All Habs GameDay: Thursday January 12, 2012
On this day in hockey history… 1918 – Montreal’s Joe Malone scored five times (to become the first 20 goal scorer in NHL history) as the Canadiens won 9-4 over Ottawa.
GAMEDAY: Habs hockey tonight!
MONTREAL CANADIENS (16-19-7) vs. 
BOSTON BRUINS (27-11-1)
Last 10: Boston (8-2-0); Montreal 3-7-0
TD Garden, 7:00 p.m. EST
TV: RDS, TSN, NESN, NHLN-US
Projected line combinations (updated following morning skate)
MONTREAL CANADIENS
Forwards
Mike Cammalleri – Tomas Plekanec – Mike Blunden
Max Pacioretty – David Desharnais – Erik Cole
Andrei Kostitsyn – Lars Eller – Travis Moen
Mathieu Darche – Petteri Nokelainen
Defenseman
Josh Gorges – P.K. Subban
Hal Gill – Chris Campoli
Tomas Kaberle – Raphael Diaz
Alexei Emelin
Goaltenders
Carey Price (will start) – Peter Budaj
Scratches
Yannick Weber
Injuries
Scott Gomez – Ryan White – Andrei Markov – Brian Gionta
Power-play
Cammalleri – Plekanec – Cole – Kaberle – Subban
Pacioretty – Desharnais – Kostitsyn – Diaz – Campoli
BOSTON BRUINS
Forwards
Milan Lucic – David Krejci – Nathan Horton
Benoit Pouliot – Patrice Bergeron – Tyler Seguin
Chris Kelly – Zach Hamill – Rich Peverley
Daniel Paille – Gregory Campbell – Shawn Thornton
Defensemen
Zdeno Chara – Johnny Boychuk
Dennis Seidenberg – Joe Corvo
Andrew Ference – Adam McQuaid
Goaltenders
Tim Thomas (will start) – Tuukka Rask
Scratches
Injuries
GAMEDAY: All Habs Headlines
► Cammy complains of losing attitude: The Canadiens are having a bad season partly due to their star forwards have sub-par seasons. On Wednesday Mike Cammalleri said don’t blame him in an interview with NHL.com. The Habs winger said that his health is 100% and “I know I’m a better player now than I’ve ever been.” Cammalleri is concerned about his reduced icetime, however, saying “I’m used to playing 20 minutes a night. I’m not playing as much, so I need to get a little work here in practice to stay in shape.”
Was Cammalleri caught off guard? Misquoted? No. He is a player who is very media savvy and very aware of how his comments would be received. His message and its delivery was calculated and strategic. We will leave it up to you to decide whether it was a shot across management’s bow to signal his desire for a trade or unhappiness with the current coach.
“I can’t accept that we will display a losing attitude as we’re doing this year. We prepare for our games like losers. We play like losers. So it’s no wonder why we lose.” — Mike Cammalleri
On Thursday in Boston, Cammalleri, stood by his statements and advised the media that he wouldn’t be answering any further comments on the topic. That left his teammates busy responding to reporter’s numerous questions.
“I heard his side of the story and it’s always a little bit different than what you read. I think Mike has a good heart and wants to win games, we all do, and sometimes things get spun out of control – especially when we’re losing games. We’re behind Mike 100 per cent and we’re behind everyone else on our team 100 per cent. We’ve got stick together right now and that’s going to help us win games.” — Max Pacioretty
Read more: Cammalleri Clarifies Thoughts Ahead of Game with the Bruins
► Eller’s stock on the rise: Lars Eller has reason to smile these days. Gone is the bully-coach who was fond of blaming his young players for the sins of the world while limiting their opportunities. With additional ice-time and a confidence shown by the coaches, Eller’s talent has started to emerge. He has moved past fellow center David Desharnais on the depth chart and continues to develop chemistry with winger Andrei Kostitsyn.
Read more from Dobber Hockey: Forensic — Lars Eller
► Puck’s take: Need to know who will win tonight? @PucktheBunny has his prediction here.