The latest prognosis: Habs

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Coach Jacques Martin provided a host of medical updates after the morning skate.

Hal Gill will be out for several weeks but it's not related to the shot he took in the foot at practice yesterday,. Martin said Gill has been playing through a leg injury for the past three weeks and doctors have advised him to shut it down. He'll be replaced by Mathieu Carle, who makes his NHL debut tonight against Atlanta.Carle will be paired with Marc-Andr? Bergeron but Martin said both players could find themselves with different partners in the course of the game.

Matt D'Agostini has been diagnosed with a concussion, resulting from a hit by Chicago's Andrew Ladd last Friday. The diagnosis means that he must sit out for at least a week.

Ryan O'Byrne, who suffered a strained knee on Oct. 3, has resumed skating on his own. The team is expecting him back at the end of November but he's hoping to come back sooner.

Georges Laraque remains day-to-day with an upper-body injury.

And defenceman Andrei Markov is making progress after tearing tendons in his left leg in the season opener on Oct. 1. He has been working out on the bike and doing weights and remains on schedule for a return in February.

 

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Habs underachiever Kostitsyn relegated to 4th line




Andrei Kostitsyn is caught in a classic cratch-22.

The talented-but-underachieving forward says it?s difficult to put points on the board if he?s only playing seven minutes a game.

But Canadiens coach Jacques Martin says Kostitsyn will be on the fourth line Tuesday night against the Atlanta Thrashers (7:30 p.m., RDS, CJAD Radio-800) because he wasn?t playing up to expectations when he was being used as a top-six forward.

?I?m playing on the last line,? Kostitsyn said Monday when asked about his meagre production this season ? one goal and three assists in 14 games. ?I?m playing seven minutes a game and I don?t have a chance to score goals and make good plays.?

Kostitsyn was limited to 7:32 of ice time in Saturday?s 5-4 shootout win over the Maple Leafs, but Martin noted that the 2003 first-round draft pick has had chances to show what he can do and has come up short.

As recently as last Friday in Chicago, Kostitsyn was on the top line with Scott Gomez and Brian Gionta and played 16:26. He had three shots on goal in that game, but didn?t score and finished at minus-2. He?s averaging 14 minutes a game for the season.

?I?d like to see him play with more intensity,? Martin said. ?I?d like to see him make better hockey decisions.?

There have been numerous suggestions that Kostitsyn has to shoot more. He has only 22 shots on net, but he bristled at the notion that this was part of his problem.

?Do you want me to shoot from the red line?? asked Kostitsyn. ?I see a play (through) my vision. If I?m gonna make a good play, I make a good play. If (I see) a shot, I shoot.?

Kostitsyn had a career-high 26 goals and 27 assists two seasons ago and scored 23 goals last season. When asked about the difference, he noted: ?Last year, I played 16, 17 minutes a game. I played every shift in a game, Now, it?s a couple of shifts in a game and, if there?s a penalty, I?m sitting on the bench for five or six minutes.?

While Kostitsyn said he didn?t know he was struggling, he did say it wasn?t related to the team?s decision to send his younger brother, Sergei, back to Hamilton and Sergei?s suspensions for balking at the demotion. He said he and Sergei each have their own careers.

Kostitsyn has played himself off the power play and that?s one area where the Canadiens could use some help. Two years ago, he had 12 power-play goals and last year, he had six goals and nine assists with the extra man.

In words of Mike Cammalleri, the Canadiens? special teams ?haven?t been very special? this season and Martin devoted a chunk of Monday?s workout to fine-tuning the power play. The Canadiens currently rank 25th in the NHL with a success rate of 15.1 per cent. The penalty-killing unit ranks 24th at 75.8 per cent.

Martin noted that the statistics are slightly skewed because Montreal scored two goals Saturday seconds after a power play expired. He brushed off a suggestion that Montreal was having trouble setting up the power play.

?Our biggest problem is that we need more of a net presence,? he said, meaning that he wants to see more of Guillaume Latendresse and others sacrificing their bodies in front of the net. Martin will wait until this Tuesday morning to announce his goaltender for Tuesday night?s game, but expect to see Jaroslav Halak.

There has been no update on the condition of Matt D?Agostini, who was hit in the head by Chicago?s Andrew Ladd Friday night. He was absent from practice along with Georges Laraque, who has missed six games as a more or less healthy scratch.

Hal Gill left practice early after taking a shot off his foot but is expected to play tonight. Ditto for Cammalleri, who soldiered on after Maxim Lapierre deflected a shot and it hit Cammalleri on the cheek.

 

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Thrashers goalie Ondrej Pavelec nearly stole a game in Montreal on Oct. when he stopped 34 or 35 shots when the Thrashers lost to the Canadiens 2-1 in overtime. But Pavelec is coming off an even better performance as he stoned the Senators Saturday afternoon with 50 saves in a 3-1 Atlanta win.

Carey Price faces Pavelec Tuesday night, making his first start at home since Oct. 17, a 3-1 loss to the Senators.

Matthieu Carle makes his NHL debut after being recalled from the Hamilton Bulldogs to fill in for the injured Hal Gill, who will miss several weeks with a leg injury.