Keeping up with the Kostitsyns

It seems the Kostistsyn brothers' time with the Montreal Canadiens is nearing a limited end. With obvious tension between themselves and other players on the team, as well as inconsistencies, brothers Andrei and Sergei are battling to not only maintain their position with the club for the playoffs, but also staying with the club on a more permanent basis.

Andrei is the older of the two brothers and seems to have a more well-rounded game. He usually plays on the top line with Mike Cammalleri and Tomas Plekanec, but after struggling the last few games, he's found himself falling in the depth chart.

In fact, following Pittsburgh's goal in the first period on Sunday's loss, he only played 1:43 of the game and did not earn a single shift in the final two periods. On Tuesday night, he saw just 11:16 of ice time and did not record a single shot.

For a Canadiens team that is desperately seeking consistent offense, Andrei is not putting himself in a position to help the team become successful in their playoff march.

"I really believe he's a player that's going to help us, who we need," said head coach Jacques Martin. "No different from some other players. Whether through the first round or some time during the season, they at times struggled. I give an example ... Maxim Lapierre, where there was a lot of frustration, especially after the season he had last year, and now he's playing some tremendous hockey for us. With Andrei, we have some ups and downs, but I'm confident he'll bounce back and help us."

His younger brother, Sergei, had a bit of a run in with goaltender Carey Price during yesterday's game-day skate prior to Game 3. Carey stayed on late to get in the skate and when leaving to the dressing room, Sergei, who did not participate, went past him in the hall. According to TSN, the following altercation went down:

"'Why weren't you on the ice?' an angry Price asked Kostitsyn, who also won't play.

Kostitsyn mumbled something and kept walking, and Price called after him 'too good?'"

Sergei bounced back and forth between the Habs and their Hamilton Bulldogs AHL affiliate. He is a restricted free agent this summer and all signs point to the youngster leaving and likely returning to Russia to join the KHL league. His older brother Andrei, who shows more hockey promise, still has another year on his contract but due to the brothers' connection both on and off the ice, it's likely he could flee to the KHL once his contract expires, if not as early as this summer, avoiding the conclusion of his contract.

Regardless, offense is what the Habs require right now and when the playoffs and the Stanley Cup is on the line, it's difficult to consider them as mainstays with a franchise as portions of the offensive output that simply cannot generate anything on the score sheet.

Micheal A. Aldred