Canadiens head to Columbus seeking end to downward spiral

Hockey Betting Lines

02/18/2007 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Montreal Canadiens take to the road in hopes of ending their recent tailspin, as the free-falling club visits Columbus' Nationwide Arena tonight for a rare matchup with the Blue Jackets.

Montreal is currently mired in a season-high six-game losing streak, a slide which has seen the Habs drop from fourth place in the Eastern Conference into a tie with the New York Islanders for ninth. The Canadiens now sit on the outside looking in of the playoff picture, two points behind rival Toronto for the final postseason spot in the East.

The team's struggles continued on Saturday, when Carolina's Rod Brind'Amour scored two goals, including the 400th of his career, to propel the Hurricanes to a 5-3 victory at the Bell Centre.

Montreal fell despite producing a 45-31 advantage in shots, as Carolina goaltender Cam Ward outdueled David Aebischer with an impressive 42-save performance.

Sheldon Souray, Radek Bonk and Tomas Plekanec all scored for the Canadiens, who have been outscored 22-10 during the streak.

Aebischer was filling in for injured All-Star Cristobal Huet, who needs surgery to repair a hamstring tear suffered in Montreal's 5-2 loss at New Jersey on Wednesday. The Habs recalled rookie Jaroslav Halak from the minors Friday as a result of Huet's injury, and the 21-year-old is expected to make his NHL debut tonight.

Columbus will be playing the last of a franchise-record six consecutive home games and would like to draw even for the lengthy stand. After dropping three of the first four contests of the residency, the Blue Jackets downed San Jose on Friday behind a stellar performance from goaltender Fredrik Norrena.

The Finnish rookie earned his third career shutout by turning back all 29 shots he faced as Columbus came through with a 3-0 triumph over the Sharks. Norrena got plenty of offensive support from Fredrik Modin, Gilbert Brule and Sergei Fedorov, all of whom recorded a goal and an assist on the evening.

The Blue Jackets are 14-13-3 at Nationwide Arena for the campaign, but have posted an 11-6-1 home mark since Ken Hitchcock took over as head coach in late November.

Tonight's clash marks the first encounter between these teams since they fought to a 1-1 tie in Montreal on November 11, 2003. The Canadiens have only visited Columbus one time previously, back on October 12, 2001. The Habs came away with a 3-1 decision.

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