Daniel Briere makes his return to Philadelphia tonight when the Montreal Canadiens visit the struggling Flyers.
[b]L.C. Greenwood Steelers Jersey[/b] . Viewers in the Canadiens region can watch the game on TSN Habs at 7pm et/8pm at. The game is also available on TSN Radio 690 in Montreal. The Canadiens have had a little more time to reflect on their shutout loss to the Los Angeles Kings two days ago. The Habs carried a five-game winning streak into Tuesdays home contest against the Kings and were blasted by a 6-0 margin. Carey Price yielded four goals on 16 shots faced in almost 25 1/2 minutes of action before being replaced by Peter Budaj, who yielded two goals on 14 shots faced. It was Montreals first regulation setback since a 1-0 loss to the New York Rangers on Nov. 16, snapping a 10-game point streak (9-0-1). "Theres nothing we can do after a loss like that," mused Habs head coach Michel Therrien. "Their second goal was a case of poor coverage. You have to give that team a lot of credit, but we have to put it aside and start all over again. If we had scored early, it might have been different. Were all disappointed." Tonights game marks a return to the Wells Fargo Center for Briere, who signed with the Canadiens this past offseason after having his contract bought out by the Flyers. Following a productive three-plus seasons in Buffalo, Briere hit the free agent market in the summer of 2007 and drew interest from a number of teams. The Quebec-born forward, though, drew the ire of Montreal natives when he decided to ink an eight-year, $52 million deal with the Flyers. Briere netted 124 goals with 159 assists for 283 points in 364 games with Philadelphia, but had just six goals and 16 points in 34 games last season. He ran out of goodwill stemming from his 30-point playoff output during the Flyers run to the Stanley Cup Finals in 2010 and had the final two years of his contract bought out this past summer. That gave the 35-year-old the opportunity to sign a two-year deal with the Canadiens but he has struggled this season with just 10 points in 22 games. "Im expecting both the best and the worst from the fans. Ive been treated in different ways by the crowd during my career, so Im ready for pretty much anything," Briere told Montreals website. "Ill have a chance to play in front of my kids and a few good friends, so itll be easy to find the motivation to do well." The forward faced the Flyers in Montreal back on Oct. 5 and did not register a point in a 4-1 win. Price stopped 22 shots to improve to 8-8-0 with a 2.71 goals against average in his career versus the Flyers. The victory was just Montreals third in its past 11 meetings with the Flyers and it has lost five in a row in Philadelphia. The Flyers would love to extend that home winning streak over the Canadiens following a 2-4-0 road trip. They dropped the final three games of the swing, capped with last nights 7-2 setback at the hands of the Chicago Blackhawks. The Blackhawks scored five goals in the second period, while Jakub Voracek and Steve Downie had the tallies for the Flyers. Ray Emery, part of Chicagos Stanley Cup-winning club last season, was shelled for six goals on 18 shots in just over two periods of work to take the loss. Steve Mason made four stops in the third. "You cant make excuses," Emery said. "As a whole, we have to play better in the second." Mason should get the start tonight and it would be the second of his career versus the Habs. He hasnt faced them since Nov. 7, 2008 with Columbus, stopping 34 shots in a victory. Emery had made 30 saves in the loss to Montreal on Oct. 5.
[b]Jerome Bettis Jersey[/b] . The Brazilian driver had the second-best time in last months tests at Jerez and said the "good start" could play to his advantage when the season gets underway in Australia in March.
[b]Dermontti Dawson Jersey[/b] . Ive said it before, Ive worked with top pros and I could have made my own program.ST. PAUL, Minn. -- Jared Spurgeon spent a month watching the Minnesota Wild from the press box. When he returned to action Tuesday night, he didnt waste any time making an impact. Spurgeon had two assists in his return from injury, Darcy Kuemper made 34 saves and the Wild defeated the Tampa Bay Lightning 2-1. One of Minnesotas top defencemen, Spurgeon was placed on injured reserve Jan. 4 after he hurt his left foot against Buffalo. While the Wild went 8-4-2 in his absence, they were eager to get him back in the lineup -- and he was eager to get back into the flow. "I think theres lots of adrenaline that helps you," Spurgeon said. "At the start I was a little nervous being off for a month, but they threw me right out there for the opening shift and that helped me really calm down and get my feet wet for that first one." Spurgeon got started early, setting up Nino Niederreiter for his fifth goal of the season 9 seconds into a power play in the first period. Early in the third, Spurgeon helped the Wild double their lead when he fed Dany Heatley in the slot for his 11th. Spurgeon ended up playing 21:12, third-most among Minnesota defencemen. "Hes taken really good care of himself while hes been out," Wild coach Mike Yeo said. "To be able to come in and play at the level that he did tonight just shows you how smart of a player he is." The Lightning pulled within a goal with just more than 6 minutes to play when Valtteri Filppula tipped in Martin St. Louis pass at the goalmouth for his 20th of the season. Tampa Bay buzzed around the net the rest of the way, but Kuemper stopped Alex Killorn and St. Louis from in close, and Tyler Johnsons shot hit the post in the final 40 seconds. Lightning coach Jon Cooper was hoping to see a little more fire out of his club at the end of a 1-3 road trip. "I dont know how much courage we had going to the net tonight, until the end," Cooper said. "Hence, its shocking wherre our goal was scored, standing right in front of the net.
[b]Joe Gilliam Steelers Jersey[/b]. " While the Lightning are still clinging to second place in the Atlantic Division, goalie Ben Bishop said theyll welcome a return home for two games before the Olympic break. "I dont know if you want to say were tired, but its been a long road trip," Bishop said. "We dont want to make excuses, but weve got to be better." Bishop, who finished with 24 saves, was tested often throughout the first two periods, stopping Zach Parise on a breakaway with 5 minutes to play in the first period and stoning Mikael Granlund on a point-blank backhand early in the second. Bishop was shaken up midway through the second when Parise fired a slap shot that hit the goalie in the head, but he remained in the game. Meanwhile, Kuemper made a nifty glove save to stop Johnson on a breakaway late in the second and stood tall all night in his 11th straight start, a franchise record for rookie goalies. The Wild are 6-3-2 in that span, but Yeo was impressed with how Kuemper rebounded from his last two starts, a loss at Colorado in which he was pulled and an overtime defeat at Calgary. "How do you come back to the rink the next day and be mentally tough enough to come in and perform at the level that you need to? Thats what was very impressive about him tonight," Yeo said. "I liked his game an awful lot." While the Wild got Spurgeon back, they had another setback on the blue line 2 minutes into the game when defenceman Marco Scandella got tangled up with Johnson. Scandella skated off the ice with assistance, favouring his right leg, and did not return. Yeo labeled him "doubtful" for Minnesotas pre-Olympics finale Thursday against Nashville. NOTES: Filppula returned after missing Saturdays game at Montreal with a lower-body injury. ... St. Louis assist gave him 966 points, moving him past former Canadiens great Maurice Richard into 85th place on the NHLs career list. ' ' '
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