Montreal Canadiens: Looking back at first goals in a Habs uniform
Getting that first goal on a new team is always relieving, and the Montreal Canadiens have had a number of those within their lineup.
No one score more goals on the Montreal Canadiens last season than Brendan Gallagher. However, no one has scored more goals in a Habs uniform in their career than Max Pacioretty (relatively speaking). As the years go by, more are added to an overall total, but there’s nothing more special than the first one.
Whether it’s the first in the NHL or the first on a new team, that tally holds more weight than the rest. Some players on the Montreal Canadiens last year are still waiting to reach that milestone. Victor Mete capped off his rookie season with seven assists, but no goals. Mike Reilly and Brett Lernout are in the same camp and will be looking for it if they get the opportunity.
Some of those firsts came this year, but a lot of them were beyond that. Do you remember any of them? If not, let me take you on a trip down memory lane of the players’ first goals as a member of the Montreal Canadiens.
Max Pacioretty
After playing in the NCAA for the entirety of the 2007-08 season, Max Pacioretty made the jump to the professional realm with the Hamilton Bulldogs. He was fitting in nicely scoring 6 goals and 23 assists in 37 games before. Pacioretty was called up to play in a game against the New Jersey Devils on January 2nd, 2009 where he scored his first goal on his first NHL shot while being the first Montreal Canadiens player to wear 67.
It was something Habs fans would get used to as he exploded out of the defensive zone down the right wall ripping a shot past Scott Clemmensen.
Brendan Gallagher
The New Jersey Devils appear once again as Gallagher scored his first goal on them during the 2012-13 season back when he wore 73. The then 20-year-old debuted with the Habs in the second game of the year and found himself on the receiving end of an Alex Galchenyuk cross-crease feed two games later.
Tomas Plekanec
The 35-year-old played his first full season with the Montreal Canadiens all the way back in 2005. Ironically, his first goal came against the Toronto Maple Leafs who he would be traded to 13 years later. A backhand pass down low from Mike Ribeiro found Plekanec right at the left circle blasting a shot past Ed Belfour to tie the game up at two. The Czech native would go on to add another 231 goals to that total.
Jeff Petry
The 2015 Trade Deadline saw the Montreal Canadiens acquire Jeff Petry from the Edmonton Oilers in exchange for a 2015 second-round and conditional fifth-round pick. It was a good move by Marc Bergevin to further bolster the blueline with more offence and mobility. It took 14 games for Petry to score his first with the Habs and it’s still no nice to watch.
Coming off a faceoff win in Tampa’s zone, Petry sent a wrist shot from the point that got through cleanly beating Ben Bishop over the glove.
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Andrew Shaw
This goal summed up what Montreal Shaw was looking for in Andrew Shaw. It started with hard work on the forecheck allowing the Habs to get possession in the offensive zone. Then the chaos began. Shaw got the puck from the side of the net, turned, and fired but was stopped by Robin Lehner.
However, the rebound came to him in the slot, and he sent another shot, this time on the backhand, to the net. Bodies were falling everywhere, but Shaw’s second shot squeaked by Lehner for the goal to give the team a 4-1 lead in the first game of the 2016-17 season.
Paul Byron
Paul Byron is known now in Montreal for his breakaways. That’s made him a threat shorthanded as all he needs is a small window, and he’s gone. It all started with his first set of games with the Habs after being claimed off waivers from Calgary (the irony will come in a second).
The Montreal Canadiens were up 4-2 in the game, and the Flames had a chance to cut into that lead with a power play opportunity in the third period. Byron was given shorthanded minutes in order to kill the penalty along with Torrey Mitchell where his clearing attempt got past Mark Giordano. The speedster took off scoring goal number five for the Habs.
Phillip Danault
The trade to acquire Phillip Danault from the Chicago Blackhawks will always be one of Bergevin’s most memorable. He was able to turn a fourth-line player in Dale Weise and a PTO-turned signing Tomas Fleischmann into a young centre with potential and a 2018 second-round pick that later became Alexander Romanov.
Danault brought minimal offence to the lineup upon his first arrival to Montreal but chose to have his first goal be an important one. A point shot from Greg Pateryn and bounced off perfectly to the side of the net. Recognizing this, Danault headed to the round backhanding the puck in behind Kari Lehtonen for the 3-2 lead in the second period.
Artturi Lehkonen
Your first NHL goal isn’t always going to be on a highlight reel. After making the 2016-17 squad out of training camp, Artturi Lehkonen was looking to find a role for himself on the team. Game two of the year saw the Montreal Canadiens down 2-1 in the third period. Montreal needed a response to either take the lead or force the game to overtime and Lehkonen provided them with an answer.
Danault had the puck behind the net and put it on net leaving the rookie to streak in and get a couple of jabs at it before it was behind Craig Anderson.
Shea Weber
There are very few in the league who have a shot so powerful that players contemplate whether it’s worth it to get in its way. Shea Weber‘s first goal was one of the more anticipated tallies in the 2016-17 season as fans were eager to see it work in their team’s favour for once.
