Canadiens 'buying in 100 per cent,' head coach Ducharme says – Montreal Gazette

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The Canadiens have only played two games following a week off when two of their players were placed on the NHL’s COVID-19 protocol list.

And while they might hit a wall as early as next week — when Montreal begins a stretch of four games every week until the season concludes — there are many aspects of the team’s play that must be pleasing to interim head coach Dominique Ducharme.

“Surprised? It’s always good when you see it happen,” Ducharme said Friday during a video conference before the team conducted a video session and off-ice training workout.

“I thought we were playing some pretty good hockey (before the layoff),” he continued. “We needed to get better in certain areas. Guys have been buying in 100 per cent. I was talking about the team getting better, one step at a time. Now, guys are putting it more together. Guys are feeling comfortable.

“You never know, at one point, when it’s going to really jell.”

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The Canadiens have won three successive games, coming out of the break with a 4-0 victory over Edmonton, followed by a 4-1 win at Ottawa. Montreal (16-8-9) has solidified its fourth-place hold in the North Division heading into Saturday night’s rematch against the Senators at the Bell Centre (7 p.m., CBC, CITY, SN, TVA Sports, TSN Radio 690, 98.5 FM).

The Canadiens held the Oilers to 17 shots while Carey Price recorded his first shutout this season. Ottawa generated only 23 shots, but Jake Allen was denied a shutout following a late third-period power-play goal.

While Montreal continues being paced by the Phillip Danault, Brendan Gallagher, Tomas Tatar line, it’s also getting contributions from unlikely sources.

Winger Paul Byron, twice placed on waivers this season, scored against the Senators after a two-assist effort against Edmonton. And centre Jake Evans had perhaps his best game this season on Thursday with two assists against Ottawa.

All this is happening without injuries to two key players — winger Tyler Toffoli and defenceman Ben Chiarot. Toffoli leads the Canadiens with 18 goals and is tied with Jeff Petry with a team-high 27 points, while Chiarot had been on the first pairing with captain Shea Weber.

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It was only last season the Canadiens seemingly crumbled after Byron and Jonathan Drouin sustained injuries in the same game, followed by Gallagher’s concussion.

“A good team always finds a way … without a superstar player,” Danault said Thursday. “We all stick to the system, game after game. … If we buy into the system, that’s how it works. That’s how you win. That’s what we’re doing. Everyone’s buying in and dedicated to the system.”

The Canadiens are 7-3-5 since Ducharme replaced the fired Claude Julien, the team slowly beginning to seemingly evolve.

“I think we’re finding an identity,” defenceman Brett Kulak said on Friday.

Under Ducharme, the Canadiens play tight defensively and they’re also breaking out of their zone quickly. And it’s not uncommon to see opposing puck-carriers being chased by two Montreal players.

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“He (Ducharme) loves when we play tight and we play hard and fast defensively,” Kulak said. “He also loves it when we get creative offensively, but No. 1 for him is that defensive side of the game, giving the other team nothing, not letting them have any fun in the game, as he likes to say.

“You do that over a certain amount of time as the game wears on, the other team starts getting frustrated and they start forcing stuff. That’s when things open up and scoring chances happen for us.”

Newly acquired centre Eric Staal will have ice available to him on Sunday — although the Canadiens aren’t scheduled to practise — and, according to Ducharme, will play Monday, when the Canadiens host Edmonton, provided the remainder of his quarantine proceeds as planned.

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Ducharme wouldn’t disclose which two players would flank the veteran, although it seems likely Evans will be a healthy scratch. Therefore, it’s likely no coincidence he played so effectively on Thursday.

“You think about it a little bit,” Evans said Thursday. “It’s an honour to put on that jersey. I don’t want to lose that opportunity. You can’t think about all those outside factors. Play your game. That’s what I’m trying to focus on.”

Meanwhile on Friday, the Canadiens reassigned Cole Caufield and Lukas Vejdemo to the team’s taxi squad in order to meet the minimum number of players (4) required. The moves were a paper transaction as neither player is expected to join the team for the time being. Forward Laurent Dauphin and defenceman Xavier Ouellet were reassigned to the Laval Rocket, making them eligible to play Friday against Stockton.

hzurkowsky@postmedia.com

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