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 Mondays practice but is expected to start in goal this evening. Price, as well as forward Jiri Sekacs, 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. Theyre hoping the layoff didnt cool off their momentum, as they went 12-3-1 in their last 16 games. Its tight, but I think its going to be a lot of fun come the end of the season, right wing Brendan Gallagher told the teams official website. I think a lot of teams will be battling and its going to be exciting. Its not going to be easy, and weve got a lot of games against those top teams - which will be huge to move up the standings - but right now weve 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 Tuesdays 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 Decembers loss. Spezza wont deny that his arrival in Dallas helped create expectations the Stars struggled to meet early in the season. Hes just glad the weight wasnt 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 youre 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 doesnt work like that right off the hop, he added. And weve 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 thats part of the reason we couldnt get our traction back there for a little while, said defenseman Alex Goligoski, a veteran of several offseasons without any expectations in Dallas. Thats all history. I think weve settled in pretty nice now and its 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 wasnt a lock as his top goalie. Lehtonens 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. Its a tough place to be because hes the reason a lot of times when were winning games and theres been some nights hes had some tough ones go in and its probably the reason weve 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 Cheap Jerseys Authentic . -- At the beginning of training camp, Andrew Bogut set a goal to play all 82 regular-season games and regain his place among the NBAs best centres. Wholesale NFL Jerseys . Numbers Game looks into the Canadiens securing the services of Thomas Vanek in a trade with the New York Islanders. The Canadiens Get: LW Thomas Vanek and a conditional fifth-round pick. http://www.authenticcheapjerseys.net/ . Barnard, 28, was 1-0 with a 0.53 ERA in three appearances, including two starts, with San Angel o this season. He struck out 19 batters and walked just one in 17 innings pitched. He has previous American Association experience with the Lincoln Saltdogs, El Paso Diablos and Amarillo Sox. Stitched Jerseys From China . Kansas City became the first team in baseball history to win four extra-inning games in a single postseason on Friday, as Alex Gordon crushed a leadoff homer in the 10th and Mike Moustakas added the deciding two-run blast in the Royals 8-6 win. Cheap NFL Jerseys Paypal .A. Dickey, even though he was coming off a Cy Young Award in 2012. Many felt the Jays would regret giving up righthanded pitcher prospect Noah Syndergaard and catcher Travis DArnaud over the long haul.The National Hockey League Department of Player Safety will not suspend Minnesota Wild forward Nino Niederreiter for his hit on Vancouver Canucks forward Alex Burrows during Wednesdays game. In a series of tweets, it is explained by the Department of Player Safety that Niederreiter makes full body contact with Burrows and although there is headd contact, he does not "pick" the head in the course of making the hit.dddddddddddd Burrows immediately left the ice under his own power and went straight to the Canucks dressing room after taking the hit but did return to the bench shortly thereafter. Niederreiter was assessed a minor penalty for interference on the play. ' ' '