All Habs GameDay: Tuesday April 23, 2013

On this day in hockey history… In 1972 – Hockey Canada announced that an eight game series between the best NHL’ers and the Soviet National Team would be played in September.

PROJECTED LINE COMBINATIONS AND GOALTENDERS
(Will be updated following game day skate.)

TOP SCORERS

► One skate forward, two skates back: 

• Everyone from fans, players to the coaching staff felt a sigh of relief after the Montreal Canadiens pulled out a 3-2 win against the Tampa Bay Lightning last Thursday night.
• The Canadiens were coming off a three game losing streak where they had allowed a combined 18 goals through those three games.
• The progress (for lack of a better term) was short lived when the Habs fell to the Washington Capitals on Saturday by the score of 5-1. The Habs appear unable to play defensively and the goaltending has seen better days.
• Michel Therrien and his troops will try to get back to their winning ways against the New Jersey Devils on Tuesday, the first of a three game road trip to close out the 2012-13 regular season calendar.
• The Canadiens have won both their match-ups so far this season against the Devils, the first 4-3 (OT) back on Jan-27 at the Bell Centre and 2-1 on March-16 at the Prudential Center.
• As far as series leaders, Alex Galchenyuk has two assists against the Devils this season while Patrik Elias and David Clarkson both have a goal and two assists against the Canadiens.

► The Canadiens 2012-13 Bill Masterton Trophy candidate: Andrei Markov

• Press release
• The Montreal chapter of the Professionnal Hockey Writers Association (PHWA) announced today the selection of Montreal Canadiens’ defenseman Andrei Markov as the team’s candidate for the Bill Masterton Memorial Trophy for the 2012-13 season. Canadiens’ forward Max Pacioretty was the award recipient in 2011-12.

► The Canadiens recall eight players from the Hamilton Bulldogs:

• Press release
• The Montreal Canadiens announced Monday that goaltenders Robert Mayer and Dustin Tokarski, defensemen Nathan Beaulieu, Greg Pateryn and Jarred Tinordi, as well as forwards Michaël Bournival, Louis Leblanc and Petteri Nokelainen have been recalled from the AHL Hamilton Bulldogs.
• All eight players will practice this week in Hamilton under the guidance of the Bulldogs’ coaching staff. They will arrive in Montreal on Sunday, April 28, 2013.

► Rookie Watch:

• Thursday night, Alex Galchenyuk and Brendan Gallagher were both held off the scoresheet.
• Gallagher remains at 13 goals and 12 assists for 25 points on the season.
• Galchenyuk has 9 goals and 15 assists for 24 points on the season.
• Respectively, they rank third and sixth for total points amongst rookies in the league.

Top 10 NHL Rookies / Total Points

1. Jonathan Huberdeau (FLA): 14G, 14A, 28PTS
2. Cory Conacher (TBL): 11G, 17A, 28PTS
3. Brendan Gallagher (MTL): 13G, 12A, 25PTS
4. Nail Yakupov (EDM): 11G, 14A, 25PTS
5. Brandon Saad (CHI): 10G, 15A, 25PTS
6. Alex Galchenyuk (MTL): 9G, 15A, 24PTS
7. Justin Schultz (EDM): 7G, 16A, 23PTS
8. Mike Zibanejab (OTT): 7G, 13A, 20PTS
9. Alex Killorn (TBL): 7G, 12A, 19PTS
10. Patrick Wiercioch (OTT): 5G, 14A, 19PTS

Capitals vs Habs Game Recap

Coach Michel Therrien:

• “We didn’t have good execution at the beginning of the game, cost us two goals. We were behind the 8-ball right from the start.”
• “We need to practise. We have three games coming up this week to make us ready for the playoffs. That’s my responsibility.”
• “Obviously if we give up 5-6 goals a game, we have to focus on our defensive game.”
• “I’m disappointed about every aspect of our game: 5-on-5, penalty-killing, and power-play.”

Josh Gorges:

• “We have to make sure we’re prepared this week and have the effort. If we get scored on, so what? We have to bounce back and have that championship mentality.”

Raphael Diaz:

• “Defensively we have to be hard to play against. We have to be stronger in front of the net and those are things we have to do better the next three games to be ready for the playoffs. There’s time to fix that and we’re going to fix it.”