Canadiens 43 shots dominate Islanders 5-1

Glen Metropolit and Tomas Plekanec each had two assists, and Jarolav Halak made 21 saves as the Montreal Canadiens defeated the New York Islanders 5-1.

It was the Canadiens first regulation win this season , and first in 17 games dating to last season, as they improved their record to 4-5.

Montreal opened the scoring when Jaroslav Spacek foiled the Islanders attempt to clear their zone, feeding Scott Gomez at 7:55 of the first period.

Marc-Andre Bergeron scored his first goal, on the power play, in his second game with the Canadiens with a monstrous blast from the point past Martin Biron to close out the period.

“It felt great,” Bergeron said. “I had my family and friends (here). To get that goal for the Canadiens, with the reaction of the crowd, let's just say it was a little louder than I'm used to. I’m very proud to be with the Montreal Canadiens.”

Max Pacioretty scored his first goal since January 2009 at 3:34 of the second period, to give the Canadiens a 3-0 lead.

“I feel like I got the monkey off my back,” Pacioretty said. “Metro told me (in practice) that you got to want the puck. Hopefully I can build off that and I feel like I’m ready to go now.”

Montreal outshot the Islanders 30-12 in the first two periods and New York had 23 giveaways in the game.

Halak, perfect through two periods,  made his sole mistake, early in the third, when he misplayed the puck behind his net, allowing Josh Bailey to score into the empty net.

“I don’t like shutouts,” Halak joked. “Every time you lose a shutout it’s not easy, but the point is to win the game.

“It was a mistake that he (Halak) made,” said Canadiens coach Jacques Martin. “The key is he recovered and we won the game.”

Martin would not tip his hat as to whether Halak would get a third straight start on Saturday night.

Mike Cammalleri replied with a second power play goal and Maxime Lapierre later added a fifth goal for the Canadiens.

“We had to really get on them and make them work.” said Cammalleri. “It was nice to get five goals in instead of two goals.”

The Canadiens finished with 43 shots on the night.

“The effort has been there the last two games,” Scott Gomez said. “it’s good to get it at home.”

Metropolit had missed the last six games with a rib injury with the Canadiens. In that span, Montreal went 1-5.

He was a dominant factor in he faceoff circle going 5 for 7, and showed no signs of wear in eighteen minutes of ice time earning the games first star.

“I don't know if I've ever had that before, maybe once when I was with Washington,” said Metropolit who also saw time on the second power play wave.

“It was good to be back there. I'm just trying to make room on the ice in front of the net.”

For Islanders center John Tavares, his second visit to the Bell Centre was not as pleasant as his first when he was the first overall pick in the 2009 NHL Entry Draft.

New York’s star prospect went minus 2, and had no shots on goal.

“It was probably my worst game of the year,” he said after the Islanders got their first win of the season the night before.

“It’s tough after getting over the hump last night.”

The two teams will meet again, in Montreal, on Monday.

Three Stars: 1. Metropolit 2. Pacioretty 3. Bergeron

Official Game Summary and Recap from NHL.com

Game Photos: Montreal Gazette/HabsInsideOut

The 2009 Entry Draft is upon us!

The NHL’s 2009 Entry Draft is a mere 2 1/2 hours away kids.

Rumors continue to be about, along with who the Islanders pick first.

First off: a big shout out to fellow blogger Robert L at Habs Eyes on The Prize who has media access, along with other SB Nation bloggers to this year’s draft.

Canadiens Picks: #18 in the 1st round. No second round pick due to last year's Tanguay deal. Two in the 3rd round (#65 from Atlanta, and #79). One pick in each of the following rounds.

Kessel/Kaberle: The Bruins are reportedly offering their pick and Kessel for the Leafs blueliner. It would give Boston a solid trio on the point with Chara and Wideman.

Vancouver Canucks: Negotiating with Roberto Luongo on a contract extension according to TSN. Could fall on what happens to the Sedins though.

Scott Niedermeyer: Still undecided on next year, although Team Canada reportedly wants him for the 2010 games. The B.C. native, and brother Rob, are both UFA and could wind up with the Canucks. Again it could fall on if the Sedins re-sign.

Free tickets no more: TSN’s Darren Dreger reporting tickets given for free in a lottery now going for $100 a pop!

First pick: All likelihood the Islanders take Tavares….If not, the new surge of season ticket holders from winning the Draft Lottery will be banging on the doors of the Nassau Coliseum demanding their deposits back!

Salary Cap: Reported to be $56.8 Million. Just $100 up from last season.

5:00 p.m. I suspect right now that Commissioner Bettman is getting his rouge applied.

