Montreal Canadiens News

The playoff picture in the National Hockey League became clear Sunday and it did not include the Toronto Maple Leafs. A day after they sent the Montreal Canadiens home for the summer, the Maple Leafs watched their season come to an end by virtue of the New York Islanders' 3-2 shootout win over the New Jersey Devils. That gave the Islanders the final post-season spot in the Eastern Conference with ...

It is a nervy week for two Canadian NHL clubs still battling for playoff spots _ the Toronto Maple Leafs and the Montreal Canadiens. And both have key tests on Tuesday night. The Leafs, who are 11th in the Eastern Conference but only two points behind Carolina, the New York Islanders and Montreal, play host to the Hurricanes. The Canadiens are at home against the sixth-place New York Rangers. The ...

Cristobal Huet gave a big nod to his defence on a night the Montreal Canadiens honoured Serge Savard, one of their best defencemen ever. Huet made 39 saves, and Michael Ryder and Alexander Perezhogin each ended lengthy goal-scoring droughts, leading Montreal to a 3-1 win over the Atlanta Thrashers on Saturday night. Led by Huet, who recorded his third straight win, the Canadiens' defence frustrated a potent Atlanta lineup featuring ...

If there's a goalie controversy in Montreal then Cristobal Huet and David Aebischer have a funny way of showing it. They ride to the rink together and hang out off the ice. Come on, guys, aren't you battling for the No. 1 job on one of the NHL's most storied franchises? ``We get along well, our wives get along well, they're both Swiss,'' Aebischer said Friday with a chuckle. ``I ...

Most of Jose Theodore's former teammates on the Montreal Canadiens admitted to feeling a little sorry for him as they put five third period goals past him in a wild 8-5 victory. But not Sheldon Souray. ``Why would I?'' Souray asked. ``I don't feel for anybody. The media makes it a bigger deal than it is. I'm sure for (Theodore) coming in here was special for him, but for us it's just another game and he's just ...

Jose Theodore allowed five third-period goals against his former team as the Montreal Canadiens skated to an 8-5 win over the Colorado Avalanche on Saturday night. The goaltending showdown between Theodore and Montreal's David Aebischer, who were traded for each other in March, turned into a shooting gallery with goals in bunches from both teams, with Colorado outshooting Montreal 38-36. Theodore, greeted with derisive chants from the Bell Centre crowd of 21,273 throughout the match, was beaten by ...

Is it better for the Colorado Avalanche to send Jose Theodore to the Bell Centre boo-birds or let him sit out his first game back in Montreal? If the city's often-fickle fans have a say, they'll want Theodore in goal when Colorado plays the Montreal Canadiens on Saturday night. And it's likely that Theodore would relish the chance to prove a lot of people wrong who applauded when the Canadiens and Avalanche swapped starting goalies last March. The decision ...

Bryan Smolinski's goal early in the third period lifted the Chicago Blackhawks over the Montreal Canadiens 2-1 Wednesday night. Smolinski scored from the slot 2 minutes into the third after taking Tony Salmelainen's centering pass from behind the net. Jeff Hamilton set up the play by forcing Montreal's Janne Niinimaa to turn over the puck. Montreal (3-1-2) lost for the first time in regulation this season. Martin Havlat, who entered the game as the league's leading scorer, also scored for ...

Montreal Canadiens winger Aaron Downey was in hospital Tuesday night with a severe concussion after taking an open ice hit from Calgary Flames defenceman Robyn Regehr. ``He'll stay overnight (at Montreal General Hospital) and we'll see how he feels,'' said head coach Guy Carbonneau. ``It's a pretty bad concussion.'' Downey crossed the red line with his head down and was dropped by a thundering shoulder check from Regehr 3:38 into the Canadiens 5-4 victory at the Bell Centre. He ...

Sheldon Souray and Radek Bonk each scored two goals as the Montreal Canadiens skated to a wild 5-4 victory over the Calgary Flames on Tuesday night. Souray scored twice on the man advantage and set up another power-play goal by Alex Kovalev as the Canadiens (3-0-2) remained without a loss in regulation time. Matthew Lombardi scored twice while Dion Phaneuf and Chuck Kobasew also scored for the Flames (2-3-1), which lost a second game in a row. Phaneuf ...

Ottawa Senators head coach Bryan Murray raised some eyebrows on the weekend when he sat his three star forwards during a shootout. With Daniel Alfredsson, Dany Heatley and Jason Spezza on the bench Saturday at Montreal, Antoine Vermette and Mike Fisher scored in the shootout to give Ottawa the win. Checker Dean McAmmond would have been the third shooter if needed. Confused? Don't be. ``It's a different skill,'' said Dallas ...

Defenceman Craig Rivet was back on the ice Monday with his sore left foot feeling better. The Montreal Canadiens veteran took a shot off the heel in the third period of a shootout loss to Ottawa on Saturday but said he will be in the lineup Tuesday night at the Bell Centre against the Calgary Flames. ``Any time you take a shot like that the first thing in your mind ...

The Montreal Canadiens lost more than the game Saturday night as defencemen Craig Rivet and Mathieu Dandenault did not finish the 4-3 shootout loss to the Ottawa Senators. Rivet took a shot off a foot during a power play midway through the third period and struggled to get back to the bench, while Dandenault came away from a corner hit limping later in the same period. Montreal was forced to play the final few minutes of regulation and ...

Antoine Vermette and Mike Fisher scored in a shoot-out as the Ottawa Senators won 3-2 in the Montreal Canadiens' home opener on Saturday night. Both beat goaltender Cristobal Huet while neither Chris Higgins nor Saku Koivu was able to score on Ottawa goalie Ray Emery. Ottawa coach Bryan Murray opted not to have struggling stars Daniel Alfredsson, Dany Heatley and Jason Spezza on his shootout list. Sergei Samsonov scored his first goal as a Canadien with 3:23 left ...

No way this game was going one second longer than needed for Montreal, not with David Aebischer simply sensational in regulation time. Aebischer stopped 27 shots, and Michael Ryder and Alex Kovalev scored goals to lead the Canadiens to a 3-1 win over the Philadelphia Flyers on Wednesday night. The Canadiens only needed the standard three periods to put this one away after opening the season with two straight shootouts. They split those, and now head home for ...

Michael Ryder beat Andrew Raycroft top corner on the glove side on Montreal's fourth shootout attempt Saturday night to lift the Canadiens to a 3-2 come-from-behind win over the rival Toronto Maple Leafs. Ryder's shootout goal capped an enthralling affair between the two Original Six rivals, the first of eight head-to-head matchups on tap again this season. Sheldon Souray and former Leaf Mike Johnson scored in regulation for the Canadiens, who opened the season the previous night in ...

Alexei Kovalev scored twice and Sergei Samonsov had one as the Montreal Canadiens used three third-period goals to defeat the Ottawa Senators 6-5 in NHL pre-season action Saturday night. Trailing 5-3 going into the final period, Kovalev scored on a rush down the left side at 3:51, Samsonov banged in Andrei Markov's pass at 15:16 and Kovalev had the sell-out crowd of 21,273 on its feet as he got the ...

The Montreal Canadiens traded centre Mike Ribeiro to the Dallas Stars for defenceman Janne Niinimaa. The Canadiens will also receive a fifth round draft pick in 2007 while the Stars get a a sixth-round pick in 2008. Montreal is short of defencemen with injuries to Sheldon Souray, Francis Bouillon and Jean-Philippe Cote. The Canadiens claimed rearguard Patrick Traverse on waivers from San Jose on Thursday. The six-foot-one, 220-pound Niinimaa, 31, ...