• AUDIO: Jacques Martin | Andrei Markov | Tom Pyatt | Brian Gionta | Josh Gorges | Tomas Plekanec

Coach Jacques Martin confirmed today that Marc-André Bergeron and Benoit Pouliot won't be back in the lineup until next month, after the Olympic break.

Bergeron has a knee injury and will be out at least six weeks. The Canadiens are sticking with upper-body injury for Pouliot but say he won't play this week.

Tom Pyatt, who was recalled on Monday, will line up with Scott Gomez and Brian Gionta on one of the top lines.   

Marc-André Bergeron wasn't at practice today and the word is that he will out of action for 6-8 weeks. Bergeron left the Feb. 4 game against Boston after he was hit in the leg with a shot. He missed the weekend games against Pittsburgh and Boston and was limping noticeably in the press box Saturday. 

The Canadiens return to practice today after having had a day off – the players, if not management.

An 11 am practice in Brossard will begin to set the table for tomorrow night's formidable challenge, i.e., the visit of the Washington Capitals, they of the 14-game winning streak.

Updates to follow from Pat Hickey, who will be at practice today and no doubt will have the reaction of players about yesterday's resignation of general manager Bob Gainey.

Canadiens president Pierre Boivin (left) with newly appointed executive VP and general manager Pierre Gauthier.
Pierre Obendrauf, Gazette

• AUDIO: Bob Gainey, Pierre Boivin and Pierre Gauthier (with the clicking of camera shutters as an intro) | Jacques Martin

Tom Pyatt has been called up from the Hamilton Bulldogs on Monday, whlle Ryan White and Brock Trotter have been sent back to the farm club.

By this time next week, Habs defenceman Andrei Markov will be wearing the jersey of his native Russia at the Vancouver Olympics. Markov is seen in action at the 2006 Turin Games.
Elsa, Getty Images Sport

The Canadiens will enjoy the day off before returning to practice ice tomorrow, a huge week on the schedule leading to the two-week Olympic break.

The Habs are home Wednesday to the Washington Capitals, now on a 14-game win streak. Then Friday it's on to Philadelphia, whose Flyers sit in the Eastern Conference's eighth and final playoff spot, three points behind No. 6 Montreal but with four games in hand. The Flyers make up one of those games tonight, home to New Jersey.

Montreal returns home next Saturday to face those same Flyers before shutting down, the Olympic Winter Games taking centre stage in Vancouver. The Habs open post-Olympics with four games on the road – Boston, San Jose, Los Angeles and Anaheim – before returning to the Bell Centre to face Tampa Bay on March 9.

Bruins' Blake Wheeler and Canadiens' Ryan O'Byrne exchange pleasantries during Sunday's first period.
Christinne Muschi, Reuters

Preview | Matchups | Sunday's NHL schedule | Boone's Game Blog and About last night ... | Stubbs on Twitter | Pat Hickey's game story

• AUDIO: Tomas Plekanec | Brian Gionta | Jaroslav Spacek

• At a Glance: A super Sunday but, alas, only for the Bruins, with a goaltender other than the Canadiens' Jaroslav Halak stealing the show. Riding a 10-game winless streak, one more loss from tying a franchise record for futility, Boston scored twice in the first period then held on for a 3-0 victory over the Habs at the Bell Centre. Adam McQuaid scored the first goal of his career to open the scoring at 17:32, that coming on a heavy-traffic slapper, then Marco Sturm beat Halak with less than four seconds on the clock, a deflected puck landing on Sturm's stick with Halak moving the other way. The second period was all Montreal's, the Habs outshooting their visitors 15-3, but Boston goalie Tuukka Rask, who made 36 saves to Halak's 24, was equal to them all. Sturm salted the game away midway through the third, his snap shot deflecting off defenceman Josh Gorges's stick past Halak.

• Key Moments: Sturm's goal in the last gasp of the first period. And Rask, who was dominant throughout, twice robbing Tomas Plekanec in the second, first with a glove grab, then later on a breakaway with a terrific right-pad stop.

• What It Means: With a win, Montreal could have pulled three points ahead of Tampa Bay in the Eastern Conference standings. Even with the loss, however, the Habs remain in sixth place, their 62 points one ahead of the Lightning but with Tampa holding three games in hand.

• What's Next: The Canadiens return to action at home on Wednesday vs. the Washington Capitals of Alexander Ovechkin, who scored a hat trick and assisted Sunday in the Caps' 5-4 overtime win over Pittsburgh – Washington's 14th (!) straight win. Montreal then plays back-to-back Friday and Saturday against the Flyers, opening in Philadelphia then at the Bell Centre to send themselves into the Olympic break.

