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Tuesday, December 28, 1999
Habs suddenly hot, but big test awaits
MONTREAL (CP) -- A Canadiens employee pointed out with some satisfaction Tuesday that Montreal had come home from a tie in Ottawa one place higher in the NHL Eastern Conference standings.They had passed Tampa Bay for 12th place, although the Lightning had a game in hand, and were only two points behind 11th place Washington.
It's modest progress for the once-dominating Canadiens, but its also a sign the injury-wracked club has at least steadied its course after floundering early in the season.
The Habs, a feeble 12-20-4-1 overall, have a win and two ties in their last three games and are 9-8-3-0 in their last 20.
"We started the season with lots of injuries and lots of different lines," said forward Dainius Zubrus, one of the young players who has stepped up his game. "Now the coach has a feel for who everyone is and what they bring to the table.
"Even though we still have lots of injuries, we're more organized. We're playing the system."
They're also scoring more goals. A 5-1 win over Pittsburgh followed by a 3-3 tie in Boston and Monday night's 4-4 draw in Ottawa marked the first time this season they've had three or more goals in three consecutive games.
The league's second lowest scoring club -- ahead only of the New York Islanders -- erased a 4-2 Ottawa advantage in the third period to earn their latest tie against a team that rarely wastes a lead.
The Senators pay a return visit to the Molson Centre tonight.
"I know Ottawa's going to play better," coach Alain Vigneault warned. "They're not used to teams coming back from a two-goal deficit on them and I know they're not pleased with that. We've got to be ready."
As usual this season, the Canadiens are anything but ready -- scrambling to patch a lineup together from an ever-fluctuating list of healthy players.
Centre Shayne Corson played Monday with a bad flu while rookie Arron Asham sat out with the same bug. Defenceman Patrice Brisebois, who had three points in Ottawa, missed practice Tuesday with the flu.
All are expected to play tonight.
The ailments have caused Vigneault to improvise and sometimes the experiments click, as it did when he moved the heady Sergei Zholtok into Corson's place on a line with Benoit Brunet and Martin Rucinsky.
The line struck three times, with a pair of goals from ex-Senator Zholtok, and will likely be together again tonight.
"They really made things happen," said Vigneault. "Rucinsky has speed, Zholtok is a good playmaker and Brunet is a good two-way player.
"They had the most scoring chances for us."
Vigneault was equally happy with a defensive line put together in recent games -- Turner Stevenson, Craig Darby and Patrick Poulin.
Veteran Jeff Hackett will replace Jose Theodore in goal.
Notes -- The Habs are 3-3-3-0 since Brunet and Brisebois returned together Dec. 7 after missing the first 27 games with back injuries... The Canadiens tried to recall Russian forward Andrei Bashkirov from Quebec on Monday, but couldn't reach him.
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