5:20 pm: TSN's Bob McKenzie would not be surprised that Tomas Kaberle will be a Briuin by night's end. The pick offered by Boston would not be this year's first round pick

5:48 pm: Apparently the Kaberle deal with Bruins is no more due to miscommunication in the draft pick part of the deal. Remind me to offer an invite to Bob McKenzie to my next poker game!

Team 990 panel is expecting Gary Bettman to be greeted by a chorus of boos. I'm sure the NHL has instructed TSN/RDS to lower the house mics when he comes on stage.

6:00 pm: OTR on TSN. Michael Landsberg's makeup/work....right up there with the late Michael Jackson

Claude Lemieux: Now a U.S. citizen

Niedermayer: Will return for one more season. If the Ducks keep him, Pronger will likely be traded.

Dany Heatly: If not traded by July 1, the Sens have to pay him $4 million in bonuses

6:20 pm: Team 990's source says LeCavalier will NOT be moved tonight and that Bauwmeester's rights are being moved.

6:25 pm: Tampa GM Lawton on OTR... Just me or does he remind anyone of a shady used car salesman? But he states nothing is happening on the LeCavalier trade front....

6:35 pm: Over/Under on how many times we hear TSN's Pierre McGuire say "Let the rebuild begin..." during the draft.... 18 times

Flyers may be in the running for Chris Pronger.

6:45 pm: Islanders owner Charles Wang a the Islanders table snapping pictures. Maybe figuring he may not be doing thi next year?

6:50 pm: Sen's GM Bryan Murray tells TSN's Darren Dredger that "it's dead", meaning any potential Heatly deals

6:55 pm: P.J. Stock on Team 990 says that if Montreal does not draft a center tonight, there will be some serious talk on the radio on Monday.

7:00 pm: Flyers deal for Pronger apparently just a formality now. Flyers making cap room by not renewing the contract of goalie coach Reggie Lemelin.

7:05 pm: Large crowd at Nassau Colisseum for a draft party. The building could be torched if Tavares doesn't go first.

7:13 pm: Bettman, Cournoyer and the Pocket Rocket...Bettman figures having two Habs legends will reduced the booing against him...didn't work.....neither did his attempt to speak french!

7:18 pm: Islanders take Tavares No. 1 GM Garth Snow says there were no trade offers for the pick of any kind to his liking.

7:20 pm: Leafs GM Brian Burke is mic'd for the event. First tells Bryan Murray how the Bruins deal got screwed up and then tells Bob Gainey that the Vinny rumour is either Montreal or the Islanders.... Gainey has little to say then walks away.

7:27 pm: Tampa takes D Victor Hedman

7:25 pm: Pronger to Philadelphia for Sbisa (Phiily's '08 1st round), this year's #1 and next year's #1

7:38 pm: Colorado Avalanche take Matt Duchene 3rd overall

7:40 pm: TSN's Bob McKenzie listing Duchene's hobbies (guitar, signing, designing hockey sweaters) All key in the Avalanche selecting him I'm sure.

7:45 pm: Evander Kane (named for "The Real Deal") going to Holyfield's hometown, Atlanta.

7:55 pm: LA Kings acknowledge Luc Robitaille (Quebec native drafted by the Kings and a '09 HOFer). Brayden Schenn is picked 5th overall. Brother Luke was picked 5th last year.

7:57 pm: Camera shifts to a dejected Brian Burke who hoped to unite the brothers.

8:00 pm: Reisdorf has apparently tabled an offer of $150 million to keep the Phoenix Coyotes in Glendale.

Columbus trades #16 and #77 picks to Islanders for NY's #26, #37, #62 and #92.

Coyotes take Oliver Ekman-Larrsson 6th overall.

8:05 pm: No need to tell you what team is picking now by the crowd reaction. The Blue and White take Nazem Kadri.

Bell Centre crowd is chanting "67" as the Leafs go up to make their pick.

8:10 pm:TSN plays the conversation between Burke and Murray:

Burke:" That's who you want (Kadri)?"

Murray; "Yes."

Burke:"We're gonna take him."

8:18 pm: Dallas takes Scott Glennie. Expected to go in the first round, but maybe a bit of a surprise going in the top 10.

Robert L picked Glennie as his pick for the Canadiens in the SB Nation Mock Draft.

8:27 pm: Senators taked Jared Cowen, with little enthusiasm on their part.

8:34 pm: Oilers select Magnus Paajarvi-Svensson....MPS for short.

Check out his own site: http://www.paajarvi.com/

Note: No American players were picked in the Top 10 for the first time since 1993.

