MONTREAL — Canadiens coach Michel Therrien says he’s bringing his youngsters along slowly, but Brendan Gallagher and Alex Galchenyuk are making the most of their time on the ice.

Gallagher played only 9:22 in Montreal’s 4-3 win over the Winnipeg Jets on Tuesday, but he scored a goal and assisted on another and the fans selected him as the No. 1 star.

Galchenyuk played 11:10, collected two assists and was awarded the No. 2 star.

“They play with a lot of passion and I try to use them in positions where they have an opportunity to succeed,” said Therrien. “I want to give them confidence.”

One such opportunity came late in the second period when he sent the kids out with Erik Cole on the second power play unit. The result was a full-scale assault on Winnipeg goaltender Ondrej Pavelec, which resulted in Cole tying the game at 15:08.

“It’s great playing with a guy like him,” said Gallagher. “Colesy has been around for a long time, he’s won a Stanley Cup and he has that experience. We try to talk to him as much as we can and he gives us good advice. He makes sure after he sees me do something that he talks to me about it. I appreciate that.”

One thing Gallagher has figured out for himself is that it’s important to shoot quickly. He didn’t hesitate when he picked up a loose puck and surprised Pavelec with a 35-foot shot off the rush in the first period.

“You’re trying to score,” said Gallagher. “I learned from playing in exhibition games last year and in the AHL that the timing goes up at every level. You don’t get a lot of time and I’m working on that quick release.”

Gallagher said he won’t complain if he’s the No. 1 star again Wednesday, but said the victory was “a huge character win.”

“We came out in the third period and played our game,” Gallagher said. “We went on the power play to get the go-ahead goal and then we had a huge kill.”

The power play produced the winning goal by Tomas Plekanec, who is enjoying the luxury of having the same linemates each night. The goal gave the Canadiens a 2-for-5 record with the extra man while Winnipeg went 1-for-6.

The penalty-killers had their work cut out for them in the final 10 minutes as they weathered two Winnipeg power plays. The first came when Brandon Prust ran into Pavelec and the second came on a bizarre sequence that saw officials mistake Prust for Leonardo DiCaprio.

Nik Antropov crunched Prust into the dasher in front of the Canadiens’ bench and 5-foot-7 David Desharnais made a beeline for Antropov. There was a lot of pushing and shoving, and when the officials sorted things out, Desharnais received a minor for roughing, Antropov was sent off for boarding and Prust received two minutes for diving.

“I can’t remember ever getting a penalty for that,” said Prust. “All I know is that I got hit from behind.”

“Those are the penalties you work hard to kill,” said Plekanec.

The Canadiens’ first goal was scored by Rene Bourque on the power play. It was his first of the season and came two nights after he had seven missed shots against the Devils.

“All I can do is keep shooting,” said Bourque, who one-timed a pass from Andrei Markov.

Carey Price won his fourth consecutive game, but his performance didn’t do much for his save percentage as he gave up three goals on 21 shots. He’ll get his first rest Wednesday night when Peter Budaj starts against the Senators in Ottawa.

Earlier in the day, newly signed defenceman P.K. Subban was the main topic of conversation — or not.

Defenceman Andrei Markov, who was on the receiving end of praise from Subban on Monday night, said he didn’t want to talk about “someone who isn’t here” and Josh Gorges, who was Subban’s defence partner last season, said it will be important for the young defenceman to buy into Therrien’s system.

And when Lars Eller was told Subban wants to be nicknamed The Subbanator, he said: “We’re going to call him Pernell.” That’s a reference to Subban’s given names, Pernell Kent.

Therrien and general manager Marc Bergevin planned to have a late-night conversation with Subban on their arrival in Ottawa after Tuesday night's game. Subban was to undergo a physical Wednesday before participating in the morning skate, but his season debut is on hold until Therrien can assess his conditioning, timing and his integration into the new system.

phickey@montrealgazette.com

Twitter: @zababes1