Tomas Plekanec celebrates his first-minute, first-period goal against Pittsburgh.
Francois Lacasse, NHLI via Getty Images

Preview | Matchups | Saturday's NHL schedule | Boone's Game Blog and About last night ... | Stubbs on Twitter | Pat Hickey's game story

AUDIO: Jacques Martin | Mathieu Darche | Brian Gionta | Ryan White | Brock Trotter

• At a Glance: The Canadiens were missing two more key players thanks to injuries and played with a fourth line made up of three members of the Hamilton Bulldogs on Saturday afternoon. But they found a way to defeat the defending Stanley Cup champions 5-3 at the Bell Centre, a third straight win for Montreal. With Benoit Pouliot and Marc-André Bergeron placed on the injured reserve list, David Desharnais, Brock Trotter and Ryan White were called up and played on a line together Saturday, arguably the best one on the ice for either team. Tomas Plekanec opened the scoring 29 seconds into the game when Marc-André Fleury was knocked down behind the net by Mathieu Darche, leaving the net wide open. Pascal Dupuis got that one back 33 seconds later on a rebound given up by Jaroslav Halak after a great save on Jordan Staal. Brian Gionta scored on a breakaway in the second and Scott Gomez made it 3-1 midway through the second with a power-play goal. Bill Guerin made it 3-2 before the period was over, but Darche scored seven minutes into the third with a slapshot from the faceoff circle, chasing Fleury. Gionta scored his second of the game with nine minutes to play on Brent Johnson, who took Fleury's place. Evgeni Malkin made it 5-3 with three minutes to play with a shorthanded goal seconds after he left the penalty box. It was the first time Montreal defeated the Penguins this season, who had outscored the Canadiens 12-4 in the previous three meetings.

• Key Moments: With the game tied 1-1, the Canadiens killed off three Pittsburgh power plays and Gionta scored 13 seconds after the end of the third penalty in the second period.

• What It Means: Montreal solidified its hold on sixth place in the Eastern Conferece with 62 points (28-25-6), three points ahead of the Philadelphia Flyers and Tampa Bay Lightning. That could change later Saturday as both teams are in action.

• What's Next: The Canadiens play the Bruins on Sunday in the second half of their weekend matinées. The red-hot Washington Capitals are in town on Wednesday and then the Canadiens play a home-and-home series against the Philadelphia Flyers Friday and Saturday before heading into the Olympic break.

It's been said the Canadiens are a family unto themselves. It's something Habs defenceman Ryan O'Byrne has learned in the past weeks and months, leading to and since last Sunday's loss of his mother, Lorelei, to breast cancer.

The 25-year-old flew home to Victoria early last month to spend a few days with his mother, who was in the final stages of a disease she'd been battling since O'Byrne was in junior hockey. Canadiens GM Bob Gainey encouraged him to take 10 days, time O'Byrne now cherishes before he'll attend his mom's memorial service back home during the Olympic break.

O'Byrne sat quietly in the dressing room after practice yesterday and shared a little of what has been on his mind, and how he's taken strength from those around him. Here's that story.

Brian Burke's youngest son, 21-year-old Brendan, was killed in a car accident yesterday.

You may love the Leafs' bombastic general manager.

You may not love him.

But you have to feel for him.

There is nothing worse in this world than having to bury a child.

Brendan Burke was in the news last November when an ESPN story revealed he was gay.

To his immense credit, Brian Burke was fully supportive of his son.

• AUDIO: Jacques Martin (courtesy Andie Bennett, Team 990) | Brian Gionta (begins speaking about not taking a therapy day) | Gionta on scaling Mount Chara | Carey Price (begins speaking about Super Bowl)

• Courtesy of Rod Francis at the Team 990, Pierre McGuire offers some cautionary words on the Tomas Plekanec contract situation

• UPDATE, 12:20 pm: Therapy days for Tomas Plekanec, Marc-André Bergeron, Benoit Pouliot and Sergei Kostitsyn
• UPDATE, 5:22 pm: Canadiens recall David Desharnais, Brock Trotter and Ryan White from Hamilton

So who's in the lineup Saturday to kickoff the Super Bowl matinée weekend?

The Stanley Cup-champion Pittsburgh Penguins at the Bell Centre Saturday at 2 pm, the badly limping Boston Bruins paying a return visit to Montreal Sunday at 3 pm following the Habs' 3-2 shootout win last night in Boston. Thank goalie Jaroslav Halak (again) for last night's victory. There's no sign of Jaro cooling off, any time soon.

