All Habs Headlines: Monday December 28, 2015
	On this day in hockey history… 1967 — Jean Beliveau had four assists to move past Maurice Richard into second place on the NHL’s all time point scoring list (behind Gordie Howe) with 967 points, as the Canadiens beat the Minnesota North Stars, 6-2.  1975 — New York Rangers became first team in NHL history to face a touring Soviet hockey squad. The Soviet Army beat the Rangers 7-3 at M.S.G. Phil Esposito had a goal and two assists for New York. 1992 — Winnipeg Jets traded Ed Olczyk to the New York Rangers in exchange for Kris King and Tie Domi.
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► Game day!

• The Canadiens hope to halt their losing skid as they take on the Lightning on Monday night. You can find our Game Day preview for the matchup here: GAME DAY | Canadiens – Lightning: Preview, Lines, Goalies, TV, Fantasy
• All forward lines remained the same in practice however Michel Therrien is known for switching up trios quickly. The specialty team combinations were changed.
• Jeff Petry got back into the Canadiens lineup Saturday. Tom Gilbert was a scratch due to injury.  Jarred Tinordi played on Saturday standing up for his captain when he took on Tom Wilson.
• David Desharnais was deployed on the point on the Canadiens’ first power play unit alongside P.K. Subban. Galchenyuk, Weise and Pacioretty made up the rest of the unit.
• The Canadiens lost to the Washington Capitals on Saturday night. You can read our game recap here: RECAP | Canadiens – Capitals: If Losing Continues ‘There Will Be Consequences’

Forward lines, defense pairings and goaltenders at practice on Sunday

Pacioretty – Desharnais – Weise
Carr – Eller – Galchenyuk
Fleischmann – Plekanec – Byron
Flynn – Mitchell – Smith-Pelly
Andrighetto

Beaulieu – Subban
Markov – Petry
Emelin – Pateryn
Tinordi

Condon
Tokarski

► Kassian saga

• The Canadiens chapter of the Zack Kassian saga ended on Monday when Kassian was traded to the Edmonton Oilers for goaltender Ben Scrivens. Scrivens had been playing in the AHL with the Bakersfield Condors.
• Over the weekend the Canadiens had informed Zack Kassian not to report to the Ice Caps according to John Lu of TSN.
• Kassian was put on waivers, with the intention of sending him to the AHL, earlier on in the month.
• The team originally planned for the 6-foot-3-inch forward to make his Ice Caps debut yesterday against the Toronto Marlies.
• The Windsor, Ontario native was consigned to Montreal in the offseason along with a fifth round pick in exchange for Brandon Prust.

► Gallagher hits the ice with his team

• The loss of Brendan Gallagher was pernicious to the Canadiens to say the least and now as we gear up for the Winter Classic one of the team’s assistant captains is nearing a return.
• Prior to the team heading to the District of Columbia to take on the Caps, Gallagher threw on a non-contact jersey and practiced with the rest of the team for the first time since surgery.
• The Edmontonian did not travel with the team to Washington which means the right winger is most likely targeting the Winter Classic on January first for his return to action.
• Before fracturing a pair of fingers, Gallagher had 19 points in 22 games on a Canadiens team that was scoring at will, and is still fifth on the team in points despite being out a month.

► Gilbert out for the Winter Classic

• As the Canadiens’ injury situation continues to be the most frenetic we’ve seen in years, another player has gone down.
• Tom Gilbert left Montreal’s game against the Minnesota Wild and won’t be in another one until after the team’s eight-game road trip.
• The tema announced Saturday that the blueliner would be out for a minimum of the next five games; that includes the Winter Classic between the Habs and Bruins.
• In 36 games this season Gilbert had a lone assist and a plus-4 rating in a primarily defensive role. He played alongside Jarred Tinordi before the pair was taken out of the lineup for the team’s next game.

► Koivu’s number retired

• Saku Koivu had an illustrious NHL career to go along with a famed International career that he is now being honoured for.
• On the opening day of the World Junior Championship the hosts of the tournament, Finland, retired the numbers of Jere Lehtinen, Ville Peltinen and Saku Koivu.
• Koivu’s been the facsimile of resiliency and excellence over the years, recording 151 points in 136 career international games for his home country.
• The Turku, Finland native also captained six Finish teams.
• Over the 136 games he played for Finland the team has been in the top three of the tournament, winning two championships.
• Koivu was inducted into the Finish Hockey Hall of Fame earlier in the 2015-16 season.

► Ayoie

• Following a peerless pre-tournament performance, Swede had a phenomenal start to their 2016 World Junior Championship but lost their best player.
• Maple Leafs prospect William Nylander saw his brother pick up a trio of assists but from a hospital bed as after the Swede was knocked out of the tournament-opener following a hit to the head.
• In the first period of a chippy game against Switzerland, Nylander was heading up ice when a Belarusian player came in and delivered a check to the head of the future Leaf.
• According to The Score, the elder Nylander brother was released from the hospital and there’s no update on his return to the Swedish lineup.

https://vine.co/v/iAUgJlArjJA

► Dano sent down

• For the second time this season the Chicago Blackhawks have sent down Marko Dano to the Rockford Ice Hogs.
• The ‘Hawks noted that they wanted the Slovak to play rather then play limited minutes or watch a game in the press box.
• Dano only had a pair of points in 13 games with Chicago this season, in the same amount of games in the AHL he has nine points.
• When asked about the demotion Dano said it was a positive, noting that he does need to see more game action.
• The Blackhawks acquired the former first round pick, among others, in the trade that sent Brandon Saad to Columbus.

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