BROSSARD, Que. -- Theres a Catch-22 involved when a hockey team is in a slump and trying to build confidence. That is the puzzle facing the Montreal Canadiens as they try to dig themselves out of 1-4-1 start to the NHL season. "God, I hate confidence," defenceman Hal Gill said Friday. "Because you need confidence to win and you get confidence when you start winning. "So its tough. Its more about trust in your teammates and playing as a team than confidence. With that you get confidence as a team, together. And thats what we need." The Canadiens, coming off a 3-1 loss Thursday night in Pittsburgh, hope for a boost when they face the rival Toronto Maple Leafs in a Saturday night classic at the Bell Centre. They will be up against a Toronto team brimming with self-assurance from a 4-1-1 start, although that may have taken a hit with a 6-2 loss Thursday night against the Stanley Cup champion Bruins in Boston. Fatigue may also be a factor as the Leafs play their third game in four nights. Coach Ron Wilson cancelled practice Friday to give his side a rest. The Canadiens held a meeting to go over what has gone wrong before taking the ice at their suburban training centre and there was a lot to be discussed. Other than their 5-1 victory in the Jets return to Winnipeg on Oct. 9, they have seemed to find a new way to lose each time out. They lost the season opener 2-0 in Toronto despite outshooting the Leafs 32-18. Even when they scored another five goals, their defence fell apart in a 6-5 shootout loss to Colorado. They outplayed Buffalo but couldnt solve Ryan Miller in a 2-1 defeat, then came out flat and got spanked in Pittsburgh. "One of our best games was against Buffalo and you dont get rewarded for it and then maybe frustration sets in," said captain Brian Gionta. "And then you have what happened (in Pittsburgh). "You look at the six games and you can point to different things. Untimely penalties. Special teams play at certain points change the course of games. Sometimes sloppy play has cost us. Basically its being strong enough mentally to stick with it." Gill disagreed with that assessment. The rangy defenceman sees the Canadiens woes from game to game as a matter of playing inside the teams system and trusting one another to play with effort and get the job done one play at a time. "Its about supporting each other, bearing down and winning battles and counting on each other," said Gill, an ex-Penguin who was saluted in Pittsburgh for playing his 1,000th NHL game. "For whatever reason, we got away from the trust and we have to find it again, so you know that guy is going to win that battle and chip it off the boards, or chip it in the middle. "Were kind of in between right now and thats where the execution of the system comes in. You have to be all on the same page and going in the right direction." For coach Jacques Martin, who is increasingly the target of criticism from unhappy fans, it starts with special teams. The Canadiens have consistently been among the best in the NHL on both the power play and in penalty killing in recent years, but they stand 25th with the man advantage with only two goals in 25 chances, an 8.0 per cent success rate. They are 14th on the penalty kill after allowing four goals in 25 tries (84.0 per cent), although thats better than the Leafs, who have given up seven short-handed goals for a 74.1 per cent kill rate. At practice, centre Tomas Plekanec was back on the right point on the first unit, where he played with little success through the pre-season and into the start of the regular campaign. It also had P.K. Subban on left point, with checking winger Mathieu Darche playing in front of the opponents net and Gionta and Michael Cammalleri on the wings. One of the knocks on Martin is that he is continually changing lines and other combinations, but injuries have given him little choice. The Canadiens hoped to have power play ace Andrei Markov back for the start of the season after missing all but seven games in 2010-11 from two surgeries on the same knee, but the wound has been slow to heal and he is not expected back until November. Markov is in his second week in Florida rehabbing with his surgeon and Martin said he will spend next week there as well. With veteran Jaroslav Spacek (ribs) and newcomer Chris Campoli (knee) also out, the Canadiens are using two 25-year-olds in their first NHL season, Rafael Diaz and Alexei Emelin, on defence, as well as Yannick Weber, who spent much of last season in the AHL and who was used more often as a forward when with the NHL club. Up front, Camalleri returned from a skate cut for the Pittsburgh game only to see Scott Gomez go down with an upper body injury. Martin said Gomez was to have an MRI and was "very doubtful" to play against the Leafs. How much the teams highest paid player will be missed remains to be seen. Gomez has not scored a goal in 42 regular