Dominique Ducharme believes he has a model match in the bank. The head coach of the Montreal Canadiens said Wednesday that his troops could build on the performance of the day before, when they defeated the Detroit Red Wings 3-0, at the Bell Center.
“Yesterday [mardi], that was our team. I’m happy with the way we played. It was our way of playing, ”he said.
“We don’t need to talk about last season anymore. We played a model match, he added. In our previous victories, we had done some good things. But yesterday was what we want to do. “
For his part, Red Wings head coach Jeff Blashill was unimpressed by his squad’s effort, saying she had “played like it was a pre-game”.
The Red Wings were also deprived of two of their best forwards: Dylan Larkin (personal reasons) and Tyler Bertuzzi (unvaccinated).
However, this is not what will temper the enthusiasm in the Montreal camp. “We respected the system of play and we relied on each other well,” said forward Christian Dvorak. When we play like this, we have a good chance of winning. “
Serious challenge
Ducharme reiterated being aware that the Canadiens (3-8-0) were not going to win their last 71 games. He believes, however, that if his squad can play more often as they did on Tuesday, they will be more successful than in the first 10 games of the campaign, which resulted in just two wins on their record.
“We understood how much easier it is for our goalie, for our defensemen, with and without the puck, and for our forwards,” said Ducharme. We looked faster as a team for this reason. We spent less time in the defensive zone for this reason. We gave less chances to score. We understand what kind of effort it takes. He added that the “challenge now is not to slow down or lower our level of play.”
This challenge will begin Thursday, when the New York Islanders (3-2-2) will be the visitors to the Bell Center. The team reached four in the playoffs last year as well as the year before. “It’s a hard-working, well-structured team,” Ducharme said of the Islanders. It will be a good challenge. Again, we won’t have the desired result if we don’t bring what we brought [face aux Red Wings]. “
Drouin, day by day
Ducharme said examinations of forward Jonathan Drouin did not reveal symptoms of concussion and that his condition would be reassessed on a daily basis. Drouin fell in action in the first period of the game against the Red Wings. He was hit on the left side of the face by a throw from teammate Brett Kulak.
“We really want to take all the necessary precautions,” said Ducharme, who nevertheless hinted that Drouin could be in uniform against the Islanders. If so, then Drouin would find himself back in the middle of Mike Hoffman and Josh Anderson.