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Habs welcome Panthers to town

Feb 2, 2011 - 4:37 PM (Sports Network) - Aiming to inch closer to the top spot in the Northeast Division, the Montreal Canadiens kick off a three-game homestand this evening against the struggling Florida Panthers at the Bell Centre.

Montreal snapped a two-game slide with Tuesday night's 3-2 shootout victory in Washington. Brian Gionta carried the offense, scoring twice in the second period before supplying the lone goal of the tiebreaker. He had scored just once in his previous eight games.

Carey Price made 14 of his 27 saves after the second period and then turned aside Nicklas Backstrom, Matt Hendricks and Alex Ovechkin in the shootout for the Canadiens, who are 4-1-2 in their last seven and four points back of first-place Boston in the division.

"I thought we stuck with the game plan. I thought we worked hard and we're able to get a couple of goals in the second period," said Montreal head coach Jacques Martin.

With Price having also seen action in the All-Star Game, the Habs could elect to give Alex Auld his first start since Jan. 17. Auld is 3-0-3 with a tie and 2.14 goals-against average in his career versus Florida, while Price is 2-3-0 with a 2.80 GAA when facing the club.

Montreal has won four of its last six at home and is 16-6-4 at the Bell Centre this year. The Canadiens have won four of their last five at home to the Panthers, but did drop a 3-1 test in Montreal to Florida on Oct. 30.

The Habs countered with a 3-2 overtime victory in the Sunshine State on Dec. 31 and have won nine of the last 12 meetings overall.

Florida has lost six of its last seven, but does have points in five of those games (1-2-4). The Panthers picked up one last night in a 4-3 shootout setback at the Toronto Maple Leafs.

Scott Clemmensen made 23 saves and Stephen Weiss, Cory Stillman and David Booth all scored. Weiss and Stillman added assists for the Panthers, who are 11th overall in the Eastern Conference and seven points back of a playoff spot. They are 1-2-1 on a six-game road trip.

"I didn't like the first period," said Panthers head coach Peter DeBoer. "It looked like we were still on the All-Star break."

DeBoer could entertain the idea of going with Clemmensen again tonight seeing as he is a perfect 3-0-0 with a 1.33 GAA lifetime versus the Canadiens. No. 1 netminder Tomas Vokoun is 5-7-3 with a tie and 2.46 GAA against them.