Practice for Murray

MONTREAL -- For the first time in two weeks, Glen Murray practiced with his teammates today at the Bell Centre.

"Not bad," said Murray. "It's the only first day and I sat out a few drills. But it's nice to be around the guys and get a good little sweat."

Murray did not participate in three-on-three rushes or three-on-three battle drills. Instead, with feeds from assistant coach Craig Ramsay, Murray took shots on Alex Auld and Tim Thomas at the other end of the rink.

While neither Murray nor Claude Julien could say for sure, it's likely that the right wing will miss the next two games and aim for a return after the All-Star break.

* Pascal Pelletier, born in Labrador City, Newfoundland, and raised in Quebec City, is expecting about 10 guests to be present for tomorrow's game. Pelletier said that despite never playing goal, his favorite player growing up was Patrick Roy. Pelletier said he got excited about the prospect of playing against the Canadiens when he traveled to New York on Saturday, knowing that he probably wouldn't get assigned to Providence if he made the first leg of the road trip. But Pelletier said he realized the significance of tomorrow's match when the team charter landed in Montreal yesterday.

* Julien, also a Canadiens fan growing up, pledged when he was playing junior hockey that he would never enter Montreal Forum unless he did so as a player. "First of all, I don't think we were rich enough for my parents to bring me here," said Julien with a laugh. "Then when I got to the age of junior, I said to myself that as a junior hockey player, you've got a chance to make it to the pros. That was my motivation -- never step in here unless I'm playing." As a member of the Nordiques, Julien made it to the Forum for the first time in 1985. "I had shivers through my body in warmups," said Julien.

* Expect Tim Thomas to make his third straight start tomorrow.

Today's lineup:

Sturm-Savard-Kessel
Lucic-Metropolit-Kobasew
Sobotka-Krejci-Pelletier
Reich-Nokelainen-Schaefer-Thornton

Chara-Wideman
Stuart-Ward
Ference-Hnidy

Thomas
Auld