Pageau breaks ice for Senators at chilly NHL100 Classic

OTTAWA-- Ottawa Senators center Jean-Gabriel Pageau seems to save his best for the big stage, especially when he shares that stage with the Montreal Canadiens.

Pageau scored the first goal to help the Senators defeat the Canadiens 3-0 in the 2017 Scotiabank NHL100 Classic at Lansdowne Park on Saturday.
"When you score the first goal and your goalie doesn't give up any, it makes things a lot easier," Pageau said.
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He was well positioned in the slot to tip Erik Karlsson's pass for his fourth goal of the season after Ottawa forward Tom Pyatt beat Montreal defenseman David Schlemko to the puck off a draw.
"Pyatt won his battle off the draw, and our captain (Karlsson), who was a real leader through the whole game, he saw me in front of the net, got the puck on the net," Pageau said. "Zack Smith did a good job of screening the goaltender (Carey Price). I tipped it. Sometimes it goes in, sometimes it doesn't work. This time it did."
It continued Pageau's knack for scoring against the Canadiens. He also had a hat trick in a 6-1 win against Montreal in Game 3 of the Eastern Conference First Round of the 2013 Stanley Cup Playoffs, and has scored eight goals against them in 18 regular-season games.
The 25-year-old also scored four goals in Game 2 of the Eastern Conference Second Round against the New York Rangers last season, the last in overtime for a 6-5 win.
"He's a big-time player and he likes to play in important games and this was an important game," Karlsson said. "Whether it's against Montreal or someone else, he always shows up. He's a character guy. He doesn't get the most publicity all the time and he doesn't score all the goals all the time, but when it comes down to it, he always does the right thing, and that shows in games like this and the playoffs. When we need someone to step up, he's usually one of the guys."

Senators forward Mike Hoffman said Pageau's goal at 14:55 of the second period was the type of play the conditions demanded.
"It was an important goal for us to get on the board first," Hoffman said. "We knew that it might not be the most high-scoring game or the most chances, so if we could score first we knew that would give us the best opportunity to win this hockey game.
"For him being able to be the guy who … [scored] the goal is huge. It's a big boost of confidence for himself and a big boost for the team. It's funny, it seems every time it happens it's against Montreal. That's a good team to do well against because they're in our (Atlantic) Division. We play them more than anybody else."
Pageau, an Ottawa native, said the crowd of 33,959 contributed to making the experience of playing in 12-degree conditions memorable.
"It was fun for the whole game, the atmosphere from warmup to the last second, it was unbelievable," he said.