Montreal Canadiens Start a Six-Game Road Trip on Monday Starting with the Flames

The Montreal Canadiens (29-18-6) will start their six-game road trip tomorrow night against the Calgary Flames (30-18-4).

Usually coach Guy Carbonneau gives the players the day off on Sundays, but after last night's game it's understandable why they were practicing today in Brossard. They left for Calgary shortly after practice was over.

Practice started at 11:45 a.m. A half hour later than usual because Guy Carbonneau and his staff had a talk with GM Bob Gainey.

"We wanted a little more time to talk about what we need to do to get out of this hole," Carbonneau said without going into details about what they talked about.

The Canadiens are in fifth place right now. Will this road trip be a good thing?

"It's going to be tough, but they're all teams we can beat," said Carbonneau, whose team will also visit Edmonton, Colorado, Vancouver, Washington, and Pittsburgh. "Just to get away from, whatever you want to call it, pressure, the people in Montreal, the attention, it's a good time, especially with the way we've been playing lately. Even if we haven't played well on the road, we've reached the point where we realize that we need to turn this thing around quickly."

Jaroslav Halak will be in goal on Monday. He was supposed to start against the Leafs on Saturday, but was sick at game time with flu-like symptoms.

"I'm feeling better and I'll just try to do my best," Halak said after practice.

Carbonneau will decide tomorrow morning if Patrice Brisebois and Mathieu Dandenault will play on Monday.