In the Habs Room: An emotional win for Canadiens

“This is the most emotional night I’ve ever experienced in Montreal.”

That was the way Tomas Plekanec described his feelings after the Canadiens’ 3-1 victory over the Vancouver Canucks Tuesday produced the perfect ending for a night dedicated to the late Jean Béliveau.

Plekanec, who scored the winning goal at 15:44 of the third period, said he felt overwhelmed by the moment of silence for Béliveau, who died last Tuesday after a long illness.

“Right away, when we stepped on the ice, you could feel it,” Plekanec said. “I’ve never heard such a quiet arena. You could feel the respect for the person Jean Béliveau was.”

Plekanec snapped a 1-1 tie when he took a perfect pass from newcomer Sven Andrighetto. He retrieved the puck and presented it to Elise Béliveau after the game.

“I grabbed the puck at the end and I talked to Manny (Malhotra) and we decided it would be a nice thing to give it to her,” said Plekanec.

Elise Béliveau also felt the emotion. She was fighting back tears as the crowd broke into an ovation following the moment of silence that preceded the game. But there was a wide smile on her face as Max Pacioretty put the finishing touches on the victory with an empty-net goal in the final second.

The Canadiens were struggling as they came into the game with only one win in their previous seven games and coach Michel Therrien decided it was time to shake up his lines.

The new combinations seemed to work well in terms of producing scoring chances but the Canadiens had trouble getting the puck past goaltender Ryan Miller, and, in many cases, behind the Vancouver defence. Miller stopped 22 0f 24 shots while the Canucks’ defence blocked 26 shots.

Brendan Gallagher opened the scoring in the second period with a move that caught the Canucks off guard. He had the puck along the sideboards and the Canucks expected him to rim the puck to Pacioretty.

“On the first or second shift of the game, I was in an almost identical situation,” said Gallagher. “Patch rimmed it around to me and I whacked it back to him behind the net. On the goal, I saw I wasn’t going to make the play because of the way two guys jumped on the wall, so I just held it there and when I saw the opening, I was ready.”

The Canadiens limited Vancouver to 16 shots and Carey Price set the tone for a solid effort when he moved across his crease to make a save on Nick Bonino.

Therrien called it “one of our best games this season. We were aggressive and we worked hard as a team.”

But Therrien said he felt the emotion.

“We’re a huge family and it’s a privilege to be a part of that family,” said Therrien. “It was emotional. It was tough for everyone and I appreciate the way our fans reacted and how the players reacted. The guys wanted to make sure it was a special night.

“It was a classy move from Tomas Plekanec,” Therrien said when asked about the presentation of the game puck to Mrs. Béliveau. “We deserved to win. It was a close game and we had to battle and it was a great gesture for Tomas to give the puck to Mrs. Béliveau.

The juggling act saw Alex Galchenyuk line up at centre between Gallagher and Pacioretty. Galchenyuk won four of his six faceoffs against Henrik Sedin.

“He played well,” said Therrien. “He looked comfortable; we want to make sure he plays with confidence. That line played well and if it weren’t for (Ryan) Miller, we would have had a few more goals.”