BROSSARD, Que. -- It was up to veterans Brian Gionta and Tomas Plekanec to convince the world, and perhaps themselves, that the Montreal Canadiens still have hope. The team that looked so solid in coming back to eliminate the first-place overall Boston Bruins is down 3-1 to the New York Rangers in the NHL Eastern Conference final, but Gionta insisted Monday that morale is good and the Canadiens are far from finished. They will be facing elimination in Game 5 of the best-of-seven series at the Bell Centre on Tuesday night, however. "Its no secret: you start doing the right things, you start getting rewarded for it and momentum builds," Gionta said. "You keep carrying that. "A couple of teams have been able to do that this year, the Kings and the Rangers. So its not something that cant be done and with the group we have in here, we believe we can do it. And we believe weve got better as the series goes on." Gionta and Plekanec were part of a Canadiens team that came back from a 3-1 deficit to upset the high-powered Washington Capitals en route to their last trip to the conference final in 2010. They did it that time with desperate shot-blocking, spectacular goaltending from Jaroslav Halak and a quiet belief that they could pull it off. This time, they are looking to third-stringer Dustin Tokarski to imitate Halak. The 24-year-old has been solid in goal since replacing the injured Carey Price in Game 2, allowing eight goals in 11 periods over three games. He helped them claim an overtime win in New York in Game 3 but was beaten on Martin St. Louis overtime snipe in Game 4 on Sunday night. The Canadiens have played the Rangers close to evenly since a 7-2 loss in the series opener, but there were worrying signs in their latest loss. Defenceman Alexei Emein missed most of the first period after blocking a shot and then was mostly immobile after he returned. And top forwards Thomas Vanek, who has struggled all series, and Max Pacioretty were all-but invisible. And they remain without Price, the Canadian gold medallist from the Sochi Olympics in February who suffered a suspected right knee injury when New Yorks Chris Kreider crashed the net in the second period of the series opener. Price skated for about 20 minutes without equipment before the teams optional practice, but coach Michel Therrien said he will not be back in this series. For Gionta, hope comes from a feeling that his team is getting better and still has time to turn things around, as they did when they fell behind 3-2 to the Bruins in the conference semifinal. The Canadiens rebounded with their best game of the playoffs in Game 6 and closed it out in Boston two days later. "We were able to wear (Bostons) defence down with our speed and our forechecking," he said. "We need to get better at that and I think thats what weve got better at as (the New York series) went on. "Try to take advantage of their defencemen down low, try to spend some time in the offensive zone, and start to make breakdowns and make things happen that way. Our backs are against the wall. Its win or go home. I would expect the same kind of effort as we had against Boston for sure." They could also improve on special teams, although they had a breakthrough when P.K. Subban finally got a power play goal to tie the game in the third period on the sixth of Montreals eight man-advantages. "We sat down after the second period and made a little adjustment and it worked and hopefully we can carry it over to the next game," said Plekanec. "Special teams was one of the things that we probably werent good enough at in the series so far, so it would be a good time to turn that around. "Its not over. I didnt see one guy that was down after the game." Plekanec was among five players in the Game 4 lineup who joined the reserve players in the optional skate, along with Tokarski, Rene Bourque, Michael Bournival and defenceman Francis Bouillon, who scored in his first appearance in the series in place of rookie Nathan Beaulieu. Another potential boost for the Canadiens would be to score the first goal, which they did consistently in the first two rounds but have yet to do against the Rangers. It would perhaps give them another missing element -- confidence. "We have to start playing more with confidence, making the right plays at the right time," said Plekanec. "When theres a play, weve got to make it. "When theres no play, weve got to go for the puck. Sometimes we didnt make the right decisions, so thats an aspect that definitely can be better. Confidence is a thing that, when you dont make the right