The Montreal Canadiens will look yet again to get back on the winning track, as they pay a visit to the Pittsburgh Penguins. The Habs won three of four meetings with the Penguins last season.
The game marks the 1000th career NHL game for Habs rearguard Hal Gill, becoming the 265th player to do so. Gill is the 52nd member of the 1000 game club to have played with the Canadiens in his career.
The rest are: Mark Recchi, Chris Chelios, Doug Gilmour, Larry Robinson, Trevor Linden, Vincent Damphousse, Kirk Muller, Guy Carbonneau, Roman Hamrlik, Alexei Kovalev, Pierre Turgeon, Mathieu Schneider, Henri Richard, Craig Ludwig, Claude Lemieux, Denis Savard, Brian Bellows, Frank Mahovlich, Don Marshall, Mike Keane, Bob Gainey, Eric Weinrich, Shayne Corson, Eric Desjardins, Guy Lafleur, Jean Beliveau, Doug Harvey, Dave Manson, Carl Vadnais, Bobby Smith, Terry Harper, Jean-Guy Talbot, Lyle Odelein, Bryan Smolinski, Stephane Richer, Rob Ramage, Serge Savard, Stephane Quintal, Ralph Backstrom, Dick Duff, Russ Courtnall, Patrick Roy, Petr Svoboda, Donald Brashear, Keith Acton, Andrew Cassels, Patrice Brisebois, Craig Conroy, Jimmy Roberts, Claude Provost, Ryan Walter,
Trivia: Which four players with 1000 NHL games or more played their entire career in Montreal?
The Penguins will likely acknowledge Gill’s achievement, in some form or another, as the rearguard was part of their 2009 Stanley Cup run.
“I have a lot good memories from Pittsburgh. I anticipate that it will be a nice experience. To be honest, I’m more excited to get a win than to play my 1000th game,” Gill said Wednesday. “I remember that I used to look at the calendar at each 10 game segment to see who we’d play if I’d reach 100 games, 200 games.
“As you get older, you pay more attention to this. It’s fun and I’m proud of what I’ve done. It’s something that I’d never thought I’d get to, but a win would be a lot nicer right now.”
Team updates and rosters after the jump.
Mike Cammalleri will be in the lineup tonight, though it’s uncertain ho he will line up. Aaron Palushaj will be a healthy scratch. Jaroslav Spacek did skate the non-starters and coaching staff Thursday morning, but will not be ready for tonight or Saturday against the Toronto Maple Leafs.
“It was scary at first, mostly because I didn’t know what damage had been done. But it seems to have healed up pretty quickly and it feels good enough to go, so let’s go. Allons-y.” – Mike Cammalleri 10/20/11
Carey Price remains in search of career win number 100. It could be a good omen, as on this day in 1985, Grant Fuhr recorded his 100th NHL career victory when the Edmonton Oilers won 8-5 over the Los Angeles Kings.
The Penguins are coming off a 4-2 road win over the Minnesota Wild, Tuesday night that got them out of a rut that saw them go 0-2-1 .
The Penguins are with out Sidney Crosby (concussion), Evgeni Malkin (knee), Tyler Kennedy (concussion) and Kris Letang (suspension). Brooks Orpik will see his first game of the season, after being out with a sports hernia. He will take Brian Strait’s spot, who is now out with an elbow injury.
The Pens penalty kill is a league-leading 96.3 per-cent. We all know about the Habs power play.
MONTREAL CANADIENS PROJECTED LINEUP
Forwards
Lars Eller– Scott Gomez – Brian Gionta
Mike Cammalleri– Tomas Plekanec– Erik Cole
Max Pacioretty– David Desharnais – Andrei Kostitsyn
Mathieu Darche – Andreas Engqvist – Travis Moen
Defensive Pairings
Hal Gill – Raphael Diaz
Goalies
Carey Price – Peter Budaj
PITTSBURGH PENGUINS PROJECTED LINEUP
Forwards
Steve Sullivan – Mark Letestu – James Neal
Chris Kunitz – Jordan Staal – Arron Asham
Matt Cooke – Joe Vitale – Pascal Dupuis
Steve MacIntyre – Richard Park – Craig Adams
Defense pairings
Brooks Orpik – Deryk Engelland
Goalies
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