season and playoff games since he got the game-winner in a 2-0 win over the New York Rangers on Feb. 5 last season. The top line now has Plekanec at centre between Gionta and Cammalleri. With forward Ryan White also out, call-ups Andreas Engqvist and Aaron Palushaj remain in the line-up. So far, the bulk of the ice time on defence has gone to second-year rearguard Subban, who has struggled at times and been his swashbuckling self at others. "I just think that guys are gripping the sticks too tightly now," said Subban, a Toronto native who always gets up for games against the Leafs. "We have to focus on what we can control and thats hockey. "We cant be focusing on who is in and who is out of our lineup. We get paid a lot of money to play hard every night and games like the last game are unacceptable. Weve got to come out and compete. "Its a perfect opportunity at home against a rival team thats playing well, for us to come out with a great effort. Not so much worry about the result, but just worry about the things we need to do. The little things. Competing and executing and working together. If we do those things were going to be fine." Spacek skated with the team and looked close to a return, but will not play. coach handbags outlet . The four-time Stanley Cup champion and seven-time Norris Trophy winner said Tuesday that his body can hold up for another season, but isnt sure if hell be mentally ready to play again. coach factory outlet . Ike Davis hit a tiebreaking double during a four-run 10th inning, Shoppach had a two-run homer and the New York Mets beat the Philadelphia Phillies 9-5 Tuesday night for their third straight victory. http://www.coachfactory-outletsto... . -- Ichiro Suzuki homered and scored three times, Kyle Seager drove in four runs and the Seattle Mariners beat the Los Angeles Angels 8-6 on Wednesday night. [url=http://www.coachfactory-outletstores.com/]coach outlet online . Betemit hoped the ball would roll foul as it spun in the chalk. It stayed fair. And thanks to a good bit of hustle, Eric Hosmer ended up on second base with a 55-foot double that played a key role in Kansas Citys 4-3 comeback victory over the Orioles on Saturday. coach outlet . -- Anna Goodman claimed a slalom silver medal at the Canadian Championship on Sunday in her last race before retiring.(Sports Network) - Though his season has been a shaky one, Ivan Nova proved on Saturday afternoon just how dominating he can be. Nova (11-6) allowed just five hits, one walk, and two earned runs over 7 1/3 innings while striking out 10 as the New York Yankees defeated the Toronto Blue Jays, 5-2. "He threw really well today," Yankees manager Joe Girardi said of Novas outing. "I thought his curveball was very good. For the most part he spotted his fastball pretty well. He threw some good sliders today, it was more consistent than it has been." Rafael Soriano pitched a perfect ninth innings for his 28th save of the season. Casey McGehee did the majority of the damage for the Bombers, who have won four straight. He finished 2-for-4 with a three-run home run in the fourth inning. Derek Jeter added two hits and an RBI out of the leadoff spot. For the Blue Jays, Aaron Laffey (3-3) surrendered seven hits, four walks, and five earned runs over 5 2/3 innings. Laffey was effective when he first joined the rotation in late June, but hes struggled mightily of late, allowing four earned runs or more in four consecutive starts, raising his ERA to 4.72. Edwin Encarnacion finished with two hits and two RBI and Rajai Davis went 2- for-4 with two runs scored and a stolen basse, his 29th of the year.dddddddddddd Toronto has now lost five straight and 11 of its last 13 games. The Yankees will go after a three-game sweep this afternoon with Phil Hughes on the mound. Hes been effective albeit unspectacular this season with an 11-9 record and a 4.10 ERA. Hughes was awful his last time out, lasting just 4 1/3 innings while allowing eight hits and four earned runs in an Aug. 7 loss to the Detroit Tigers. It was a rare poor performance for the right-hander of late however, as it was the first time hed allowed more than three earned runs since June 20. The 26-year-old has not fared well away from home, going 3-6 with a 4.58 ERA in 10 road starts. The Blue Jays will answer with J.A. Happ, whos been largely disappointing this season with a 7-10 record and a 4.98 ERA. He hasnt fared much better since coming to Toronto from the Astros in late July, posting a 6.35 ERA in 11 innings. The southpaw made his first start for his new team on Aug. 7 and lasted only 4 1/3 innings, allowing seven hits and four earned runs in a 4-1 loss to the Rays. Happ has just one career start against the Yankees back on May 23, 2009, where he allowed two earned runs over six innings of work in a no decision. The Yankees have taken five of their seven matchups with the Jays so far this season. ' ' '