It was clockwork on the power play after Weber received the feed from Andrei Markov for the one-time slap shot.
Jordie Benn
The 2017 Trade Deadline saw the Montreal Canadiens swap defensive depth for defensive depth acquiring Jordie Benn from the Dallas Stars for Pateryn. He was tasked with providing more structure to the bottom six but managed to find the back of the net twice. Benn’s first was against the New York Rangers off an offensive zone win.
He let the shot fly from the point as soon as he received it from Nathan Beaulieu and it ended up in the back of the net thanks to a deflection off a Rangers player.
Nikita Scherbak
Hands have always been one of Nikita Scherbak‘s strengths. Habs fans got a good deal of that this past season, and it came to light for his first goal as well.
It was Scherbak’s first NHL game when the Montreal Canadiens took on the Leafs. The game was tied at two in the first, and the 2014 first-round pick gave his team the edge off a Petry shot that was deflected off Morgan Rielly‘s stick that found him in front. Quick hands had him beat Frederik Andersen with 0.9 seconds left to go in the opening period.
Michael McCarron
After making his pro debut with the St Johns Ice Caps, Micahel McCarron was called up to play 20 games with the Habs at the end of the 2015-16 season. At that point, the sky was almost the limit for the 2013 first-round pick who had good enough size to have an impact in an NHL roster. A part of that could’ve possibly come from net-front presences which depict how McCarron scored his first goal.
The Habs were down 4-0 to the Flames and in dire need of a response. A wrist shot going wide from Beaulieu was deflected in front past Niklas Backstrom to end the possibility of a shutout.
Jonathan Drouin
There was no other player who Habs fans were looking more forward to see play last season than Jonathan Drouin. He had technically already scored as he got the shootout winner against the Buffalo Sabres in the season opener, but his first in-game goal came against the Leafs. It was nice work by Karl Alzner to keep the puck in the zone making a quick move by Tyler Bozak followed by a slap pass on net intended for a deflection in front and Drouin was there to finish it off.
Karl Alzner
While we’re talking about him, Alzner added to the team’s goal total this year as well (be it only once). A shot from the left circle deflected off Troy Stecher‘s stick beating Anders Nilsson five-hole.
Charles Hudon
Charles Hudon was the man with all the shots and chances, but little to show for it. But eyebrows were raise whenever he did score, and his first goal was no exception.
The Habs were starting a rush on the power play, and Hudon received the puck in the neutral zone getting in alone after beating Erik Karlsson on the entry. It was a rile of a shot that got past Anderson for the first of his NHL career, and the first of the night.
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Nicolas Deslauriers
No one expected Nicolas Deslauriers to score as much as he did when the Habs acquired him from the Buffalo Sabres. The fourth line with Byron Froese and Daniel Carr were one of the team’s most consistent and hardworking trios for a good chunk of the season.
For the goal, both Froese and Carr were winning battles along the boards allowing the former to find Deslauriers in the slot uncontested to beat Jimmy Howard.
Jacob de La Rose
Deslauriers shared the love a little bit helping Jacob de La Rose score his first NHL goal in the same game. The Habs were shorthanded after Danault was called for interference. Deslauriers intercepted a banked recovery that Darren Helm was trying to get to and took off with de La Rose on the other side.
The 2013 second-round pick made no mistake scoring on Deslauriers’ cross-ice feed putting Montreal up 4-0.
Byron Froese
Deflections are a go-to method to score whether it’s on purpose or by accident. A Benn wrist shot ended up in the back of the net behind Mike Smith, but not before hitting Froese on the way there.
David Schlemko
It took some time for David Schlemko to play a game for the Montreal Canadiens and even longer to score. His eventual goal against the Anaheim Ducks was his first January 21st of 2017 (51 games). Galchenyuk hit a trailing Schlemko with a pass which he quickly turned into a wrist shot goal past John Gibson to give Montreal the 3-0 lead in the first period.
Kerby Rychel
The Habs received some players to work with through the Plekanec trade. Kerby Rychel was a first-round pick, but similar to McCarron, struggled to make a name for himself in the NHL. However, his production in the AHL was good enough to create a level of curiosity around him.
Rychel received the call at the end of last season when injuries continued to hit the team’s locker room. It would be his first run in the NHL since 2016, and the 23-year-old would score in his second game deflecting a Petry shot in front.
Noah Juulsen
After missing the first set of months of the 2017-18 season, it was great to see Noah Juulsen make his NHL debut. The 20-year-old looked steady playing at the highest level and in many ways, helping Alzner stabilize his game a bit. Juulsen was quickly being relied on with key minutes for the Montreal Canadiens including time on the penalty kill and in the final portions of a game.
His first goal came against the New York Islanders off a slap shot in the right corner cleanly over Jaroslav Halak.
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With some new faces in the organization in Matthew Peca, Joel Armia, and Max Domi, there could possibly be more firsts next season and it’ll be interesting to see when and how they happen.