Holiday hustle

BROSSARD -- Following two full days away from the ice, the Habs were back at practice on Tuesday.

And coming off a stretch of eight games in the last 15 days -- a span over which the club went 5-2-1 -- the brief respite was an early Christmas gift for some.
"It was nice -- mostly the rest. We've played a lot of hockey, and had a good stretch of games before those last three where we kind of fell off," acknowledged Brendan Gallagher, who is one of nine Habs who have played in all 31 games this season. "So hopefully this little rest can re-energize our group and we can get back to playing the way we need to play."

The days off were thanks to a rare four days without a game, as the Canadiens last hit the ice on Saturday against Edmonton, and won't suit up again until Thursday against New Jersey.
"It's the first time we have four days without a game this season, and we have some players who aren't at 100% right now," explained head coach Claude Julien, as Shea Weber was the only Hab not at practice, benefiting instead from a therapy day. "It gave us a chance to allow them to recover, with a pair of days off."
But now it's time to get back to work, and the Habs bench boss put his troops through their paces on Tuesday, notably wrapping things up on the ice with an extended session of conditioning skating.
"We can't be too patient with this situation we're in. I think the urgency level needed to be upped a little bit, and he kind of set the tone for practice," admitted Gallagher, as the Habs now look to snap a three-game skid in two days' time. "We as players understood that pretty quickly, and upped our intensity level to where it needed to be. The only way we're going to get out of this is if we start pushing each other at practice and keeping each other accountable. If we can get those things back up where they need to be, I think the results will follow."

Julien also addressed the entire team before heading off the ice, and the point he made was clear.
"The message right now is that nobody's giving up, obviously," continued Gallagher, as the Habs currently sit two points out of third in the Atlantic, and five points out of the East's final wildcard spot. "I think we're still in a position where we can push for a playoff spot, but we can't go through any more losing streaks like we have. We need to string wins together, streaks at a time."
"We've got one home game left before we head on the road for this Christmas break, so it's a pretty important five games for us. We're going to try to take things game-by-game, but really understand that we can't have any bad nights. We've got to be accountable to our teammates, and try to string something together here."
Following Thursday's home game against the Devils, the Habs will embark on their second-longest road swing of the season, taking things outside in Ottawa for the NHL100 Classic on Saturday before heading west to Vancouver, Calgary and Edmonton.

"The next five games are going to be very important for us. There are going to be some big games on the road, and it will be important to get those points before the Christmas break. We can't take things lightly -- we need to hit the ice hungry," concluded Phillip Danault. "Claude is a winner, and he wants to win games. We all want to win as well. We all need a winning attitude, and today was the perfect wake-up call ahead of the next five games."