STL@MTL: Mike's got the moves

MONTREAL - Defenseman Mike Reilly was longing to score his first career goal with the Canadiens, and he finally made that happen on Wednesday night.

It was a pretty goal, too, and it put the full range of his offensive skills on display during a 3-2 win over the St. Louis Blues at the Bell Centre.
While the Canadiens were up a man in the middle frame, Reilly made a slick move to evade Brayden Schenn before blasting a shot past goaltender Jake Allen.
"I was kind of thinking about that all the time, getting my first with the Canadiens," said Reilly, who was the Habs' second-most utilized player against the Blues, logging 21:49 of ice time. "It definitely feels special, especially with the win, too."

As for his maneuver to create some open ice for himself, Reilly explained that it was somewhat of a spur of the moment decision.
"You can't really practice that. It just kind of happened. A little bit off instincts," mentioned Reilly. "I think I saw the defenders' skates go one way and I kind of realized I had him going the other. Great screen in front, too. I got lucky it went in."

While that might be true, it really is a just reward for the 25-year-old rearguard, who continues to be an absolute rock on the Canadiens' back end.
Feeling extra confident in his game has a lot to do with his stellar play since the start of the season.
"There's been a lot of adversity and things you don't really expect coming out of college, you don't really know what is yet to come. But, it's been a good fit here," explained the University of Minnesota product. "The style of play is something that suits my game pretty well, trying to play fast and get the puck up to our forwards. I love playing with forwards like that. I definitely think the confidence is going well."
Reilly, who earned first-star honors after the final buzzer, also collected an assist on Max Domi's first-ever goal with the Habs just 39 seconds into the first period. It was the fourth multi-point game of his career.

Welcome back, Karl!
After watching the first five games from the sidelines as a healthy scratch, Karl Alzner made his regular-season debut on Wednesday night.
It was Victor Mete who was forced to sit the contest out with a "minor injury," according to head coach Claude Julien.
"In a situation where we didn't have anyone else, he could've played tonight," said Julien, during his postgame press conference. "But, he's banged up and this is an opportunity for us to give him time to heal so that he's 100 percent."

It goes without saying that Alzner was pleased to get his shot against St. Louis.
"It was nice to come in against [the Blues], because they're a big challenge, they're a big team," mentioned Alzner, who played 17:23 against Mike Yeo's contingent. "You kind of get thrown into the fire."
And, the veteran bench boss was satisfied with Alzner's effort in Mete's absence.
"I thought he played a real solid game," praised Julien. "He was moving the puck. He was skating. He was recovering pucks quickly."
Taking things one day at a time
There's no denying that the Canadiens are on a roll with three straight wins to their credit and nine out of a possible 12 points in the bank already.
Nevertheless, Julien is taking things in stride.
He made that abundantly clear when asked to describe what he's most proud of about his group so far this year.
"Right now, I'm not proud of anything because it's only six games. I'm glad the way things are going, but there's no reason to get carried away with where we are right now because there's still lots to accomplish," said Julien. "I'm happy with the start to the season and that's what I'm proud of, but it stops there. I think we've got to keep plugging away, and there's a lot of good things happening. I could be proud of a lot of things, but I prefer being humble in these situations where things could change quickly."

ICYMI: Celebrating Pleky
Before puck drop, the Canadiens honored Tomas Plekanec for playing 1,000 NHL games.
Check out the pre-game ceremony below: