Reilly: Teams 'taking notice' of Habs' speed

BOSTON - The Canadiens may have come out on the losing end of a tightly-fought contest in Buffalo, but on Friday, the talk continued to center around the impressive speed they've brought to the table this season.

"People are probably starting to catch on. I think it was evident in camp right off the hop, the speed that we started with at the beginning of camp," said defenseman Mike Reilly, one of only two Canadiens skaters to register at least 20 minutes of ice time on Thursday night. "It's nothing really new inside the dressing room. There will be a lot more teams taking notice of a lot of the high-end speed we have up front and the guys that can make plays and be creative."

Reilly agreed that the Sabres might've adjusted their game in anticipation of his team's improved style of play. But regardless of how the Habs' opponents react to their quick brand of hockey, the American rearguard has loved coming to work this season.
"The guys we added this summer make a lot of jobs easier in the dressing room. I love playing like that," added Reilly, who has three points and a plus-four rating in nine games. "Adding Max [Domi] this summer and [Tomas] Tatar, I'm always itching to get on the ice with those guys - when we're playing 5-on-5 and 4-on-4 because I know they're going to try to find me and I'll try to find them and they can make plays. The way the League is going, we need guys like that to be our top guys."
Author of a pair of goals against Buffalo, forward Max Domi echoed Reilly's sentiments and was not concerned with the Canadiens' ability to maintain this kind of pace through the grind of an 82-game season.
"The only pace we're really concerned about is winning," declared Domi, the Habs' leading scorer with 10 points. "We had a tough game last game, but we'll bounce back."
Hudon draws in
The Canadiens practiced at the Warrior Ice Arena in Brighton, MA after landing in Boston postgame, but Brendan Gallagher and Noah Juulsen took therapy days and were not on the ice.
Head coach Claude Julien said that both players should be ready to go for Saturday night's tilt against the Bruins, but that doesn't mean he wouldn't be making any changes to his lineup for the game. He stated that Charles Hudon would be drawing in, although he hadn't made a decision on who would get scratched to make room for him.

For Julien, coming back to Boston is always a special occasion given what he experienced over his 10 seasons in the city
"It'll always be special to come here. I won a Stanley Cup here. I can also say that every time I came to Montreal with the Bruins, it was also special," shared the coach. "You try not to think about it too much, but still, I was here for several years and we had some success here."
Centerman Phillip Danault pointed out that for that and many other reasons, the Canadiens should be extra motivated to leave TD Garden with two points on Saturday.
"It's always a big game against Boston. It's always fun to win it for the coach, but for us, too. It's a big game," he concluded. "We want to bounce back."