‘I think we played extremely well tonight,’ Julien says
Win over Caps gives Habs confidence as they prepare to face Boston again
Max Pacioretty said he couldn’t remember the last time an empty-net goal proved to be the game-winner.
But that was the case Friday as Pacioretty’s second goal of the night — and 14th of the season — was the margin of victory in the Canadiens’ 3-2 win over the Washington Capitals at Capital One Arena.
Pacioretty took advantage of a pass from Tomas Plekanec but he said he hesitated for a moment before making a break.
“When I saw Pleky had it, I thought: Do I jump and take the risk of being offside? But I did go and he saw me,” said Pacioretty.
“The guy who was backchecking caught up to me and I think it was going to be a delayed penalty, but I just stuck with it and I was able to find the net.”
The goal at 18:42 gave the Canadiens a 3-1 lead, and became the game-winner when Lars Eller scored 24 seconds later.
“There was still lots of time on the clock and we knew that,” said coach Claude Julien.
“I think what threw that off was (Byron) Froese’s stick broke on the play and by the time he got back in the play, they had full control and it was a 6-on-4 for a while and it was a good shot, off the post and in. It was nice to see us win this game that I thought we deserved.”
It was a strong bounce-back effort for the Canadiens after a devastating 4-1 loss in Boston Wednesday.
“I was critical of the effort,” Julien said when asked about the Boston game. “Somebody asked me if they quit and that’s not for me to answer, but I think we played extremely well tonight and, for me, that’s five out of six games where we’ve played pretty good hockey and that’s what we have to build on. We have a big mountain to climb to get back into the playoffs. We realize it’s going to take a lot of wins and we have to give ourselves a chance. We couldn’t let that Boston game affect us tonight.”
But, as the Canadiens moved nine points out of a wild-card position, the focus is again on the Bruins, because Montreal and Boston meet for the third time in eight nights Saturday at the Bell Centre.
“We’ve been playing one game at a time and we know what’s in front of us,” said Pacioretty, who also assisted on the other Montreal goal by Paul Byron. “Obviously we didn’t play a strong game in Boston but when we played at home (last Saturday), we played a good game and we know what we’re able to do against a team like that.”
Pacioretty acknowledged the Bruins have a dominant line in Patrice Bergeron, Brad Marchand and David Pastrnak, and “we have to force them to play defence and try to create against their other lines.”
“There were a lot of good things tonight,” Julien said. “The goaltender who works hard every day in practice and has a great attitude and those are the kind of guys you’re happy for when you get a win like that.”
That would be backup Antti Niemi, who made 24 saves in his first start since Dec. 23. Niemi posted his first win of the season and ran his career record against the Capitals to 6-0-3.
Julien was also pleased with the play of Jonathan Drouin. He was on the ice late in the game and won two key faceoffs in the defensive zone. He won 10 of 16 draws for a success rate of 63 per cent.
Obviously we didn’t play a strong game in Boston but when we played at home (last Saturday), we played a good game and we know what we’re able to do.