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All-Star Canadiens set to face Panthers

Jan 4, 2009 - 2:14 PM Florida (17-16-5) at Montreal (21-10-6) 2:00 p.m. EST

MONTREAL (Ticker) -- When the All-Star Game rolls around in a few weeks, the Montreal Canadiens will be well represented. Whether that helps them beat the Florida Panthers remains to be seen.

The Canadiens will be looking to bounce back from a rare loss when they host the Florida Panthers on Sunday.

With this season's All-Star Game set to be held in Montreal, the Canadiens unleashed their massive fan base on the voting process and flexed their popularity muscles, putting four players into the Eastern Conference's starting lineup.

Pittsburgh Penguins stars Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin will by joined on the front line by Montreal right wing Alex Kovalev, while Andrei Markov and Mike Komisarek will start on the blue line. Montreal's Carey Price will be in goal at the Bell Centre on January 25.

The Canadiens had their three-game winning streak snapped on Friday, when they dropped a 4-1 decision at New Jersey. Price, who currently is sidelined with a lower body injury, watched backups Jaroslav Halak and Marc Denis combined to allow four goals on 29 shots.

The Panthers snapped a four-game losing streak with a 6-1 win over the Penguins on Saturday. Nathan Horton scored a pair of goals and defenseman Bryan McCabe added a tally and an assist in the triumph.

Horton now has four goals in the past four games and has pushed his total to 18 points this season. Stephen Weiss, who notched two assists against Pittsburgh, leads the club with 23 points.