Habs : No pressure on Canadiens, Michel Therrien insists

Source : montrealgazette.com



Michel Therrien says his team isn’t feeling any pressure as the favourite going into its first-round Stanley Cup playoff series against the Ottawa Senators.

And the coach doesn’t think there’s any pressure on the five Canadiens who will be experiencing NHL playoff action for the first time.

“We don’t feel pressure, we want to apply pressure,” Therrien said after his team wrapped up three days of practice in preparation for the opening game in the best-of-seven series Thursday at the Bell Centre (7 p.m., CBC, RDS, TSN-690 Radio).

Therrien predicted a long and arduous series and was careful to avoid any inflammatory comments that would find their way to a bulletin board in the Senators’ locker room.

He dismissed Ottawa coach Paul MacLean’s suggestion that there was pressure on the Canadiens as the favourite in the series and then he went on to praise MacLean’s work in getting to the playoffs despite a string of injuries.

When he was asked whether the bad blood between Brandon Prust and Chris Neil might spill over into the post-season, he ducked the question and praised Neil for his competitive spirit.

Inexperience could be a concern for both teams going into Game 1. The Canadiens have three rookies — Brendan Gallagher, Alex Galchenyuk and recall Jarred Tinordi — while Max Pacioretty and 
Raphael Diaz are seeing playoff action for the first time.

Ottawa will have at least five rookies in the lineup, including Cory Conacher, Jakob Silfverberg and Mika Zibanejad.

Therrien said he has talked to his young players and he believes that they are ready for their first taste of the playoffs.

Tinordi, who could be a factor in the post-season, appeared calm after practice Wednesday. He has been soaking in the playoff atmosphere since being recalled from Hamilton last week and has been getting tips from his father Mark, a former NHL defenceman with 70 playoff games under his belt.

“It’s exciting,” said Tinordi, whose NHL experience is limited to eight games. “I remember my first game, I didn’t sleep much the night before. I was pretty jittery. I’m taking a different approach this time. I want to play my game and not get too ramped up. I’m sure all the emotions will be there on the day of the game, but right now I’m just focused on Ottawa.”

Tinordi said he expected the atmosphere at the Bell Centre would be crazy, “but we have to use that in a positive way.”

The 6-foot-6 Tinordi is important because he gives the Canadiens some size and his physical play helps fill the void left by Alex Emelin’s season-ending knee injury.

The Canadiens have spent a good part of the past three days working on special teams, particularly the penalty-kill, which has struggled for most of the season. The addition of Tinordi and the return of Prust and Raphael Diaz from injuries can help the Canadiens turn this area of the game around.

“We’re ready,” said Diaz, who is back to playing 20 minutes a game after missing 25 games with a concussion. “It’s about blocking shots and getting in the shooting lanes. One of the biggest parts of the PK is to be in the lanes and you have to know when to force and when to stay back. You don’t want to force a player when he has good control because then he can make a pass and you’re out of position.

“The PK is about work, it’s about heart and it’s about four guys working together,” added Diaz. “The last couple of games, we’ve been good and I think we’ll take that into the playoffs.”

Therrien will start the playoffs with almost the same lineup he employed last Saturday in Toronto. The one exception will be in goal with Carey Price replacing Peter Budaj.

Ryan White, who returned Saturday from a five-game suspension, gets another shot at centre on the fourth line with Prust and Travis Moen. Jeff Halpern is better than White in the faceoff circle, but White is the more physical player and the line may be designed to keep Neil’s competitive spirit in check.

Game 2 in the series is scheduled for the Bell Centre Friday night, with the series moving to Scotiabank Place in Kanata for games Sunday and Tuesday.