Alan Diaz, Associated Press Montreal's Alex Kovalev retains positive feelings about his days with the Penguins. Click photo for larger image. Scouting report Matchup: Penguins at Montreal Canadiens, 7:08 p.m. today, Bell Centre. TV, radio: FSN, WWSW-FM (94.5). Probable goaltenders: Marc-Andre Fleury for Penguins. Cristobal Huet for Canadiens. Penguins: Are 2-0 against Canadiens, including 6-4 victory Jan. 3 at Bell Centre. ... Have scored the opening goal in 14 of their 16 victories. ... LW Jani Rita has three-game points streak. Canadiens: Have gone 17-9-4 at home, but are 1-2-2 in past five there. ... Home power play ranks fourth in NHL with conversion rate of 23 percent. ... C Chris Higgins has three short-handed goals, tying him for lead among NHL rookies. Hidden stat: Penguins have not allowed a power-play goal in three consecutive games for just second time this season. Related articles Penguins Notebook: Crosby knows he must control his dealings with referees better The 5-Hole: A five-step trip through the stars and numbers of the past week

MONTREAL -- In the end, Alex Kovalev said, the decision to continue his career in Montreal last summer wasn't difficult at all.

Not because he developed any reservations about returning to Pittsburgh or had any concerns about how he would fit in on the Penguins' roster.

Far from it.

But accepting the Canadiens' offer of a four-year deal reportedly worth $18 million became awfully easy, he said, when the Penguins did little to make him think they were interested in bringing him back as a free agent.

"Montreal showed a little more that they wanted me," Kovalev said yesterday. "That's why I think they got me here. If Pittsburgh showed a little bit more interest, it could have been different. You never know."

Kovalev said that the Penguins -- who had been expected to put him at the top of their free-agent wish list -- didn't submit an offer until he was preparing to finalize his agreement with the Canadiens.

"I was ready to sign with Montreal, because there was nobody else interested anymore," he said. "Seven or eight teams were interested [before the start of free agency], and then all of a sudden the time comes [to negotiate a contract] and nobody's interested anymore.

"Pittsburgh came out, all of a sudden, when I had a contract on the table, and asked what [I] wanted."

The Penguins got that information and formulated a proposal, Kovalev said, but it didn't compare with what the Canadiens were prepared to give him.

"They weren't close to what I was asking for," Kovalev said. "We had some talks and then we asked for certain things, and I guess they didn't believe what Montreal was giving us, and they didn't want to give us that much money."

And so Kovalev re-upped with the Canadiens, and the Penguins turned to Plan B, Ziggy Palffy. They gave him a three-year deal worth $3.5 million per year, then watched him retire after playing in 42 games.

Kovalev, meanwhile, is the Canadiens' leading scorer, despite missing 13 games while recovering from arthroscopic knee surgery Dr. Charles Burke, the Penguins' team physician, performed on him last November.

He enters the game against the Penguins at 7:08 p.m. today at the Bell Centre with 17 goals and 32 assists in 52 games and has at least one point in four consecutive games and eight of the past nine.

The Canadiens, though, have struggled to generate goals lately. They have scored one in each of the past three games and have two even-strength goals in the past four.

Kovalev contends that reflects a problem capitalizing on scoring opportunities, not difficulty manufacturing them.

"We're creating chances for ourselves," he said. "A lot of chances. When we have those chances, we're not really ready for them. That's why we have to be more focused when we have them."

Kovalev played his 900th career game Monday, and said that "I'd love to go up to 2,000" before retiring.

That's a long shot, of course, but Kovalev might have to play that many -- or more -- before he consistently performs at the level he reached while playing for the Penguins.

From the time they got him from the New York Rangers in 1998 until they were forced to donate him back to New York in a 2003 salary dump, Kovalev -- regarded by some as one of the most-gifted players in recent NHL history -- regularly played the finest hockey of his career.

In the judgment of no less an authority than, well, Alex Kovalev.

"I think so," he said. "I can't judge this season is Montreal, because it's only my first [full] season, but still, I think the freedom, game-wise and everything, it was different [with the Penguins].

"You had a lot of playing time. I was just playing my game, and enjoying. I'd probably say that Pittsburgh probably, so far, is the best place. If you're not thinking about '94, in New York."

Kovalev won a Stanley Cup with the Rangers in 1994, but it was not until he joined the Penguins that his wondrous potential began to translate into steady production.

What he did with the Penguins made Kovalev a logical choice to rejoin them last summer, but also blunted any ill will he might have had toward them after their half-hearted effort to sign him.

"How can I have hard feelings, if I had great years out there?" Kovalev said. "Everything was great out there. I felt pretty bad when they sent me back to New York because they couldn't sign me.

"One good thing about [free agency last summer] is that everybody showed how much they loved me there and wanted me to be there. But there are certain things that they couldn't do to keep me there."