The second half of the season kicks off tonight, as the Montreal Canadiens host Jason Spezza and the Dallas Stars from the Bell Centre.

Listeners in the Montreal region can listen to the game live on TSN Radio 690 at 6pm et.

Goaltender Carey Price was absent from Monday's practice but is expected to start in goal this evening. Price, as well as forward Jiri Sekac's, flight out of Columbus on Monday was delayed due to poor weather.

The Canadiens are third in the Atlantic Division, two points back of second-place Detroit and three behind Tampa Bay for first. They're hoping the layoff didn't cool off their momentum, as they went 12-3-1 in their last 16 games.

"It's tight, but I think it's going to be a lot of fun come the end of the season," right wing Brendan Gallagher told the team's official website. "I think a lot of teams will be battling and it's going to be exciting. It's not going to be easy, and we've got a lot of games against those top teams - which will be huge to move up the standings - but right now we've just got to focus on the two points that are up for grabs on Tuesday."

Max Pacioretty, who leads Montreal with 21 goals and 38 points, netted seven tallies with three assists during a seven-game point streak before it ended in last Tuesday's 2-1 overtime win at home against Nashville.

The left wing has failed to get a point in five of six career meetings with Dallas, including December's loss.

Spezza won't deny that his arrival in Dallas helped create expectations the Stars struggled to meet early in the season.

He's just glad the weight wasn't enough to ruin the season before the Stars reached the All-Star break.

Now, Spezza and the Stars emerge from the layoff looking to sweep the season series from the Montreal Canadiens on Tuesday night at Bell Centre.

"When you're a team that makes the playoffs and then you add a couple of pieces, the expectations take another step," said Spezza, who was acquired from Ottawa last summer, giving Dallas (21-18-7) more firepower to go with Tyler Seguin and Jamie Benn.

"Sometimes it doesn't work like that right off the hop," he added. "And we've kind of had a wishy-washy first half, but fortunately find ourselves not too far on the outside with a chance here to make some ground in the second half."

The Stars are four points out of the second wild-card spot in the Western Conference, and they can thank Seguin for keeping them that close.

The All-Star center is tied with Rick Nash of the New York Rangers for the NHL lead in goals with 28, a big reason why Dallas is fourth in scoring at 3.09 goals per game. The Stars, though, rank 27th defensively with 3.26 allowed.

"We lost a few games and maybe that's part of the reason we couldn't get our traction back there for a little while," said defenseman Alex Goligoski, a veteran of several offseasons without any expectations in Dallas. "That's all history. I think we've settled in pretty nice now and it's a 36-game season."

The Stars went 11-5-2 in 18 games before the break, but coach Lindy Ruff left the impression that Kari Lehtonen wasn't a lock as his top goalie. Lehtonen's 2.98 goals-against average is his worst in six seasons in Dallas, but backup Anders Lindback is sporting a 3.79 GAA.

"Kari is still my guy," Ruff said. "It's a tough place to be because he's the reason a lot of times when we're winning games and there's been some nights he's had some tough ones go in and it's probably the reason we've lost."

Lehtonen only needed to make 16 saves while Seguin scored twice in a 4-1 home win over Montreal (29-13-3) on Dec. 6.

Seguin, second in the NHL with 52 points, has six goals and seven assists in his last eight meetings with the Canadiens, but no points in the last two on the road.

Projected Canadiens Lines vs. Stars

Forwards:
Pacioretty - Plekanec - Weise
Galchenyuk - Desharnais - Gallagher
Sekac - Eller - Prust
Bournival - Malhotra - Thomas

Defence:
Markov - Subban
Beaulieu - Gonchar
Emelin - Gilbert

Goalies:
Price starting
Tokarski

Scratches: Weaver, Parenteau (concussion)

 

Game Notes:
DAL is 1-0-0 vs MTL this season, winning at home
MTL was 1-0-0 at home vs DAL last season

Montreal:
won 2 straight at home, 8GF, 4/7 on PP
Markov (4A) past 2 games

Dallas:
1-1-2 past 4 road games, 3GA or more in each of the games, 1/11 on PP
Spezza (1G, 4A) 4 game PT streak