Four Canadiens took therapy days, and late this afternoon the team confirmed it was recalling forwards David Desharnais, Brock Trotter and Ryan White from Hamilton. One or more of them will see duty today, Bergeron declared out for the weekend with a lower-body injury after having stopped a shot against Boston on Thursday.

Pat Hickey reports this callup puts Bergeron on injury-reserve; he cannot play until next Friday vs. Philadelphia.

The other three clinic patients might be game-time decisions, or they might have been in for regular maintenance.

Live updates on Twitter.

CKAC and RDS are reporting that the Canadiens are recalling forwards David Desharnais, Brock Trotter and Ryan White from the Hamilton Bulldogs.

Details to come, but Sergei Kostitsyn, Benoit Pouliot, Marc-André Bergeron and Tomas Plekanec all took therapy days today. Bergeron seems unlikely to be ready to play this weekend with a lower body injury, suffered while blocking a shot last night in Boston. The status of the others remains unclear, so this could be a just-in-case recall in two of the three instances.

Canadiens' Brian Gionta scores the winning goal in the shootout Thursday night on Bruins goalie Tuukka Rask. Adam Hunger, Reuters

Preview | Matchups | Thursday's NHL schedule | Boone's Game Blog and About last night ... | Stubbs on Twitter | Pat Hickey's game story

AUDIO: Jacques Martin | Brian Gionta | Jaro Halak | Josh Gorges | Glen Metropolit | Roman Hamrlik

• At a Glance: For the second straight game, Jaroslav Halak faced more than 40 shots on goal and once again, he was the difference for the Canadiens as they stole two points in Boston with a 3-2 shootout win over the Bruins on Thursday night. Two nights after making 45 saves against the Vancouver Canucks, Halak stopped 45 Boston shots while his teammates could muster only 25 shots on Tuukka Rask. Mark Recchi scored his 11th of the season on the power play in the first period, during which the Bruins outshot Montreal 15-5. Blake Wheeler made it 2-0 early in the second period and it looked like they were on their way to an easy win. But the Canadiens scored two goals within 39 seconds near the end of the second period to tie things up. Glen Metropolit scored his 11th of the season on a power play, his first goal since December. Roman Hamrlik tied it 2-2 with a shot that Rask couldn't see thanks to Mathieu Darche being parked in the goaltender's crease. Brian Gionta scored the winning goal in the shootout with a great move and a backhand shot under the crossbar.

• Key Moments: The Canadiens were able to kill off a Boston power play in overtime, and limited the Bruins to only one goal in six man advantages. Montreal was 1-for-2 on the power play.

• What It Means: Montreal improves to 27-25-6 for 60 points, moving the Canadiens into sixth spot in the Eastern Conference. Montreal also puts some distance between themselves and the Bruins, who are at 56 points but have three games in hand. The Bruins have now lost nine straight games.

• What's Next: The Canadiens are back home for afternoon games this weekend with the Pittsburgh Penguins at the Bell Centre on Saturday and the Bruins in Montreal on Super Bowl Sunday.

Habs Inside/Out, on behalf of the site and its readers, expresses its sympathies to Canadiens defenceman Ryan O'Byrne, who lost his mother, Lorelei, to breast cancer on Jan. 28.

O'Byrne had taken a leave of absence early last month, missing four games for family reasons, when his mother was critically ill. Her passing is announced in this notice.

O'Byrne is expected to remain with the team, a memorial service for his mother to be held in Victoria, B.C., next Tuesday.

(Nice idea from reader Peter Stone in a comment below: if you wish to send your wishes to Ryan, visit the link above and sign the guestbook at the bottom of the notice.)

Carey Price may be 2-0 against the Bruins but Jaroslav Halak will make his third consecutive start in goal tonight as coach Jacques Martin elects to stay with the hot hand.

Defenceman Jaroslav Spacek returns to the lineup after missing three games with an upper-body injury. He'll be paired with Roman Hamrlik and Yannick Weber will be a healthy scratch. Brian Gionta,. Scott Gomez, Benoit Pouliot and Sergei Kostitsyn all skipped the morning skate. 

The lines:

Pouliot-Plekanec-S. Kostitsyn
Maxwell-Gomez-Gionta
Bergeron-Lapierre-Darche
Moen-Metropolit-D'Agostini

Defence: Markov-O'Byrne; Hamrlik-Spacek; Gill-Gorges