Montreal wins one for recovering coach
Montreal won this playoff game for its absent coach.
Kirk Muller and the rest of the Canadiens just had to dedicate the Game 2 victory Friday to Claude Julien.
“To Claude, I’m sure you’re listening; this win’s for you,” Muller said.
Tomas Tatar and Jesperi Kotkaniemi each scored twice, Carey Price stopped 30 shots and the Canadiens rebounded without Julien to rout the Philadelphia Flyers, 5-0, in Toronto and tie the first-round Eastern Conference best-of-seven series at 1-1.
“We have a job and he would expect that as well,” forward Max Domi said. “So we were just trying to stay focused here and get ready to go. And I think we did a great job of that.”
Julien was home in Montreal a day after a stent was placed in a coronary artery. The team said doctors expect a full recovery.
Julien was rushed to St. Michael’s Hospital in Toronto overnight Wednesday with chest pain. He had surgery Thursday. Because Julien left the NHL bubble in Toronto, he will have to follow quarantine protocol if he wishes to re-enter it. Muller will serve as interim head coach for the rest of the Eastern Conference quarterfinal series.
“Claude steers the ship for us, and he
guides what we do out there,” defenseman Ben Chiarot said.
“We’ll just play as hard as we can for him.”
Game 3 is Sunday night.
The Canadiens roughed up Flyers goalie
Carter Hart, who turned 22 Thursday, and scored four goals through two periods to send him to the bench.
The Canadiens continued their sensational surge through Toronto hockey and bounced back fine after a 2-1 Game 1 loss.