It's hard to imagine, but after tomorrow's dance with the New York Rangers, only two games remain until your Canadiens reach the halfway point of the season. Time flies when you're having fun, right?

However, let's agree there have been a few bumps on the road getting this far - particularly at home.

Know something? Not to worry. The Detroit Red Wings and Ottawa Senators have established squatters' rights in zones of their own, but this Eastern Conference race will be going down to the wire ... again. And where the Canadiens are concerned, it comes down to the best players playing their best ... again.

Alex Kovalev is doing it. So are Andrei Markov, Christopher Higgins and Tomas Plekanec. Saku Koivu has stalled now and then in terms of scoring goals. And Michael Ryder has been nowhere until scoring last night, a healthy scratch in five of the last 10 games. Go figure.

At this point last season, Koivu had 15 goals and 22 assists en route to a 22-53 team-leading season. Ryder wasn't nearly as productive in the first half with 10 goals and 16 assists, but while Koivu's goals production slipped to seven in the second half, Ryder came down heavy on the accelerator with 20 goals, thus reaching the 30-goal mark for a second consecutive season.

Can he find his game again? A better question is whether or not he'll have the chance to do it in a Canadiens sweater. At $2.95 million and due to become an unrestricted free agent at the end of the season, teams won't be lining up to trade for him. On the other hand, there's always somebody out there who feels he can press the right button with a 30-goal scorer.

My guess, and it's only a guess, is that the New York Rangers, who have been having offensive problems despite acquiring Scott Gomez and Chris Drury during the offseason, are interested. What I know for certain is that they've made inquiries about him.

The Canadiens' goaltending has been decent thus far this season, but when several of your best players are struggling, that translates into a .500 team - and losing as often as winning won't get it done in a tight-collar race.

Sooner rather than later, Guy Carbonneau has to decide who's No. 1, play him as often as a No. 1 should - and everything points to Cristobal Huet getting the call over Carey Price - for all of the right reasons. He has the experience. He has the support of his colleagues - and Carbo's, as well.

Goaltenders can't get into the rhythm of the game or into the habit of winning unless they work on a regular basis. There's only one Martin Brodeur and one Roberto Luongo in this new My NHL 3, but Huet needs a lot more game action during the second half of the season if he's to get the job done.