The Montreal Canadiens are a perfect 1-0 when Habs’ forward Scott Gomez scores a goal. This will likely become the latest tongue-in-cheek statistic most commonly heard today around water coolers in offices around North America. On Thursday evening, the Montreal Canadiens waltzed into Uniondale riding a two-game winning streak and managed to extend the streak to three games after the Canadiens beat the New York Islanders 4-2.

PHOTO CREDIT - NHL.com

Whitby - February 10, 2012 - The Montreal Canadiens are a perfect 1-0 when Habs’ forward Scott Gomez scores a goal. This will likely become the latest tongue-in-cheek statistic most commonly heard today around water coolers in offices around North America. On Thursday evening, the Montreal Canadiens waltzed into Uniondale riding a two-game winning streak and managed to extend the streak to three games after the Canadiens beat the New York Islanders 4-2.

Power forward Max Pacioretty netted his third goal of the evening with less than one second to play in the final frame. The hat trick was Pacioretty’s first in the NHL. The attitude in the Montreal dressing room following the match is one of positivity that the team will fight its way back into a playoff spot before the end of the regular season. This attitude seems to be in stark contrast to many followers of the Canadiens as well as many hockey purists in general.

The Canadiens currently sit in 11th place, 9 points behind the Toronto Maple Leafs for 8th place in the Eastern Conference. Ironically enough, Montreal travels to Toronto on Saturday for a key matchup. Saturday, February 11th is also Scotiabank’s ‘Hockey Day In Canada’. This year, the Province of Prince Edward Island will host Ron McLean and Don Cherry. This maritime province has a long and rich hockey tradition that is eager to show fellow Canadians its passion for our national pastime.

Montreal almost coughed up a sure win in the final three minutes of Thursday’s game when Matt Moulson and the Islanders made a game of it scoring twice (Islanders’ defenseman Mark Streit scored the second goal) but could not find the equalizer to send the game into overtime.

Carey Price was solid in nets for Montreal (31-0f-33 saves), earning his 20th win of the season. The Islanders’ Evgeni Nabokov (28-0f-31 saves) was also good on this night, but took the loss. The announced three stars of the game were Scott Gomez (3rd star, one goal), Mark Streit (2nd star, one goal) and Max Pacioretty (1st star, three goals). There were only 12,312 fans in attendance at the game.

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Until next time, play every game as if it is your last one…