Coach clears air with Kovalev, B?gin.
Rookie Price slated to start tonight vs. Sens
The only thing missing from the Canadiens' locker room yesterday was the sound of Sister Sledge singing We Are Family.
After a heartbreaking 2-1 shootout loss to the Florida Panthers and a day that began and ended in controversy, coach Guy Carbonneau accentuated the positive in preparation for tonight's game against the eastern Conference-leading Senators .
"We're working to become a better hockey team," Carbonneau said. "We haven't won every game and we're not happy that we lost (to Florida), but we're doing some good things and that's what we want to focus on."The good things include strong goaltending and a defence that held Florida to 25 shots. While Tomas Vokoun stole a couple of points for the Panthers, the Canadiens could say it was the closest they've come to achieving the consistency Carbonneau is seeking.
The coach came under fire Tuesday morning for benching Steve B?gin without first informing the veteran and again on Tuesday evening when Alex Kovalev questioned whether Carbonneau should have called a timeout in the final two minutes of the Florida game. He also questioned whether the Canadiens had the right players on the ice when Florida scored the tying goal with 10.2 seconds left in regulation.
Carbonneau and Kovalev held a brief meeting on the ice before yesterday's practice at the Bell Centre and Carbonneau said the two would talk again later in the day.
"Alex is entitled to his opinion, but I wish he had kept it in the room," Carbonneau said. "If he had something to say, he should have come to me."
While it's difficult to explain why Patrice Brisebois and rookie Kyle Chipchura got the call in a pressure situation, Carbonneau defended his decision not to call a timeout before the start of a Florida power play with 2:14 remaining. He said he would have called one with 30 or 40 seconds left to give his penalty killers a rest, but he was unable to do so because there was no stop in play before Nathan Horton scored.
Carbonneau and B?gin had a better-late-than-never talk on Tuesday afternoon to discuss his absence from the lineup. While nothing is definite, it appears that both B?gin and Guillaume Latendresse will be back in the lineup tonight.
Both were told they have to go to the net, but the Habs' offensive woes - one goal in each of their last two games - extend beyond the failure to find scoring from the third and fourth lines. For example, the guy who is supposed to get down and dirty on the top line, Michael Ryder, is still looking for his first goal and nobody on the team has more than two.
While Carbonneau expressed satisfaction with the way his team has played, the forward lines remain a work in progress.
Mikhail Grabovski and Andrei Kostitsyn were back with Kovalev on the No. 2 line, although it's possible that Kovalev was being demoted to the third line. Tomas Plekanec, who was between Kovalev and Bryan Smolinski, lined up with Latendresse and Tom Kostopoulos, while Smolinski found himself back on the fourth line.
Carey Price will make his second start of the season in goal tonight, while the Senators will stick with Martin Gerber.
Rookie Price slated to start tonight vs. Sens
The only thing missing from the Canadiens' locker room yesterday was the sound of Sister Sledge singing We Are Family.
After a heartbreaking 2-1 shootout loss to the Florida Panthers and a day that began and ended in controversy, coach Guy Carbonneau accentuated the positive in preparation for tonight's game against the eastern Conference-leading Senators .
"We're working to become a better hockey team," Carbonneau said. "We haven't won every game and we're not happy that we lost (to Florida), but we're doing some good things and that's what we want to focus on."The good things include strong goaltending and a defence that held Florida to 25 shots. While Tomas Vokoun stole a couple of points for the Panthers, the Canadiens could say it was the closest they've come to achieving the consistency Carbonneau is seeking.
The coach came under fire Tuesday morning for benching Steve B?gin without first informing the veteran and again on Tuesday evening when Alex Kovalev questioned whether Carbonneau should have called a timeout in the final two minutes of the Florida game. He also questioned whether the Canadiens had the right players on the ice when Florida scored the tying goal with 10.2 seconds left in regulation.
Carbonneau and Kovalev held a brief meeting on the ice before yesterday's practice at the Bell Centre and Carbonneau said the two would talk again later in the day.
"Alex is entitled to his opinion, but I wish he had kept it in the room," Carbonneau said. "If he had something to say, he should have come to me."
While it's difficult to explain why Patrice Brisebois and rookie Kyle Chipchura got the call in a pressure situation, Carbonneau defended his decision not to call a timeout before the start of a Florida power play with 2:14 remaining. He said he would have called one with 30 or 40 seconds left to give his penalty killers a rest, but he was unable to do so because there was no stop in play before Nathan Horton scored.
Carbonneau and B?gin had a better-late-than-never talk on Tuesday afternoon to discuss his absence from the lineup. While nothing is definite, it appears that both B?gin and Guillaume Latendresse will be back in the lineup tonight.
Both were told they have to go to the net, but the Habs' offensive woes - one goal in each of their last two games - extend beyond the failure to find scoring from the third and fourth lines. For example, the guy who is supposed to get down and dirty on the top line, Michael Ryder, is still looking for his first goal and nobody on the team has more than two.
While Carbonneau expressed satisfaction with the way his team has played, the forward lines remain a work in progress.
Mikhail Grabovski and Andrei Kostitsyn were back with Kovalev on the No. 2 line, although it's possible that Kovalev was being demoted to the third line. Tomas Plekanec, who was between Kovalev and Bryan Smolinski, lined up with Latendresse and Tom Kostopoulos, while Smolinski found himself back on the fourth line.
Carey Price will make his second start of the season in goal tonight, while the Senators will stick with Martin Gerber.
