MICHEL THERRIEN POST GAME : BRUINS

MONTREAL CANADIENS HEAD COACH MICHEL THERRIEN

On pulling Carey Price in favor of Peter Budaj heading into the third period…

I just wanted to change the momentum of the game. It was not that I was not pleased with Carey [Price]. We left him alone. When you see that, you don’t want to have your number one goalie, and I have a lot of respect for the job Carey has been doing for us, I didn’t want to leave him there. So I wanted to change momentum, and Peter Budaj was outstanding. When we scored that third goal, it gave us some life, with the result that we saw.

On Montreal’s top defensive pair struggling in the first two periods…

We need to play better defensively. That’s not our game. We can get frustrated when we don’t play our game, but it’s a character win. It’s a character win, we never gave up. It’s not easy to come back against a team that’s one of the best defensive teams in the league, with a two-goal deficit, this is the only thing I’ll remember about this game.

On Brendan Gallagher…

He scored a big goal, and he was a good net presence in front when we tied the game. He’s got no fear to play the game, that’s what’s fun about him. He deserved to score that goal and it’s going to give him a lot of confidence, with a big one like that.

On the penalty kill for the Canadiens in overtime…

We discussed about it the last few games, changing a little bit our plan regarding killing [five-on-threes]. We decided to go with two forwards, and we didn’t want to give up that point shot. That a lot of times will hurt you, and our special teams right now, they put a big presence in front of the net, so we didn’t want to give that shot. Guys did a good job to be in the shooting lanes.

On Jarred Tinordi’s ice time early on…

It’s not always easy to play in a place like here, and they put on a lot of pressure, so we were trying to protect him a little bit.

BERGERON GRABS NHL HONORS

BERGERON NAMED NHL’S SECOND STAR FOR THE WEEK OF FEB. 25 – MAR. 3

Boston, MA – The NHL announced today, March 4, that Bruins forward and
reigning Selke Trophy Winner Patrice Bergeron has been named the NHL’s
Second Star of the Week for the week of February 25 to March 3.
Montreal Canadiens forward Max Pacioretty, and Minnesota Wild goaltender
Niklas Backstrom earned the first and third stars of the week,
respectively.

Bergeron registered seven points with two goals and five assists in four games from February 25 – March 3, with two multi-point games during that
stretch giving him a plus/minus rating of +6.  His three-point performance (1-2=3) against the Montreal Canadiens on March 3 was his highest single-game output of the week extending his point streak to
four games.  Other highlights this week were Bergeron’s two-point game (0-2=2) against the New York Islanders on February 26, and his game winning overtime goal against the Ottawa Senators on February 28.

The 27-year-old native of Ancienne-Lorette, Que. leads the Bruins in assists and point production (5-13=18) in 19 games as well as being tied with linemate Tyler Seguin in plus/minus rating at +15, which ties them for first in the NHL.  Bergeron has spent his entire career in Boston, appearing in 556 career games while registering 148-271=419 totals with a +61 rating.

MONTREAL CANADIENS HEAD COACH MICHEL THERRIEN

On the Bruins not having Chara for ten minutes…
What Brandon Prust did for this hockey team, I’ll call that great leadership. I was going to make sure that players knew between the second period and third that we have to respond as team, and I thought we responded the right way. We were able to capitalize on the absence of Zdeno Chara because he is one of the best defenseman in the league as we all know. We scored two big goals with the [David] Desharnais line. We had to react and we had the right attitude to react tonight.

On if the team’s good start changes the expectations for the season…
Well we are coming a long way. We believe that if we stick to our plan we have a chance to win every game. That’s the way we approach the game. Like tonight, we had a great start in the first period and guys are confident. They know that if we stick to our plan we have the chance to win. The way we are playing right now it’s good for the confidence of the players.

On if this game was a good way to forget about the game against Pittsburgh…
Definitely. I think the best thing for us was to play right away. That’s the way I see it. Not to rub it in for a few days, get back to the focus and make sure that our compete level was there. And that’s what we did.

