TSN's Eastern Conference Matchup of the week - Part 1: Habs and Panthers

Tonight's NHL game on TSN features the Montreal Canadiens and the Florida Panthers. It should be an interesting game to watch, since the Florida Panthers tend to be 'Habs Killers' - they won last year's series 3-0-1, and have gone 7-1-3 (+1 tie) since 2003-04.

The Panthers started off slow this season, losing a handful of games, but they're starting to pull things together. A pair of back-to-back wins this weekend definitely put them in the 'upswing' category.

The game will be in Montreal, and the Bell Centre can be a hard place to play for visiting teams. Montrealers like their Habs - and they can be a tad, uh, vocal. That being said, it's not like the Habs are hot like the Sens. They're 2-1-1 so far, which isn't horrible by any stretch of the imagination, but they're coming off a hard 3-1 loss to the 'Canes on Saturday. Carbo is mixing things up a bit and sending messages to those who are still on summer holidays. Out are Latendresse and Begin, and in are Murray and rookie Grabovski. Huet will start between the pipes, fighting to prove to Canada that he has the goods to be the number 1 goalie. Price, on the other hand, is just waiting for another shot to prove that he has the goods to be Montreal's numero uno (or numéro un).

Can the Panthers make it a streak of three wins tonight? They'll need some good ol' fashioned Montreal help for that one - perhaps a Bryan McCabe-like brain fart by Brisebois? Oooooohh I can hear the crowd now...BOOOOO!

Tomorrow night's Eastern Conference matchup (part 2) on TSN features the Pens and the Devils. Got me-self a TV reserved for that one!