from Pierre LeBrun of ESPN,

A sellout crowd of 18,259 sampled the good Monday night at the brand new Videotron Center, the spectacular building hosting its first NHL game, a 4-1 win for the Montreal Canadiens over the Pittsburgh Penguins.

"Nice atmosphere, beautiful arena, that was a lot of fun," said Canadiens center David Desharnais, who grew up in the area.

"We were the No. 3 team for the fans here tonight after the Nordiques and Canadiens," joked Penguins goalie Marc-Andre Fleury, a native of Sorel, Quebec. "But that was a fun atmosphere."

The timing for this game could not have been more perfect. When the prospective Quebec ownership group delivers its expansion presentation to the executive committee of the NHL's Board of Governors in New York on Tuesday, it will include video evidence of what transpired when the Penguins and Canadiens gave life to a pristine infrastructure.

The message to other NHL owners should be obvious: the building is open, there's a deep-pocketed owner in place, and the fans are frothing at the mouth.

"It would be fun, for sure," Fleury said of NHL hockey returning here. "You saw the fans tonight. It was a preseason game and the fans were into it. I hope for Quebec it happens."

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