Goalie: Jose Theodore is finally starting to show signs he can be the No. 1 homegrown goalie the Habs have been so desperate to find. Jose Theodore received the game’ first star against Carolina as he stopped 33 of 35 shots and robbed Jeff O'Neill late in the game. Carolina outshot Montreal 35-17, including 24-8 over the final two periods, but lost 4-2.

Defense: Patrice Brisebois had his first two-goal game of the season in a 4-2 Montreal victory. It was the sixth time in Brisebois' 11-year NHL career he's scored twice in a game. The last time came last season against Tampa Bay. Brisebois is an NHL-low minus-28 after finishing last night even. In a continuing experimentation, Brisebois was reunited with Sheldon Souray and Stephane Robidas played with Patrick Traverse.

The Canadiens recalled rookie defenceman Andrei Markov from the Quebec Citadelles of the American Hockey League. Markov had four assists in 11 games in Quebec. He had six goals and 16 assists in 56 games with the Canadiens and was a plus-5 from Dec. 30 on after falling as low as minus-11 at the start of his NHL career. Markov will be returned to the Citadelles at some point so that he can play in the AHL playoffs

Forwards: Coach Michel Therrien juggled his lineup for the Carolina game and Brian Savage found himself playing on the third line with Craig Darby and Benoit Brunet. He had been playing left wing on a line with Saku Koivu and Oleg Petrov, but Chad Kilger took his place last night Chad Kilger said he was rusty when he returned to action Saturday after missing five games with a concussion, but he logged more than 21 minutes in the 3-2 loss to the Bruins Mar. 17 and finished plus-1 for the night. The rust didn't show in the circle, where Kilger won 11 of 17 faceoffs.

Who's Hot: Saku Koivu has seven goals and eight assists in his last 13 games. Richard Zednik has two goals and five assists in six games since coming over from Washington in the Trevor Linden trade.

Who's Not: - Brian Savage has struggled since he returned to the lineup after missing 20 games with a broken thumb. He has only one goal in the eight games since his return. Eric Landry went 32 games without a goal before heading to Quebec City soon to help the Citadelles in the AHL playoffs.

Who's Missing: Craig Rivet (shoulder) is practicing, Martin Rucinsky (bruised thigh) is skating and Jeff Hackett (hand) is working out without a stick, but none of them will play this week. Jason Ward (knee), Gino Odjick (wrist) and Patrick Poulin (ankle) are finished for the season. It appears Martin Rucinsky is determined to play again before the season ends. Martin Rucinsky, who suffered a deep bruise to his left thigh during a game in San Jose last week, is determined to play again before the end of the season. He skated on his own on Monday and could be able to play sometime late next week. After the workout, he headed to the McGill University Sports Medicine centre, where he had a session in the hyperbaric chamber.

The Canadiens are not surprisingly first in the league in man-games lost to injury. Montreal had 482 man-games lost to injury. The Canadiens were missing Craig Rivet (shoulder), Jason Ward (knee), Patrick Poulin (ankle), Gino Odjick (wrist) and Jeff Hackett (hand). Goalie Jeff Hackett is on the ice, but he's not using a stick and that's a sign that he won't test his broken hand before the end of the season.

Andrei Markov (d) Should push for a job with the Habs this year. Still young but performed very well with Moscow Dynamo in 99/00 (11G, 12 A). Could be the powerplay quarterback they’ve been missing since they traded Eric Desjardins.

Matthieu Garon (g) With the performance of Jose Theodore and Jeff Hackett in 99/00 don’t expect to see too much of this young netminder unless there is an injury with the big club. He and Theodore should form an excellent tandem in Montreal once Hackett moves on.

Eric Chouinard (c) Montreal’s 1^st pick (16^th overall) in 1998, Chouinard has excellent offensive potential. He failed to make the Habs last year, thanks primarily to a horrendous camp. The Canadiens aren’t going to rush this guy. He is one of the best forward propsect in the pipeline and will probably spend the year in Quebec City.

