Game Preview: Thrashers @ Habs

Tonight the Canadiens play the second of 7 home games in a row. With Tanguay and Laraque back in the lineup, it raises many questions. Questions such as who will be playing, and who won't. On one hand, you've got Laraque who hasn't played since Nov 22 against Boston and on the other, you've got Tanguay who will surely be in the starting lineup tonight. But with at least Tanguay back in the lineup, you need to scratch to make room. So who do you scratch? Lapierre and Begin are playing too well on the fourth line, and Matt D'Agostini needs more time if they want him to bloom. All fingers point to third line Sergei Kostitsyn, who had an undisciplined game against Buffalo. Of late, he has not been exactly filling up the scoresheet. He gets time on the powerplay yet he only has 9 points (3 goals, 6 assists) and 2 in his last 10. As far as I know, the lineups for tonight will be game time decisions.
Carey Price is in net for Montreal. He has simply been on fire. I wouldn't be surprised if he records a shutout here and there during this homestand.
This should be an easy one for Montreal, no matter who's in the lineup tonight. Atlanta (8-12-3) is 14th in the conference in front of only Tampa Bay on wins. Their star player Ilya Kovalchuk is in the doghouse and was practising on the fourth line on Monday. This should be an easy blowout for Montreal, but because of past "easy blowout" games, I'm not going to relax, and hopefully Montreal shows the same attitude going into this one.