Canadiens General Manager Pierre Gauthier sent his team a message with the dismissal of assistant coach Perry Pearn. Two games later, it seems the message was heard.
“I think sometimes when things aren’t going our way or the way the team wants, something needs to change,” Josh Gorges said after a team meeting on Friday. “It’s unfortunate to see a guy get fired – you never want to see that – but management felt like that was the right decision and then we as players need to respond to that.
“We have to realize that it’s not just the coaches, it’s us as players that we need to go out and do our job and I think we responded in the right manner.”
Informed of the news just prior to Wednesday’s tilt against the Flyers, the Canadiens delivered in a 5-1 win that night. Twenty-four hours later, they came through again with a 2-1 triumph over the Bruins in Boston. Both wins came despite giving up the first goal. But unlike previous outings where an opponent’s goal – whether first or to take the lead – seemed to shake their confidence, they weren’t rattled.
“Everyone stepped up. We knew the position that we were in,” Gorges said. “The older guys kind of gathered around and talked about what we need to accomplish, and I think a lot of the younger guys stepped their game up; they didn’t shy away from the situation. It was a complete team effort.”
With the exception of a couple of outings, the Canadiens have been close on most nights. Wins against the Sabres and Panthers could have easily been theirs if not for a pair of brick walls named Miller and Markstrom.
Special teams and defensive lapses were at the forefront of Montreal’s struggles. A power play was anything but an advantage and the team allowed seven goals against while shorthanded during its six-game slide.
There’s still work to be done but it is looking better. The Canadiens connected with the man advantage against the Flyers and were perfect on the penalty kill. Boston’s lone goal on Thursday was a fluky one on the power play but that was all they got on six opportunities.
“Even on defence, we’ve sorted it out and we have lots of help from the forwards coming back. They want the puck now, they want to be available and that makes it easier for everybody. Carey’s made the big saves for us the last two games and that’s huge, too,” Jaroslav Spacek pointed out.
Spacek’s return from injury has been a part of that renewed back-end stability. After missing five games with an upper body injury, the veteran blue-liner was back in action on Monday against the Panthers. He blocked a game-high five shots against the Flyers and his six stops against the Bruins were just one shy of the entire Boston team.
“Maybe it hasn’t been mentioned before but for sure, I think it’s helped,” Jacques Martin noted of his absence. “When you look at the way he’s played the last three games since he’s been with us, he’s helped quite a bit.
“It’s hard to understand the value of experience, whether it’s players or coaches; you’ve seen situations before, you’re able to handle those situations a lot better. And when you look at the last three games he’s been back, it’s been a big plus.”
So, too, have the two wins the Canadiens picked up. It has quelled some of the panic among fans and boosted the team’s confidence ahead of Saturday’s re-match with the Bruins at the Bell Centre.
“We want to go in the same direction we’re going right now. We need to be focused on that one game,” Spacek said. “We have a couple of days off after that so we’ve got to put everything into that game and bring the win at home.”
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