Playing with poise and composure

TAMPA BAY - Confident. That's the best word to describe the way Nathan Beaulieu is feeling about his game.

And, why wouldn't he be feeling that way? The 24-year-old defenseman is logging the biggest minutes of his young career as of late with Andrei Markov on the sidelines, and certainly put his incredibly strong skating ability on full display in the Canadiens' two most recent outings leading into the Christmas break playing alongside Shea Weber.
Now, as Michel Therrien's troops begin a three-game road trip against the Lightning on Wednesday night at Amalie Arena - and will be deprived of Markov's services for the duration of the trek that also includes stops in Sunrise and Pittsburgh - Beaulieu is primed to continue asserting himself as a dependable defenseman capable of being a real force on the back end.
"I think this is definitely the best hockey I've ever played. Since I've come back, I've been given a bigger role and I feel like I've been taking advantage of it," said Beaulieu, who returned to active duty on December 8 after taking an errant puck to the throat that forced him to miss six games. "Statistically speaking, the numbers aren't coming for me right now, but offensively I'm getting chances and I'm creating stuff and the team's being pretty successful, so I can't really complain."

While Beaulieu would surely like to be a more consistent point-getter - having collected just two assists in his eight outings since returning from injury - the 2011 Memorial Cup champion and 2012 World Junior Hockey Championship bronze medalist is doing everything in his power to be as effective as he can in other areas of his game in order to earn his ice time. Even though he recently missed a chunk of games, for example, Beaulieu still sits tied for second on the team with a plus-12 differential and ranks fourth with 44 blocked shots on the year.
After logging 27:43 against the Minnesota Wild last Thursday night, Beaulieu followed that up with a career-high 28:22 of ice time the following night in Columbus. You just don't play that many minutes if you're not getting the job done, and that's had a significant effect on the talented rearguard's psyche.
"The hardest thing when you're breaking into the league is playing 10-and-under minutes. It's nearly impossible to try to keep your head in the game and be engaged, so the more you play, definitely the better off you are," mentioned Beaulieu, who has 179 games of NHL experience under his belt since debuting with the Canadiens in 2012-13. "Those things aren't just going to be given to you. You're not just going to be given 25 minutes. You've got to earn it and I feel like I've been earning it more now and I've been playing better hockey."

During Tuesday afternoon's on-ice session, Beaulieu was back playing with Jeff Petry as Alexei Emelin returned to practice following the birth of his third child in Montreal. He was partnered with Weber on the Canadiens' top power play unit, though, which should give him another shot to right the ship offensively if the Lightning get into penalty trouble.
"It's another great opportunity. If you're playing good hockey, [the coaching staff isn't] going to be shying away from giving you opportunities, so it's another opportunity for me to step up in Marky's spot now that he's out for a little bit," said Beaulieu, who has one goal and eight points in 28 games so far this season. "My job is to take full advantage of it."
His bench boss believes he's fully capable of doing just that - and a lot more.
"He's playing with confidence. He skates well. He moves the puck. You've got to be patient with young defensemen. That's a good example," praised Therrien. "We're pleased with the way he's performing right now."