8:44 pm: Memorial Cup MVP Ryan Ellis goes to the Nashville Predators. Nshville building a group of young d-men.

TSN's Pierre McGuire figures he needs three years to develop and that he and Shea Weber will be a lot of fun to watch in a few years in Nashville.

8:50 pm: Looks like the Wild wanted Ellis and now may be trading down with the Islanders.

and they do: Wild trade the #12 pick to the Islanders for #16, #77 and #182.

8:53 pm: Expected to go in a later round, Calvin DeHann is picked by the Islanders

8:55 pm: Chris Pronger on TSN. Said he sent a text to Neidermayer this morning to see what he would be doing.

9:03 pm: The Sabres take Zach Kassian. A Milan Lucic type player..... Mike Komisarek just made his decision to leave the Canadiens.....

9:09 pm: The Panthers take future KHL star Dimitry Kulikov.

9:17 pm: The Anaheim Ducks take Guelph center Peter Holland. Big player but can he give 100% every day. Anaheim could be the team to do that for him.

9:22 pm: Minnesota Wild select Nick Leddy, a Minnesota HS kid. Has won the 2009 "Mr. Hockey" award as top senior high school player in Minnesota. Habs prospects Ryan McDonagh and David Fischer also won this award as well

9:27 pm: St. Louis take offensive point man David Rundblad.

9:30 pm: The Canadiens are on the clock. My choice is Jacob Josefson. But will Bob Gainey go with hometown boy Louis Leblanc????

9:35 pm: to a thunderous ovation. Louis Leblanc is selected.

Bob Gainey acknowledges the importance of the francophone culture in the organization.

"Louis fit perfectly into our wheelhouse," Gainey said. "We got a good, competitive player."

Gainey adds that they would have traded up to get him.

9:41 pm: LeBlanc "I was hoping that it was the Canadiens." While Gainey would give him a couple years to develop at Harvard, LeBlanc said he would be willing to wait one or two and see waht happens.

9:44 pm: Rangers honor Alexei Cheraponov, who passed away this past winter during a game.

The Rangers select Chris Kreider from Andover Academy.

9:51 pm: Calgary trades pick #20 to New Jersey for picks #23 and #84

9:54 pm: My choice for the Habs, Jacob Josefson, is picked by the Devils. Considered by many as the best two-way player in the draft.

9:57 pm: Anaheim trades their #21 (from the earlier Pronger deal) to Columbus for picks #26 and #37

10:00 pm: The Bluejackets take Scott Moore from the USHL

HabsInsideOut.com poster: Ayan_SB suggests the Flames/Devils deal was Sutter's way of saying, "sorry for stealing your coach/my brother."

10:08 pm: Roberto Luongo annouces the Canucks pick, Jordan Schroeder.

Canucks' GM Mike Gillis: Tells TSN that the Canucks had Schroeder ranked much higher and they were surprised to be able to pick him.

Gillis says the Canucks are on target in their contract extension talks with Luongo, and is confident the Sedins will be back in Vancouver.

10:12 pm: The Calgary Flames take defenceman Tim Erixon. His dad, Jan, played for the Rangers alongside Alex Kovalev.

10:20 pm: Sweden's record seventh pick in the first round, made by the Washington Capitals, is Marcus Johansson.

Brian Burke audio: Says a deal in the work for the No. 1 pick, but the Islanders wanted Luke Schenn.

10:27 pm: The Bruins pick Jordan Caron of the Rimouski Oceanic. Last time he'll get cheered in Montreal.

10:34 pm: The Ducks take Kyle Palmeiri. Many suspect his removal from the USNDT but TSN think it was do to a "boys will be boys" issue at a tournament. He'll play at Notre Dame this fall.

10:40 pm: Philippe Paradis and his 95.7 mph slapshot goes to the Carolina Hurricanes.

10:45 pm: Scotty Bowman to make the Blackhawks selection to a warm reception. The latest the Blackhawks have had to wait to pick in the first round at No. 27. and they take Camrose Jr. A star Dylan Olsen. He could go to Medicine Hat (WHL) or the University of Minnesota-Duluth.

10:48 pm: Detroit to give up their first round pick (#29) for the Lightning's #32 and #75 picks.

Not that Detroit relies on number one picks to be a winner: see Henrik Zetterberg.

10:54 pm: Carter Ashton, son of Brent, is selected by the Lightning.

10:58 pm: Round one concludes with the Penguins selection, Simon Despres.

Ammo for Don Cherry: According to NHL.com, 16 picks in the first round are Canadian. Seven Americans, six Swedes (TSN said seven earlier) and one Russian.