CHICAGO -- The Montreal Canadiens started play this weekend by dispatching another Original Six team. Repeating the feat against the Chicago Blackhawks is possible but not probable.While an unbeaten home record has pushed the Canadiens to the top of league standings, theyll take the ice on Sunday evening on Chicagos West Side against the Blackhawks, who have registered points in 10 straight games.After failing to win a Stanley Cup for nearly 50 years, Chicago (10-3-2) has raised three championship banners since 2010 and is playing with the intent of adding more drapery to the rafters.The Blackhawks dropped three of five games to start the season, but even with a 3-2 overtime loss to the Washington Capitals on Friday night, theyve gone 8-0-2 in their last 10 games -- outscoring the opposition 32-18 -- to move atop the Western Conference.Weve been in this stretch for a while now, and weve been extremely fortunate a lot of nights, Chicago coach Joel Quenneville said. We can be better in ways, but well take it.Recent history in the series between two of the leagues legacy franchises has Chicago with a decided edge. In nine matchups dating to October 2009, the Blackhawks are 7-0-2, including 5-0-0 in Chicago.Several players are the driving forces behind the Blackhawks current points streak. Marian Hossa, Artem Anisimov, Patrick Kane and Artemi Panarin have combined for 21 goals and 23 assists, and Corey Crawford has gone 6-0-2 with a 1.36 goals-against average, .957 save percentage and two shutouts, both on home ice.Of all those players, Hossa might be the most important. The soon-to-be 38-year-old right winger has scored seven of his eight goals in the last 10 games. He had just 13 in 64 games last season in which he was dinged by nagging injuries.I think hes shooting the puck better, scoring some big goals for us as well. It seems like he has the puck even more than he did before, Quenneville said.Not far behind in importance would be Crawford. The Montreal native is 5-0-2 with a 1.42 GAA, .955 save percentage and one shutout versus his hometown team.Anisimov, who is tied for the team lead with Hossa in goals (8) and Kane in points (17), is expected to play in this game after missing Fridays loss to Washington with an injury, according to the Chicago Sun-Times.While Blackhawks know something about championships in recent years, theyve got nothing on Montreal. The Canadiens have won 23 of them, but none since 1993.And while few teams have been able to stop the Blackhawks so far, Montreal (13-1-1) would easily be their toughest foe.The Canadiens set a franchise record for best home start (10-0-0) with a 5-0 win over the Detroit Red Wings on Saturday night. Carey Price posted his second shutout and league-best 10th win, and reduced his league-best GAA to 1.40.However, Montreal is 3-1-1 on the road, and will be playing away from the Bell Centre for the first time since backup goaltender Al Montoya was hung out to dry in a 10-0 loss to the Columbus Blue Jackets on Nov. 4.The Montreal Gazette reported late Saturday that Montoya, a Chicago native, will start Sunday. Hes 1-1-1 with 2.92 GAA and .909 save percentage in his hometown.You hate to see what happened to him in Columbus, center Andrew Shaw told the Gazette. You cant blame him, you blame us. We were not there for him, we didnt compete for him. We didnt battle. We didnt fight. We didnt try to box out. We didnt block shots like we need to. We owe it to him.Shaw is making his return to Chicago coming off his best game of the season. A two-time Stanley Cup winner and fan favorite for his rugged play, Shaw spent five seasons with the Blackhawks before being dealt to Montreal for two second-round picks on June 24, and signed a six-year extension worth $23.4 million four days later.On Saturday, he scored his first goal since opening night and added two assists, doubling his points total to six.I havent been playing that well, but I feel Im taking steps in the right direction, Shaw told the Gazette. Im trying for that snowball effect and build off it, every shift, every game.Quenneville told the Daily Herald of Arlington Heights that Shaw was tough to replace and that he will be excited to face his former club.Itll be a good challenge for us. Lets be aware of Shawzy on Sunday, Quenneville said. Buy Shoes Black Friday . -- Edmontons Val Sweeting is two wins away from a trip to Winnipeg to play in Canadas Road of the Rings in December. Cheap Shoes Black Friday . 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Vernon Philander, who is eyeing a Test return for South Africa, expressed concern about the pink ball after using it for the first time against Australia A in Brisbane. South Africa A are on a recce trip down under, ahead of a Test tour in November, which will include a day-night Test in Adelaide and, so far, their bowlers have found the going tough, even during the day.Australia A racked up 302 for 5 in the 88 overs bowled on the first day, and Philander explained that most of those were bowled with a soft ball. The pink ball is a bit similar to the Duke, except that when we got past 30 overs, the ball got extremely soft. Thats the only negative about it, he said, though he did not go so far as to suggest that he will be anti-day-night Test, which some of his team-mates were when the fixtures were being decided. We are all excited about the pink-ball game, and as long as we can improve the ball, we will have a good future with the pink ball.Before South Africa agreed to play the Test under lights, AB de Villiers, Dale Steyn and Philander himself had all stressed that they did not want to play a Test with the pink ball because of their inexperience with it. A compromise was reached when Cricket Australia offered South Africa two practice matches during the series and an A-side match on this trip. Since then, South African players have said they are looking forward to the match.Whether Philander will feature in the fixture remains to be seen. He missed seven of South Africas eight Tests last summer after tearing ankle ligaments in the warm-ups of thee Bangalore Test, and did not recover until the end of the season when he made a comeback in franchise cricket.ddddddddddddHe has since been on a tour of Zimbabwe with the A team and is part of the current A series in Australia. Philander is hopeful of being picked for South Africas Tests against New Zealand in August, but will be competing for a spot against Morne Morkel, Kagiso Rabada and Dale Steyn, who also missed a significant part of the previous season with injury but has not been included in the A tour.Philander has already shown signs that he could be back to his best. He took four wickets in the Zimbabwe series, conceded less than two runs to the over, and was similarly miserly on the opening day against Australia A. Philander delivered 17 overs and took 1 for 32 - an economy rate of 1.88. The ball came out well in patches for me. I bowled really in the morning and this afternoon and let it slip a little towards the back end, but all in all, I am happy with my performance, he said.Also impressive was 20-year old seamer Andile Phehlukwayo, who took 1 for 44, and Philander expects the attack to get better as the series goes on. The boys bowled well in patches. There was a lack of preparation coming over here with us having two days of practice and having to turn around, he said. Australia played out of their socks, but our focus will be on getting the other five wickets and then letting the batsmen do their thing. ' ' '