Habs : ‘I want to beat these guys’: Subban

Source : Montrealgazette.com

With the the Canadiens facing elimination in their playoff series against the Ottawa Senators, there was a touch of the old P.K. Subban swagger Wednesday.

The Senators lead the best-of-seven Eastern Conference 3-1 going into Thursday’s Game 5 at the Bell Centre (7 p.m., CBC, RDS, TSN-690 Radio) but Subban said the series is far from over.

“They want to end this but they have to beat us first,” said Subban. “Good luck to them.”

The Canadiens star defenceman has been relatively low-key this season after missing the first six games of the season while hammering out a new contract. He has deferred to veteran Andrei Markov on numerous occasions but Subban’s emergence as an elite player was confirmed Tuesday when he was named as one of the three finalists for the Norris Trophy, which goes to the best defenceman in the NHL.

Subban was one of three players who addressed the media Wednesday as the team confined its preparations for Game 5 with a meeting and off-ice workouts. Subban opened by apologizing for not talking about the Norris Trophy nomination on Tuesday, explaining that he was concentrating on the playoffs.

“We still have a rule right now, we’re still alive and tomorrow’s game is the biggest of the season and we have to be ready to play,” said Subban. “Our focus has to be on bringing the best we have to this next game.We can sit and talk about last night’s game all we want, but it’s over with, and quite frankly, I want to beat these guys. We have another opportunity to go and do that tomorrow.”

He might have provided the Senators with some bulletin board material when he said on at least three occasions that the Canadiens are the better team.

The Canadiens were certainly the healthier team for most of the season but the losses have been mounting for Montreal. Coach Michel Therrien announced Wednesday that Brian Gionta is finished for the season after tearing his left biceps. Rugged forwards Ryan White and Brandon Prust will both miss Game 5 with upper-body injuries and starting goaltender Carey Price is doubtful with a lower-body injury.

“We know this isn’t an ideal situation, but these guys are showing that they have a lot of courage,” said Therrien. “I know because I’m right there with them every day. You look at Brian Gionta. He got hurt in the first game and has done everything possible to try and come back since. When the decision was finally made that he wasn’t going to be able to play anymore, he was absolutely devastated. Those are the hardest moments to see.

“These guys all have a lot of courage and we probably deserved a better fate than the one we’re facing at this moment,” he added. “But one thing’s for sure: with the type of character this team has, I know we’re going to play another strong game tomorrow and go out there and give it everything we have.”

If Price can’t play, Peter Budaj will get the start in goal. He was called up to play the overtime Tuesday night in Ottawa and gave up the winning goal to Kyle Turris.

“It was a floater,” explained Budaj, who who was one of the few players to step on the ice Wednesday. “I don’t know whether it hit (Montreal defenceman Raphael Diaz) — I don’t think it did — but I misplayed it. I should have made the stop.”

Budaj said he didn’t know whether Price would be able to play but he said he would be ready if needed. He had an 8-1-1 record in the regular season and backstopped the Canadiens to a win over Toronto in the final game of the season to give Montreal the top spot in the Northeast Division.

In Ottawa, rookie defenceman Eric Gryba said: “We smell blood. We can taste blood. It’s time to put them away.” There was a perverse twist to his comments since he was the player who took Lars Eller out of the series with an illegal hit.

But Senators coach Paul MacLean, who knows first-hand that a wounded team can be dangerous, offered a cautionary note when he said: “we’re scared to death.”