In the Habs' Room: Plekanec trio takes fight to Senators

P.K. Subban received the first star and a couple of kisses Friday night as the Canadiens posted a 3-2 overtime win over the Ottawa Senators.

The kisses came from defence partner Andrei Markov after Subban uncorked a 140km/h slapshot to give the Canadiens a 2-1 lead in the second period.

“I think I got two kisses from him today,” said Subban. “If I had a girlfriend, she’d  be jealous.”

In addition to scoring his goal, Subban turned in another ironman performance as he logged a game-high 29:06 in ice time. But he nodded to the influence the 36-year-old Markov has had on his game.

“This is the happiest I’ve seen him this year,” said Subban. “The energy he brings is amazing. I’m 26 and Marky energizes me out there. He teaches me what it’s like to be a pro.”

Subban gave a nod to the late Jean Béliveau and said Élise Béliveau offered a prediction before the game. Élise Béliveau, who was wearing a Subban jersey, said the defenceman would be better than he was in Game 1 when he was ejected for slashing Mark Stone.

Subban said part of his disappointment in Game 1 was the way he reacted to the game misconduct penalty.

“It wasn’t that hard of a slash (but) Mr. Béliveau wouldn’t have done that,” Subban said in looking back on his petulance.

When Subban was asked whether he looked up toward Élise Béliveau during the game, he replied: “I’m focused on the ice. There are lot of good-looking girls up there, but I’m sure Mr. Therrien wouldn’t be happy if I was looking up there.”

But Therrien said he was happy to see Subban play “the hockey he’s capable to play.”

Subban had five shots on net, but had another seven blocked and that was on his mind as he unloaded a one-timer that came close to taking Ottawa goaltender Andrew Hammond’s head off.

“I saw him wince,” said Subban. “Often when I lean into it, just in case it gets blocked, I want to be on my horse on the way back. As soon as I turned and looked over my right shoulder, I saw the light go on and my teammates were getting excited, so I was happy.”

The winning goal was scored by Alex Galchenyuk at the 3:40 mark of overtime. A giveaway by Eric Gryba in the Ottawa zone led to a shot by Brendan Gallagher and Galchenyuk scored on the rebound.

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“My only thought was to get the puck to the net,” said Galchenyuk. “I had a chance earlier in the overtime, I cut across the net and it got poked away. After the third period, we had a power play for 43 seconds and we talked about throwing it on net.”

“It was a bang-bang play, but we fanned on (Gryba’s) pass and you can’t give the puck away in that situation,” said Ottawa coach Dave Cameron.

The line of Gallagher, Galchenyuk and Tomas Plekanec was the most dangerous unit for Montreal as it produced 16 of the team’s 42 shots on net. Gallagher had nine of those shots, had four others blocked, delivered four hits and blocked two shots.

“We tried to compete and create space,” said Galchenyuk. “It feels good to score in a really close game and we’re happy we got the win.”

The Canadiens’ other goal was scored by leading scorer Max Pacioretty, who was back in the lineup after missing four games with a concussion.

“He scored a big goal (and) he didn’t look like a guy who missed two weeks,” said Therrien. “He was 100 per cent and that was important for us.”

The win gave Montreal a 2-0 lead in the best-of-seven series, which shifts to Ottawa for Games 3 and 4.

Therrien trotted out a cliché when he said the Canadiens are taking it one game at a time, but he noted the team has played well on the road this season. He also said it was good to open with two wins at home.

“You fight all season to get home ice and we deserved it,” said Therrien. “We know this is a tough place to play (and) we feed on the energy of the crowd.”