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Plekanec propels Canadiens past Islanders

Jan 16, 2008 - 4:12 AM UNIONDALE, New York (Ticker) -- Tomas Plekanec scored two goals and goaltender Cristobal Huet made 17 saves as the Montreal Canadiens continued their winning ways by defeating the New York Islanders, 3-1, on Tuesday.

Alexei Kovalev added an empty-net goal with 28 seconds remaining for Montreal, which is 6-1-2 in its past nine games.

Plekanec opened the scoring with just over six minutes left in the first period.

The 25-year-old picked up a loose puck in the left faceoff circle and blasted it past netminder Rick DiPietro to give Montreal the early advantage.

"It was a bouncing puck," Plekanec said. "Frankie (defenseman Francis Bouillon) tried to flip it in the air. I got a hold of a bouncing puck, tried to fake a shot and make another move and shoot it. I saw Kovalev was at the net and he might get a rebound, but my shot went in."

Plekanec doubled the Canadiens' lead 5:35 into the second period.

After Huet denied Miroslav Satan in the defensive zone, Kovalev fed a streaking Plekanec to create a 2-on-1 advantage. Plekanec faked a pass to All-Star defenseman Andrei Markov and wristed a shot in the slot past DiPietro for his 16th goal of the season.

"I was exhausted at the end of the shift," Plekanec said. "I think we were out there for 1:30, but Kovalev yelled out '2-on-1.' I wanted to fake a pass (to Markov) then shoot it, and it went in."

Huet wasn't tested often but made quality stops when called upon - including denying Mike Comrie on a breakaway during the second period.

"I think we played extremely well, especially in the first period," Huet said. "We made a few bad decisions in the second period which could have cost us. But we played very tight in the third period."

Richard Park halved the deficit for the Islanders midway through the third period.

Stationed in front of the net, the Korean tapped in a rebound over a prone Huet for his seventh goal of the season.

"I played the puck on the boards when Mike (Komisarek) told me to leave it," Huet said. "We were fighting for the puck, but we gave them that goal. I felt like I let my team down Saturday (in a 4-1 loss to the Rangers), but it's a credit to the team that I didn't have much to do tonight."