Protection » 0, Carey Price was taken down early in the second

The surging Montreal Canadiens will take aim at their seventh win in eight tries when they begin a four-game road trip with tonights clash against the Detroit Red Wings. You watch the game live on TSN at 7pm et/4pm pt or listen live on TSN Radio 690 Montreal. The Canadiens have won three straight and six of their past seven games, pushing them two points ahead of Tampa Bay for second place in the Atlantic Division. However, the Lightning, who host the New York Islanders on Thursday, do hold two games in hand over the Habs. Detroit, meanwhile, enters Thursday as one of four teams tied for the last two playoff berths in the Eastern Conference. With 80 points, the Red Wings are seven in back of Tampa Bay for last of the Atlantic Divisions three automatic playoff berths, meaning theyll likely need to claim one of the Easts two wild cards to qualify for a 23rd straight postseason. Columbus, Detroit, Toronto and Washington each have 80 points, but the Red Wings are the only team of that group in action on Thursday. The Blue Jackets and Red Wings have 10 games remaining in their regular-season schedules, while the Capitals and Maple Leafs have nine and eight games left, respectively. Montreal picked up its third straight win in Tuesdays home meeting against the lowly Buffalo Sabres. Max Pacioretty broke a scoreless deadlock with 9:07 to play and Carey Price posted a 24-save shutout to lift the Canadiens to the 2-0 win over the basement-dwelling Sabres. Danny Briere added an insurance marker with Montreal on the power play at 16:54 of the third, while Price stood tall down the stretch to help kill off a late Canadiens penalty and secure his fifth shutout of the season and 24th of his career. "The goal is to make the playoffs," Briere remarked. "Were in control of our destiny and trying to rack up as many points as we can." The Canadiens won despite playing without forwards Travis Moen and Dale Weise, who were injured on the same shift in Mondays 2-1 shootout win in Boston. Detroit, which will try to halt a two-game slide on Thursday, hasnt missed the playoffs since 1990. The Red Wings had a three-game winning streak snapped with Sundays overtime loss against visiting Minnesota and then fell 4-2 in an important road clash with Columbus on Tuesday. Cam Atkinson scored the winning goal for the Blue Jackets in the third period of Tuesdays game, but the decisive tally did not come without controversy. Columbus grabbed a 3-2 lead at 6:58 of the third period. The team skated the other way on a 2-on-1 and Matt Calvert let fly with a shot from the right wing that Red Wings goaltender Jimmy Howard stopped before Atkinson knocked in the rebound. However, the net was dislodged by Atkinson before the puck crossed the line, but Brendan Smith had pushed Atkinson into the net and the refs ruled it a good goal. "They knocked the net off and they still score," a frustrated Howard said. "I guess its something to remember in the back of our minds, you knock the net off it, just throw (the puck) in there. It should count." Ryan Johansen sealed the win for Columbus with an empty-net goal in the closing seconds. Gustav Nyquist had both goals for the Red Wings, while Howard made 24 stops on 27 shots. Beginning with Thursdays test, Detroit is playing four of its next five games on home ice. The Red Wings are only 15-11-10 as the host this season, but the club had won four straight in the Motor City before losing Sundays game against the Wild. Detroit is 2-0 against the Habs so far in 2013-14 and the clubs will meet once more in the regular season when Montreal hosts the Red Wings on April 5. The Red Wings have won four of five and six of eight overall in the series and have come out on top in the last two encounters at Joe Louis Arena. Montreal is opening a four-game road trip on Thursday and boasts a solid 20-14-2 record as the visiting club this season. Michael Pineda Jersey .C. -- After turning Tobacco Road into "Raleigh Top," Tennessee is headed to the round of 16. Justin Morneau Jersey .J. -- Omar Cummings helped the Houston Dynamo advance to the MLS Eastern Conference finals. http://www.twinsrookiestore.com/Customized/. The team said they will announce a corresponding roster move prior to their series opener on Tuesday night in Kansas City. Kirby Puckett Jersey . With the Rangers already leading 2-0, Carey Price was taken down early in the second period of New Yorks 7-2 pounding of the Canadiens in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference final on Saturday afternoon. Eddie Rosario Jersey . Harrison Barnes had 15 points and Reggie Bullock scored 11 for the Tar Heels (17-3, 4-1 ACC), who took the court for the first time without starter Dexter Strickland. The junior guard tore his right ACL last Thursday at Virginia Tech and will miss the rest of the season. CINCINNATI, Ohio -- Left-handed reliever Sean Marshall will have surgery on his left shoulder, which has bothered him for the last two seasons and repeatedly landed him on the disabled list. The Reds wont know how long hell be sidelined until doctors operate on the shoulder next Tuesday, manager Bryan Price said. Cincinnatis set-up man was on the disabled list twice last season with shoulder problems. He opened this season on the DL with a sore shoulder and was activated on April 19. He went on the 15-day disabled list last Saturday with more soreness. The Reds moved him to the 60-day DL on Friday. "There are some issues in there that arent going to get better through strengthening and stretching and inflammatory work," Price said. "He needs surgery to get those things corrected. Once he has the surgery, well have a better idea about a course of action and how long it will take before we can expect to see him again." The Reds also optioned left-hander Tony Cingrani to Triple-A Louisville on Friday and called up right-hander Jumbo Diaz before the start of their interleague series against the Toronto Blue jays. Cingrani is 2-8 with a 4.55 ERA in 11 starts and two relief appearances. He lost his spot in the rotation when Mat Latos returned from the disabled list and wasnt sharp in his two relief appearances. The left-hander has struggled since his stint on the disabled list because of a sore sshoulder earlier this season.dddddddddddd The Reds are planning to use Cingrani out of the bullpen once he gets back in form. "With a healthy starting five, thats where Tony can help us best this year," Price said. "Weve seen him pitch very efficiently at times out of the bullpen." Right-handed reliever Jumbo Diaz was called up to take Cingranis spot. It will be his major league debut following 12 seasons and 340 appearances in the minors. The 30-year-old pitcher got up to 340 pounds last season, but reported to spring training at 278 pounds. He was the closer at Louisville hoping to finally get a promotion. "Sometimes, you have some thoughts (about quitting)," Diaz said. "You wake up and youre like, Im working hard every day and I dont get the call, but you have to fight it because you never know when the call is going to come. I said, If I keep working hard every day and playing hard every day, someday Im going to get the call." Teammates congratulated him on his long-awaited promotion when he walked into the clubhouse on Friday. "I was so excited," Diaz said. "I stopped and looked around and said, Oh, my God. This is what Ive been waiting for for a long time." Also on Friday, the Reds transferred right-hander Trevor Bell to the 60-day disabled list and reinstated right-hander Brett Marshall from the 60-day DL and optioned him to Louisville. ' ' '