MONTREAL - Andrei Markov broke a more than two-year-old drought with a pair of goals and Alex Galchenyuk got the first of his NHL career as the Montreal Canadiens downed the Florida Panthers 4-1 on Tuesday night.
Tomas Plekanec also scored for Montreal (1-1-0), while Rafael Diaz and Max Pacioretty each had two assists.
Tomas Kopecky scored for Florida (1-2-0), which was coming off a 4-0 loss in Ottawa on Monday night and looked lifeless playing a third game in four nights.
Florida goalie Scott Clemmensen went into the game with a 6-0 career record against Montreal, but it was Carey Price who got the win as the Canadiens had a 33-28 shot advantage.
Markov had played only 17 games since he last scored on Nov. 9, 2010 due to two successive surgeries on the anterior cruciate ligament in his right knee.
Both of his goals came on the power play.
After Plekanec scored from the slot on a rush on a feed from Brian Gionta 3:26 into the game, Markov blasted one in from the slot during a two-man advantage at 13:24.
Kopecky got one back with a man advantage 4:33 into the second frame as he one-timed Tomas Fleischmann's pass in from the right circle.
Markov got is second on a low blast from the point at 8:31.
The noise from the crowd of 21,273 went off the register when 18-year-old Galchenyuk, the third overall pick in the June draft, deflected Brandon Prust's shot in from the edge of the crease at 14:25.
Brendan Gallagher, playing his first NHL game in place of healthy scratch Lars Eller, picked up an assist on the goal.
The Canadiens killed off a five-minute penalty that included two minutes down two men in the third period.
Notes: A pre-game video was shown honouring Radio-Canada broadcaster Richard Garneau, who died this week ... Canadiens legend and 1945 NHL MVP Elmer Lach turned 95 on Tuesday. . . Eller was sent to the pressbox as Gallagher moved onto the third line for his NHL debut. . . Newly named captain Ed Jovanovski was scratched.... Kris Versteeg is out with a groin injury, which put Drew Shore into his first NHL game.
