Habs win one for absent coach
Canadiens 5 Flyers 0 SERIES TIED 1-1
Julien, recovering from health scare, watches shutout from afar
Kirk Muller didn’t have time to check his phone in the heat of the moment.
He was too busy leading the Canadiens to their most convincing victory in recent memory.
Moments after Friday’s final buzzer, however, there was a message waiting from head coach Claude Julien as he recovers from a health scare.
From top to bottom, there’s no doubt Montreal’s roster put a smile on his face with a dominant performance. Tomas Tatar and Jesperi Kotkaniemi scored twice, Carey Price made 30 saves for the seventh post-season shutout of his career, and the Canadiens thumped the Philadelphia Flyers 5-0 to even their first-round playoff series at one game apiece just over 24 hours after learning Julien had been rushed to hospital with chest pains.
“He was one of the first guys that congratulated us,” Muller, the team’s associate coach who will be running the bench in the 60-year-old’s absence, said of the text message he received from Julien.
“To Claude, I’m sure he’s listening ... this win, it’s for you.”
Julien, who was admitted to hospital following the Canadiens’ 2-1 loss in Game 1, had a stent installed in a coronary artery Thursday. The team said he would be returning home to Montreal to rest, adding that doctors expect a full recovery.
“Our thoughts and prayers are with Claude and his family,” said Canadiens forward Max Domi, who had three assists for the first playoff points of his career. “We’re just trying to stay focused here and get ready to go. We did a great job of that from the get-go.”
Muller, who will be in charge for at least the rest of this series, made his playoff head coaching debut after leading Carolina Hurricanes for parts of three seasons from 2011 to 2014. “The players know their roles, they know how we want to play,” he said. “It was easy for me.”
Montreal captain Shea Weber picked up the puck at the end of the game, but Muller had no doubt where it’s heading.
“The puck really should go to Claude,” Muller said. “I’m sure that’s what they grabbed it for.”
Joel Armia had the other goal for the Canadiens, who will look to take a surprising 2-1 lead in the series Sunday with their coach watching from afar.
“Claude steers the ship for us and he guides what we do,” Montreal defenceman Ben Chiarot added. “We just play as hard as we can for him.”
Carter Hart stopped 22 of 26 shots before getting pulled in favour of Brian Elliott, who finished with five saves. “Having the good news on Claude’s health was a nice relief for everybody,” Muller said. “We have great leaders in this room. They did a great job of getting the guys prepared.”