Montreal 5 NY Islanders 3 (Bell Centre)

by Rick Stephens, AllHabs.net

“As a centerman, you take a great deal of pride in getting your wingers going.” — Jeff Halpern on assisting on Mathieu’s Darche’s goal

MONTREAL, QC.– La première étoile, Tomas Plekanec!

Much has been said and written about the so-called ill-advised move by the Montreal Canadiens to turn over the Three Star selection to the fans. The Montreal media had traditionally “owned” exclusive domain. There’s no doubt that the system is likely to give us some odd results, but so far, so good.

Could it be any worse than the picks by the TV rights holder in the past who had one slot permanently assigned to a guy named Gui?

Come to think of it, in the nine games of the season, how hard has it been to choose the game stars? Select some combination of Plekanec, Carey Price and Andrei Kostitsyn and you have a fighting chance of being correct.

Kostitsyn already has five goals this season, a number he wouldn’t reach until December 5 last year. Price and Michal Neuvirth lead NHL goaltenders with six wins. Plekanec is the Jacques Martin’s go-to guy in every situation and has contributed nine points.

It’s funny, because prior to the season weren’t we told that Plekanec wasn’t a first line center, that Price couldn’t handle the load, and Kostitsyn should be sent somewhere, anywhere?

In addition, I recall reading that Pierre Gauthier would regret releasing a player like Dominic Moore. The writer expressed frustration that Moore was allowed to play elsewhere rather than building on his greatness. Enter Jeff Halpern to erase any of those lingering thoughts.

Halpern had the winning goal tonight which gives him five points in this young season. He also is close to 60 per cent in faceoff wins.

There are lots of games left to play and plenty of improvements to be made but it’s safe to say that the personnel decisions have been mostly positive. It’s hard to argue with a 6-2-1 record and a team who has won the last five of six contests.

As Price said after the game, this is not the time to become complacent. The team must remain humble and work hard. It would help if the coaching staff can find solutions to outstanding problems.

The return of Andrei Markov will no doubt help the power-play but he alone, cannot ressurrect it from the basement in the NHL rankings to the lofty address of last season. The Canadiens power-play is now 2-for-32, an anemic 6.2 per cent efficiency, and dead last in the league.

Also, Markov will not help to improve his goaltender’s sight lines. All three Islanders goals were scored because of an inability of Canadiens defenders to clear the front of the net. Ryan O’Byrne is missed as the Habs have no other defensemen who are effective in that role.

The sign still reads vacancy posted on the left wing of the Canadiens second line. Despite Lars Ellers heroics against Ottawa last Saturday, the coach still isn’t prepared to give him an audition. Eller was restricted to fewer than ten minutes of ice time again on this night.

All of these issues are fixable should the coach wish to devote his attention to them. They are certainly not worthy of the doom and gloom scenarios presented by the pre-season prognosticators.

Plus/Minus:

▲  Travis Moen may not be the answer for the second line but he chipped in with a nice shorthanded goal. He also answered the bell against Isles tough guy, Zenon Konopka, the NHL’s leader in penalty minutes last season.

▲  It’s remarkable that Lars Eller had four shots on goal playing on the fourth line with less than ten minutes of ice-time. Eller was 67 per cent at the faceoff dot.

►  Josh Gorges logged over 25 minutes of ice-time and blocked five shots. However, he and Hal Gill were on the ice for two of the three Islanders goals.

►  P.K. Subban was very good at times in both the offensive and defensive zones. He took a bad penalty at the end of the first period which led to an Islanders goals and he was erratic at the point with four missed shots.

►  Mike Cammalleri was a plus-2 for the game pushing his ranking to plus-9 for the season which tops the NHL. However he only managed one shot on goal not nearly enough for the guy who is counted on to be a sniper.

▼  After a couple good games to start the season, Maxim Lapierre is missing in action. He was invisible again in this game while playing close to 12 minutes.

The Canadiens will head to Long Island for a rematch with the Islanders on Friday night. The Florida Panthers will be the opponents on Saturday at the Bell Centre.

All Habs game stars:

1. Tomas Plekanec
2. Carey Price
3. Andrei Kostitsyn

Roster notes:

Ryan O’Byrne and Dustin Boyd were healthy scratches. Andrei Markov was out with a knee injury. Markov is expected to return on Saturday against the Panthers.

(AP Photo/The Canadian Press, Graham Hughes)