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Thrashers-Canadiens Preview

Oct 19, 2009 - 7:28 PM By ALAN FERGUSON STATS Writer

Atlanta (4-1-0) at Montreal (2-5-0), 7:30 p.m. EDT

The Montreal Canadiens are looking to avoid their worst start in 68 years. If that happens, their fans surely will let them hear about it.

The Canadiens are riding a five-game losing streak as they reach the halfway point of a season-high six-game homestand Tuesday night against the surprising Atlanta Thrashers.

Since opening the season with a pair of overtime victories, Montreal (2-5-0) has struggled at both ends and was booed off the ice after Saturday night's 3-1 loss to visiting Ottawa.

"The fans expect us to win games so in that sense their reaction is not unexpected," forward Michael Cammalleri said. "If I was a fan I wouldn't be happy either."

The second half of Montreal's homestand includes one game against the red-hot New York Rangers and two against the winless New York Islanders.

The Canadiens have been outscored 20-9 during their five-game skid and are among the league's lowest-scoring teams at 2.1 goals per game.

After barely making the postseason in 2008-09, Montreal tried to revamp its roster by bringing in Cammalleri, Brian Gionta and Scott Gomez. Gionta has a team-leading three goals, but Cammalleri didn't score his first until Saturday and Gomez also only has one.

In net, Carey Price and Jaroslav Halak have combined for a 3.37 goals-against average and an .884 save percentage.

The 24-time Stanley Cup-winning franchise is on the verge of its worst start since 1941-42 when it began 1-10-0 with one tie. The Canadiens started 2-5-0 with one tie in 1956-57 and 1980-81.

They'll face a Thrashers club off to its best start since joining the NHL in 1999.

Atlanta (4-1-0) has benefited from a somewhat leisurely pace to the early season, having played a league-low five games in two weeks. The Thrashers, however, close a five-game road trip Tuesday to begin a stretch of three games in five days.

The only difficult part of their schedule was back-to-back games on Friday and Saturday nights, and they came away with 4-2 victories at New Jersey and Buffalo, respectively.

On Saturday, Ilya Kovalchuk scored twice in the first period and Johan Hedberg stopped 40 shots to win his first start of the season. Kovalchuk's two-goal performance was his third in five games and he's scored on seven of the 16 shots he's taken. He didn't reach seven goals until his 20th game last season.

The five-time 40-goal scorer has been held to three goals in his last 13 matchups with Montreal, including one in last season's series as the teams won two apiece on home ice. The Thrashers have lost three straight at the Bell Centre.

With four goals and seven points, Rich Peverley continues to be a surprising offensive complement since being claimed off waivers from Nashville in January. Peverley has 17 goals and 25 assists in 44 games with Atlanta after compiling seven goals and 13 assists in 73 games for the Predators.

Hedberg and Ondrej Pavelec have given the team a boost while No. 1 goaltender Kari Lehtonen recovers from offseason back surgery.

"We have a lot of good pieces, now we have to keep working," Hedberg said. "It's the start we wanted."

Pavelec, who has a 2.76 GAA in four starts, will try to earn his career-high fourth win if he faces the Canadiens for the first time. Hedberg is 1-6-0 with one tie all-time versus Montreal.