Habs’ Gallagher scores first NHL goal
Galchenyuk returns favour with assist
Brendan Gallagher picked up an assist on Alex Galchenyuk’s first NHL goal and Galchenyuk returned the favour Sunday night to help the Canadiens defeat the New Jersey Devils 4-3 in overtime.
“I think his assist was a little better than mine,” said Gallagher, who was on the tail end of a 2-on-1 break at 13:35 of the first period.
“He made a great play, looking off the goalie, looking off the D-man,” said Gallagher. “(The puck) was exactly where it needed to be and all I had to do was hit the net. I was ready for that one.”
Gallagher’s celebration was subdued compared to Galchenyuk’s jump into the glass after his first NHL goal on Tuesday.
“It was a pretty nice pass and I just wanted to thank him as quickly as I could,” said Gallagher, who embraced Galchenyuk in a bear hug.
Gallagher said his first goal was enhanced by the Canadiens’ win and the fact he scored against Martin Brodeur, who holds most of the goaltending records in the NHL.
“I’ve been watching him since I was a kid and he was my favourite goaltender,” said Gallagher. “One day when I’m finished playing, I can brag about scoring my first goal on him.”
Brandon Prust, the veteran who plays with the two youngsters, said the line takes pride in its hard work and forecheck, and those qualities were in evidence in Galchenyuk’s two assists.
“I was skating in the neutral zone and I saw the (loose) puck,” Galchenyuk said when asked to describe the Gallagher goal. “I was thinking it was 2-on-1 and I passed to him right away and he made no mistake.”
He assisted on Prust’s goal in the third period after he reached with his glove and knocked down a clearing pass at the blue line.
“I’m a two-way centre,” he explained. “I want to play both ends of the ice and have the coach trust me.”
He’ll find out how coach Michel Therrien and general manager Marc Bergevin trust him later this week. He has played four NHL games and he can play one more before the team has to make a decision on whether to keep him or send him back to the junior Sarnia Sting.
Galchenyuk said he’s concerned only with playing his best while Therrien merely said that he’ll “pass on the news when the team makes its decision.”
Prust showed some nifty hands on his goal.
“I thought Galchenyuk might shoot the puck and I started looking at the net,” Prust said. “But I knew he likes to make plays and I saw the puck floating toward me. There wasn’t much I could do because I was in tight, but I’ve played a lot of baseball and I managed to hit the puck in mid-air and tried to change the direction.”
Prust noted that, in addition to the two goals from his line, the Canadiens had a goal from fourth-liner Ryan White.
“If you look at all the successful teams, they roll four lines and get some scoring from everyone,” Prust said. ”That’s what we’re trying to do.”
Therrien said the game served as a measuring stick and that the Canadiens stacked up well against a team that was undefeated in three games coming into the Bell Centre.
“Playing against the team that went to the Stanley Cup final was a good game to see where we’re at,” added Gallagher. “We gave up the twogoal lead a couple of times, but we bounced back and got a big overtime win.”
Andrei Markov supplied the overtime winner with what he called a lucky play.
“I just got the rebound and put the puck in the net,” said Markov, who leads the team with four goals. “We knew it was going to be a good challenge for us.”
René Bourque, who made a habit of missing the net, fired wide for the seventh time on the night, but the puck caromed in front and Erik Cole had a swipe at the puck before Markov scored.
The win gave the Canadiens a 3-1 record, but Markov said it was too early to get excited over the Canadiens’ prospects this season.
“It’s only four games,” he said. “We have to work and keep playing better.”