has pulled out seven wins despite not firing on all cylinders. The Habs’ head coach hopes another game with grinders Kyle Chipchura and Gregory Stewart will have a positive effect on the struggling Andrei Kostitsyn. Meanwhile, after scoring Saturday for the first time since Oct. 6, Guillaume Latendresse will hope to make the most of his second-line status and allotted power play time.

Brian Gionta hasn't scored since netting a goal against the
Thrashers on Oct. 20. (AP Photo/Ryan Remiorz)

While there’s no questioning his work ethic and effort, Montreal could use some more goals from Brian Gionta. Though he’s collected four helpers in his last five outings, he hasn’t scored since the last time the Habs faced the Thrashers. Perhaps tonight’s tilt will be just the tonic for his drought.

One area that especially needs a spark is the Canadiens’ special teams. The power play has connected just eight times on 53 opportunities and sits 25th in the NHL at 15.1%. While a pair of tallies were recorded just seconds after a man advantage expired on Saturday, the Habs need to start making their opponents pay for their indiscipline.

On that note, the Canadiens need to stay out of the box themselves. The team is averaging nearly 15 minutes per game and overall has been called for 75 minors, the second-most in the league. Martin’s crew has struggled to hold off its opponents, allowing 15 power play markers this season.

On a day where Ryan O’Byrne skated on his own for the first time since suffering a knee injury on Oct. 3, the Habs will be without another defenceman for several weeks. Hal Gill has been playing on an injured leg for the a few weeks and was advised to shut it down for the near future. He’ll be replaced by 22-year-old Mathieu Carle, who will be making his NHL debut.

Carey Price will make his first home start since Oct. 17.

Goaltender Ondrej Pavelec has been solid for the
Thrashers so far this season. (AP Photo/Ryan Remiorz)

The Ilya Kovalchuk-less Thrashers are in town, also in search of a second straight win. In Ottawa Saturday afternoon, goaltender Ondrej Pavelec stood on his head en route to a 50-save effort in a 3-1 triumph over the Senators. On the eve of the anniversary of netminder Jacques Plante changing the face of hockey, the 22-year-old Czech paid homage the past, albeit unintentionally, when he made a stop on a Senators scoring opportunity without his mask, which had been knocked off a moment earlier.

Pavelec is now 4-3-1 with a .924 save percentage and 2.60 goals-against average, numbers that rank sixth and 15th in league, respectively.

Pavelec is now 4-3-1 with a .924 save percentage and 2.60 goals-against average, numbers that rank sixth and 15th in league, respectively.

Atlanta is 1-1 without their captain, who will miss at least another three weeks with a broken foot. The team’s loss to Montreal two weeks ago was the start of an 0-3-1 run that came to an end Saturday. To succeed in Kovalchuk’s absence, they’ll need others to start finding the back of the net.

• Nik Antropov is riding a four-game point streak during which he picked up six assists but has yet to score a goal in a Thrashers jersey.
• Maxim Afinogenov has just three goals in 10 games, all of which have come in his last six outings.
• Third-year forward Bryan Little is enduring a tough stretch of late. Author of 31 goals in 2008-09, Little has just five assists thus far and hasn’t gotten on the scoresheet in any form since Oct. 17 against Buffalo.

Beyond Kovalchuk, one Thrasher the team has been able to consistently count on is centre Rich Peverley. He’s the club’s leading scorer with 13 points and has three game-winning goals already and has been held off the scoresheet just once this season. He’s also been among the best in the league on the faceoff; his 63.1% success on the draw places his him third in the NHL overall.

The Thrashers could also be deprived of former Habs defenceman Ron Hainsey. Hainsey missed Saturday’s contest with an undisclosed injury and will reportedly be a game-time decision.