plays, you start chipping it in instead of making plays, and sometimes its a situation where you should have made a play." Therrien feels his team has shown it can bounce back against the Bruins and can do it again. Gionta, a Stanley Cup winner with New Jersey in 2003, agrees. "Part of the playoffs part of being a professional, of being part of a winning team is being able to regroup and forget about it and deal with the circumstances that are ahead of you and not with whats behind you," he said. "Guys were disappointed. It was a huge blow. But the series isnt over. We still believe in this group so no one is panicking." Andre Dawson Cubs Jersey . Julien coached the Bruins to the Stanley Cup championship in 2010-11 and is the longest serving coach in consecutive seasons in the teams history. Claude is one of the top coaches in the NHL and has consistently shown a passion for winning, general manager Peter Chiarelli said Sunday in announcing the signing. Xavier Cedeno Cubs Jersey . The Detroit Tigers star had microfracture surgery Friday to repair the medial and lateral meniscus in his left knee. "I dont want to say it was a surprise," team president and general manager Dave Dombrowski said. https://www.cheapcubs.com/2330t-joe-pepitone-jersey-cubs.html .TV Series: Duck Dynasty. Mickey Morandini Jersey . Nikolai Khabibulin was yanked in the second period, and the Ottawa Senators looked ready to put away a big road win. Moises Alou Jersey . -- Craig Anderson has quite a record against his former team, the Florida Panthers.Knoxville, TN (SportsNetwork.com) - Seeking to improve on a four-game win streak, the 15th-ranked Butler Bulldogs will hit the road to take on the Tennessee Volunteers in a non-conference clash at Thompson-Boling Arena. Butler enters the game sporting an 8-1 record this season, with four straight victories. The Bulldogs are riding a wave of momentum after blowing past Kennesaw State in the most recent contest, 93-51. Tennessee put a stop to a two-game skid with a narrow 65-64 victory over Kansas State last Saturday. The defeat of the Wildcats was the Vols most notable win of the season, having only beaten Texas Southern and Santa Clara otherwise. Butler owns the 2-1 lead in the brief all-time series with Tennessee. The last time these teams met on the court was during the 2008 NCAA Tournament, where the Volunteers came away with a 76-71 victory in overtime. Not only did Butler use a punishing first half that included a 64-percent shooting touch from the field to take a commanding lead into the break, but the Bulldogs 52 points in the opening period was more than Kennesaw State would score in the entire contest. Five players netted double figures for Butler, led by Roosevelt Joness 19-point effort. Kelan Martin came off the bench to score 17 points, Kellen Dunham contributed 13, Kameron Woods chipped in with 11 and Jackson Aldridge added 10 points in the win. The point total disparity between Butler and its opponents this season is an immense one. The Bulldogs enter this clash with Tennessee netting 74.2 ppg onn an impressive 46.dddddddddddd7 percent shooting, while at the same time the team allows opponents to net just 54.2 ppg. Dunham has picked up where he left off last season, netting a team-leading 16.3 ppg in nine starts. Jones follows that total up with 11.1 ppg and a team-best 5.3 apg, and Martin adds in 10.6 ppg to round out the double-digit scorers. Woods comes into the contest grabbing a team-best 8.3 rpg. Tennessee built up enough of a lead in the first half against Kansas State (25-17) to be able to sustain a second-period comeback attempt from the Wildcats. Kansas State shot just 25 percent from the floor in the first half, and went 0-of-7 from 3-point range to hand Tennessee the early lead. Josh Richardson was the only player for the Volunteers to record a scoring figure in the double digits, netting 17 points in the one-point win. Willie Carmichael chipped in nine points and six rebounds, and Armani Moore dished out a team-best five assists with five blocked shots. Tennessee, just one season after making it to the NCAA Tournament with a pair of victories in the tournament, has started a bit slow on the defensive end of the floor. The Vols are allowing opponents to score 68.8 ppg this season on 43.4 percent shooting. Meanwhile, the team is netting 65.7 ppg on its own, led by 16.0 ppg by Richardson. Moore contributes 11.0 ppg as the only other player averaging double-figure scoring. His 6.7 rpg is a team-best, while Kevin Punter has dished out a Tennessee-high 16 assists with 11 steals. ' ' '