On the play of Peter Budaj…
He played well. He deserved to be there tonight. That’s the way we saw it. We discussed it about the game last night and everyone on the coaching staff agreed that Peter [Budaj] deserved to be there. We can’t forget that when Carey [Price] was sick he played two fantastic games for us and only allowed one goal in two games. The way he is working hard during practice, he deserved to play tonight and it was a great challenge for him. He made some key saves at the right time.

On how the Bruins are different without Chara…
He is an important player, one of the best defenseman in the league. We didn’t have a game plan because it was not there, we just tried to play our way. The Desharnais line was able to capitalize on his absence. We all know that Chara is always playing against top players and top lines, and we scored two goals in his absence.

TUUKKA RASK POST GAME: MONTREAL

 

BOSTON BRUINS GOALTENDER TUUKKA RASK
On giving up the lead in the third period…
Obviously, you don’t want that to happen. I take that third goal—that was a bad goal by me—but then a tough bounce on the fourth, and we couldn’t get back

On how different the team is without Chara on the ice…
You know what, I didn’t even realize he was in the box until I saw him coming out. I was just focused on the game, I guess, but he makes a big difference, everybody knows it. He’s got that long reach and takes care of the bodies in front of the net. So, obviously, a big difference, yeah.

On if he saw the Canadiens’ third goal all the way through…
Yeah, I saw him kind of release it, and that’s all I need to know. I think I was just a little too sloppy. I wasn’t really ready for that shot, I guess, and it just went through me. Those are always the tough ones you want to get back.

On losing the puck on the Canadiens’ fourth goal…
It didn’t hit me. I think it hit [Max] Pacioretty when he screened me, and then I thought it would bounce in the corner, but then it just trickled on the side of the net. I dove in there, Fer [Andrew Ference] dove in there, everybody dove in there, and then they found a guy on net and he just buried it.

On taking a lesson away from tonight’s loss…
I don’t think we played that bad in the third. We got stuck out there for that third goal a bit, but that just happens sometimes. But then they get that tying goal, and the fourth one was just a tough bounce. I think after that fourth goal we were kind of wondering what the heck happened there. On a couple of shifts they got a two-on-one there and stuff like that. I think there’s been a couple of games in the past, too, where we’ve gotten the lead in the third and we don’t play the way we want to, but we just haven’t got caught with goals against us. But, today was different.

On Zdeno Chara’s misconduct penalty…
Yeah, we’re known as a team that, we stick for each other, and that was a pretty bad crosscheck there on Segs [Tyler Seguin]. Obviously, Z [Zdeno Chara] saw that and jumped in. We killed a penalty when it happened, but it sucks to lose him for 20 minutes or so.

CHARA..”WE REALLY ARE BROTHERS.”

BOSTON BRUINS DEFENSEMAN ZDENO CHARA
On whether it was frustrating to have the lead in the first two periods and giving it away…
Yeah, I mean it was a good position for us going into the third, but we just have to be doing a better job that last 20, managing the plays and puck.

On having effort but lacking execution in the end…
No, we’ve just got to be a little bit smarter in situations where we need to build, maybe simple plays is better than trying to do too much, but then at the end obviously when we were behind we had to try to do things but before that I think that we can be a little bit better and smarter.

On whether his fight was in retaliation for what might have been a questionable hit on Tyler Seguin…
Yeah, I mean obviously the guy just broke his stick cross-checking Tyler [Seguin] and when he went down I was just reacting to it but he’s one of our best players and I’m not going to just watch him getting crushed like that.

On the team chemistry…
We really are brothers. We just play for each other and protect each other.

On whether he enjoys fighting during games…
Well, I mean it’s not my priority. I don’t think about it. I like to play and play hard and play physical, and what it comes down to is, I’ve never had a problem with it, but obviously it’s not the first option.

On whether he knew Alexei Emelin has a plate in his face when he fought him…
No, I didn’t.

SEGUIN..”EVERYONE ALWAYS HAS EACH OTHER’S BACKS……”

BOSTON BRUINS FORWARD TYLER SEGUIN
On his shot on net at the end of regulation…
Yeah, we were down one goal, so just trying to get it back and the goalie made a great save on me at the end there. I didn’t get it as high as I wanted to, but you move on.

