After a long off-season, the 2011-12 NHL regular season gets underway with one of the best rivalries in all of sports, as the Toronto Maple Leafs host the Montreal Canadiens.
The original six rivals split last season's season series. The Habs won the last meeting with a 4-1 victory in the regular season finale in which captain Brian Gionta had two goals and was named first star of the game.
It's only the first game of the season, but already the Leafs have injuries to deal with. Tim Connolly was placed on injured reserve on Wednesday with an upper-body injury and will sit out against Montreal. He is also doubtful for Saturday's home game against the Ottawa Senators. Nazem Kadri remains out for a few more weeks with a sprained knee. Also missing from the lineup is Clarke MacArthur who will serve the first game of his two-game suspension for a pre-season hit to the head of Justin Abdelkader of the Detroit Red Wings.
MacArthur's suspension creates an opportunity for rookie Matt Frattin. The 23-year old will take MacArthur's spot on the top line, playing alongside Mikhail Grabovski and Nikolai Kulemin. The Leafs gave Frattin his first taste of the NHL in last season's finale against the Habs. In that game, Frattin logged 15:34 in ice-time and registered five shots on net.
Five players will make their Leafs debuts against the Habs, as Jake Gardiner, David Steckel, John-Michael Liles, Phillipe Dupuis and Matthew Lombardi will all be in the lineup. Lombardi missed all but two games last season with a concussion. The Montreal native last played a regular season game almost one year ago on Oct. 13, 2010. Lombardi did appear in one pre-season game, logging 17:08 in ice-time while registering one shot on net and two hits in a 4-2 loss to the Red Wings in the exhibition finale.
James Reimer gets the start in net to kick off his sophomore season with the Leafs. In two starts against Montreal last season, the Morweena, Manitoba native went 1-1-0 with a 4.00 goals-against average.
Reimer will look to prove that he is the real deal this year and that last season was not a fluke. After getting his first NHL start in a 5-1 New Year's Day victory over the Sens, Optimus Reim went 20-10-5 with a 2.60 GAA and a .921 save percentage. His performance in net gave the Leafs an outside shot at getting back into the playoff race and to play meaningful games late into the season for the first time in several years.
Toronto Maple Leafs Projected Lines
Forwards
Matt Frattin - Mikhail Grabovski - Nikolai Kulemin
Joffrey Lupul - Tyler Bozak - Phil Kessel
David Steckel - Philippe Dupuis - Colby Armstrong
Jay Rosehill - Matthew Lombardi - Mike Brown
Defencemen
Carl Gunnarsson - Dion Phaneuf
John-Michael Liles - Luke Schenn
Jake Gardiner - Mike Komisarek
Goalies
James Reimer
Jonas Gustavsson
The Montreal Canadiens start their 2011-12 regular season looking to bounce back from a disappointing first round playoff exit courtesy of the eventual Stanley Cup Champions.
The Habs took the Boston Bruins all the way to overtime in Game Seven of their Eastern Conference Quarterfinal Series. But it was Bruins forward Nathan Horton who put an end to Montreal's season with the overtime goal.
Most of Montreal's lineup remains intact from one year ago with just a few new additions. One of those additions is Erik Cole, who signed a four-year, $18 million deal with the Habs in the off-season. Last season marked the first time Cole played all 82 games in his nine-year career. The 32-year old had 26 goals and 26 assists in 2010-11 with the Carolina Hurricanes, his highest totals since 2006-07 when he had 29 goals and 32 assists.
Brian Gionta enters into his third season with the Canadiens, and second as their captain. In 2010-11, Gionta led the team in goals with 29 and was third in points with 46 on the season. The 32-year old captain will wing on the second line with Scott Gomez and Max Pacioretty.
Montreal will be without Andrei Markov on defence to start the season. Markov signed a three-year, $17.25M deal in the off-season but has been placed on the injured reserve as he recovers from a right knee injury. The 32-year old Russian defenceman missed the last 65 games of last season and all seven playoff games after undergoing surgery to repair a meniscus and reconstruct his ACL.
The Habs will also be without Blair Betts, who they claimed off waivers one day ago from the Philadelphia Flyers. Betts will miss the season opener with a lower-body injury, but should be ready for Sunday's game in Winnipeg against the Jets. Montreal recalled Andreas Engqvist from the Hamilton Bulldogs on Thursday to fill Betts' spot on the fourth line.
Carey Price gets the start in net to start off his fifth season with the Canadiens. Last season, Price was relied upon heavily by the Habs with 70 starts, third-most in the league behind Cam Ward (74) and Miikka Kiprusoff (71). In 2010-11, Price was tied with Roberto Luongo for the league lead in wins (38), while also finishing third in shutouts (8).
In five games against Toronto last season, Price went 3-2-0 while posting a 1.26 GAA and a .953 save percentage with two shutouts.
Montreal Canadiens Projected Lines
Forwards
Mike Cammalleri - Tomas Plekanec - Andrei Kostitsyn
Max Pacioretty - Scott Gomez - Brian Gionta
Mathieu Darche - David Desharnais - Erik Cole
Travis Moen - Andreas Engqvist - Yannick Weber
Defencemen
Chris Campoli - Josh Gorges
Hal Gill - P.K. Subban
Jaroslav Spacek - Raphael Diaz
Goalies
Carey Price
Peter Budaj
Habs vs. Leafs gets underway at 7PM ET. The game will be broadcast on CBC's Hockey Night in Canada, RDS and AM640.
For up-to-the-minute Leafs news and updates, be sure to follow Ken Beckett on Twitter @KenBeckett 
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