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Finally, the chance to say a pair of “golden words” is upon us.  Everyone join in and cry out “Habs Win!”  Now, doesn’t that feel better?  On Saturday, the Habs opened up this year’s rookie tournament with a 5-2 win over the Ottawa Senators, in front of a sellout crowd of just over 500 at the Sportplexe 4 Glaces in Pierrefonds, QC. 

5 players hit the scoresheet for the Habs in this one, including top prospect Andrei Kostitsyn, who scored the game’s first goal on a wrist shot à la Michael Ryder from the faceoff circle.  This year’s top pick Kyle Chipchura also managed to score, as did Maxim Lapierre, Duncan Milroy, and even tough guy Jimmy Bonneau.

This game was a fight-filled one, with no fewer than 5 players being sent off for fighting, while a total of 46 penalty minutes were handed out. 

This win did come at a cost though, as Kostitsyn, F Olivier Labelle, and D Andrew Archer left the game, Kostitsyn and Labelle due to injuries, while Archer was ejected in the 2nd.  This came with a pair of injuries already in Cory Urquhart and Gregory Stewart.  Each players’ status has yet to be determined for Sunday afternoon’s game vs Florida.

Other Notes:

Yann Danis got the win for the Habs, stopping 30 of 32 shots…Jonathan Ferland was the acting captain for Montreal, with Archer and Milroy serving as alternates…Jaroslav Halak is expected to start Sunday after backing up Danis in this contest…Final shots in this contest were 38-32 for Montreal.