On what happened during the play he went down…
I kind of didn’t really see that guy coming. I guess, I don’t know if they called it a bridge or what not, but the guy came across and his stick just kind of came up on my side.

On if he got hit in the ribs…
Yeah, left side.

On Zdeno Chara coming to his defense…
I didn’t see it, but everybody told me. That’s the character of our team. Everybody always has each other’s backs, and he’s the first guy I went up to after I went back to the dressing room after the period.

On if he had to play through any pain…
No, I’m good.

On Chara being penalized for so long for defending him…
Tough thing about the rules now, yeah. Those are the penalties that we’ll definitely kill off. Those are the ones that don’t hurt you. Definitely nice to see our team sticking together as always.

On preparing for a more physical game when facing the Canadiens…
You want to go into every game doing the same thing, same mentality. But, obviously, we know when we’re playing that team it’s almost like a playoff game every single time. You saw the same thing tonight, and this time we came out on the wrong end of the stick.

On Zdeno Chara getting a misconduct while Alexei Emelin wasn’t penalized…
Yeah, definitely frustrating. I don’t have too much to say on that.

CLAUDE JULIEN PRE GAME AUDIO

CLAUDE JULIEN AUDIO FROM PRACTICE: MONTREAL

BRAD MARCHAND PRESS CONFERENCE

BOSTON BRUINS FORWARD BRAD MARCHAND

On if he knew Price was going in for the poke check when he took his shot… Yeah, once I got my head up, he was already in the motion of poke checking, and I just pulled it around him, and luckily it went in.

On if he read the play as it was developing when he got the goal… Yeah, well once Segs [Tyler Seguin] got it, I saw [the defenseman] decided to go to him, and I was all alone, so I was hoping he’d get it through and he made the play to get it done.

On the team having spectacular solid plays, despite being known for a lot of dirty goals… Yeah, I think sometimes people underestimate our team for the amount of skill we have, but, you know, we have a lot of guys who make great plays, and every now and then we get a nice goal.
On if he scores many goals while in the process of falling… No. That was definitely a first, I think probably my first.

On what the team’s psyche and locker room atmosphere is like when they’re on such a strong streak… It’s definitely a lot of fun. You come in, and when you’re winning a lot, it’s a lot easier to come into the rink. Going to work, we still know that when we’re here we have a job to do, and I think everyone embraces that and does the most to make sure they’re at their best every day, and because of that, that’s why we’re winning right now.

On the expectation for the games that follow blowout wins like in Philadelphia… I don’t think you ever go into a game expecting to win 6-0, but with Looch [Milan Lucic] out today, we knew everyone had to step up a little bit. He’s a key part of our team missing right now so a lot of guys did a great job and stepped up today.

On what the team missed the most without Milan Lucic… Definitely with Looch, he brings a lot of energy a lot of emotion into the game, and he’s a big, physical presence out there. He creates a lot of opportunities, just by being physical, so we definitely miss that from  him and from his line, but  it’ll be nice to get him back.

On the importance of winning games in different ways… It’s huge that we can play with any kind of team. We can play with skilled teams, or play with big, strong power teams, so the fact that we can play against different styles is definitely an advantage to us, and we have to use that to our advantage whenever we can and come out with wins like we did tonight.

On the importance of having the next two days off… They’re very big. We haven’t had a chance to rest here, and we want to go into Friday, the last game before break, hopefully on a good note. They beat us last time they were in here, so we want to get some revenge, so a few days to rest up and get prepared will be nice.

On the key to beating Jose Theodore… We just have to try to get traffic in front of him and get pucks to the net.

On Friday being a big game… We’re obviously battling with them right now to stay at the top of the conference, so that game, it’s a four-point game for both teams. Both teams are going to come out very hard, so we have to make sure we’re ready for them.

On Benoit Pouliot‘s change since the start of the season… Yeah, he’s started feeling really well right now. He’s playing great. It just seems like he has straightened out that line. All three of them are playing great; they’re reading off each other really well, and [Pouliot] is just doing all the little things right. He’s working very hard, and they’re just contributing right now and getting lots of pucks to the net.

CLAUDE JULIEN MORNING AUDIO: HABS TONIGHT