The Canadiens have received more bad news as they prepare to face the hottest team in the National Hockey League, the Washington Capitals (7:30 p.m., RDS, CJAD Radio-800).

Head coach Jacques Martin confirmed yesterday that forwards Marc-Andre Bergeron and Benoit Pouliot won't be back in the lineup until after the Olympic break.

Bergeron suffered a knee injury in last Thursday's game in Boston and Martin said he will be out of the lineup for at least six weeks.

The outlook for Pouliot is only slightly more optimistic. Officially, he has an upper-body injury - probably his left shoulder - and, while there's no timetable for his return, he will definitely miss tonight's game and back-to-back games against the Flyers Friday in Philadelphia and Saturday at the Bell Centre.

As a result, the Canadiens will feature another patchwork lineup tonight as they attempt to snap the Capitals' 14-game winning streak.

The injuries have forced Martin to rely on two younger players - Tom Pyatt and David Desharnais - in key roles.

Pyatt, who was recalled from the Hamilton Bulldogs Monday, will play left wing on a line with Scott Gomez and Brian Gionta. He was up with the Canadiens earlier and failed to earn a point in 19 games.

"I think I'm better prepared than I was when I first came up," Pyatt said yesterday. "I've been working hard to become a two-way player. I'm getting a chance to play with two great linemates and I'll just try to get them the puck and use my speed to go to the net." Desharnais, who is 5-foot-7, will be asked to play big when he joins the Canadiens' second power-play unit. He'll see regular duty on the fourth line, but Martin hopes the youngster's nose for the net will pay off.

Martin stuck to his usual routine and said he would name his starting goaltender this morning. Jaroslav Halak has started eight of the past nine games and has posted a 5-2-1 record. He hasn't faced the Capitals this season, but has a 3-2 career mark against them. Carey Price is 1-1-1 against Washington this season and 1-1-3 in his career.

The Capitals, who left town yesterday morning ahead of Washington's second major snowstorm in a week, extended their win streak with a come-from-behind 5-4 win over the Penguins in a much-hyped but little-watched NBC showdown between the Caps' Alexander Ovechkin and Pittsburgh's Sidney Crosby.

The Capitals are closing in on the NHL record of 17 consecutive wins set by Mario Lemieux and the Penguins in 1992-93. They can tie it with a sweep of their three-game road trip, which continues tomorrow in Ottawa and concludes Saturday in St. Louis.

"Nobody wants to talk about it, because we're superstitious," Washington head coach Bruce Boudreau said. Sticking to the time-honoured tradition of playing games one at a time, Boudreau told the Washington media that the Capitals have to be wary of Montreal.

He noted the Canadiens have changed general managers and the players will be motivated to show Pierre Gauthier what they can do. He also pointed out that the Canadiens are fighting for a playoff spot and are coming off a shutout loss to Boston.

Washington has won 14 in a row without goalie Semyon Varlamov, who has been out of action since Dec. 7 with a groin injury.

He was activated yesterday and the Capitals arrived here with three goaltenders - Varlamov, Michal Neuvirth and former Canadien Jose Theodore, who has won 10 games during the streak and is expected to get the start tonight.

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