Mike Ribiero (c) Ribiero had a tour of NHL hockey teams last year playing with the Habs for 19 games, the Quebec Citadels of the AHL for three games, and two QMJHL squads. He led the QMJHL in scoring in 98/99 with 167 points in 69 games. Look for this 20 year old to start the season with the Citadels but if the Habs falter he’ll get every chance to solidify his position with the team.

Jose Theodore (g) Theodore put up amazing numbers last season in a back-up role to Jeff Hackett. In 30 games he had a 2.10 GAA , .919 Sv%, and 5 shutouts. It was interesting to see the financially strapped Habs didn’t expose or trade Hackett during the expansion draft. It tells us that they still think that Theodore needs some seasoning. Look for him to get into more and more games over the next two years in preparation for him taking over for Hackett in the starters role.

Danius Zubrus (rw) Last year was a breakout year for Zubrus but he still has a lot to prove in order to justify the trade that brought him to Montreal. The Habs, in a purely financial move, traded Mark Recchi to acquire the young Russian. Zubrus had career highs in goals, assists, powerplay goals, shots, and penalty minutes. Look for him to make take his game to the next level as he is gaining more and more NHL experience – including playofff games he played in excess of 300 games prior to his 22^nd birthday.

Saku Koivu (c) Koivu is an injury waiting to happen. It is now well beyond "if" he will get injured during the course of a season. It is now just a matter of "when". Koivu has a very good point per game rating, but don’t let that fool you. He only played 24 games last season thanks to a severe shoulder injury. The good news is that Koivu’s injuries always seem to be different (so at least they aren’t chronic). The bad news is that he always seems to find a new malady to suffer from. If you enjoy frustration, pick up Koivu and hope that he doesn’t get hurt.

Martin Rucinsky (lw) Rucinsky will bring you frustration at a different level. He will have games where he will get 2 goals, 2 assists and be the best player on the ice on to follow it up with a sluggish, pointless performance where he looks like he just doesn’t want to be there. Rucinsky has scored 20+ goals in four of the last five years is a fixture on the powerplay. Look for him to come close to his 99/00 numbers

Brian Savage (rw) Few thought Savage would ever return after a devastating neck injury last season. Even fewer thought he would return to finish the season. This showed a side of Savage that few hockey fans have seen. We think that this should translate well into increased production this season. Normally he starts strong and fades, but we think that he could grow as a player this year. Look for him to hit 25 goals again, and he should see all the powerplay time he can handle.

Jeff Hackett (g) Hackett had an amazing season (23 wins, 2.40 GAA, .914 Sv% and 3 shutouts). Many were surprised that he wasn’t moved during the offseason but he will make the most of it this year. He is the undisputed #1 for the Habs. Look for him to play 50+ games (barring injury) but don’t expect him to put up similar numbers to last year. The team just isn’t good enough in front of Hackett and he will suffer as a result.

Eric Weinrich (d) Weinrich was a pleasant surprise for the Habs last season. His 29 points were his highest since the 92/93 season. It will be very hard for Weinrich to repeat – especially since a lot of his powerplay time will be taken by a healthy Brisebois and possibly Markov (if he makes the team).

Patrice Brisebois (d) Brisebois put up some amazing stats considering he missed 28 games due to injury. He tied his career high in goals and powerplay goals but for him to be a good overall producer for your team, he will need to play better in his own end and shoot a lot more. If he remains healthy Brisebois could surprise.

Trevor Linden (c/rw) On a personal level, we all like Trevor Linden. But let’s be fair – he is not a top line NHLer. Since the 95/86 season, when he had a career high 80 points, his career has gone downhill. Don’t look for anything more than 15 goals and 45 points.

Sergei Zholtok (c) The good news is that Zholtok had career highs in goals with 26 (including 9 powerplay markers). As well he had an impressive 163 shots. But he disappointed many fantasy owners by only tallying 12 assists. We find if very hard to believe that he will repeat his goal scoring stats from last season and in fact we would be surprised if he reached 20.