MTL@CBJ: Moving on to Winnipeg

COLUMBUS - Shortly after dropping a critical game to the Blue Jackets on Thursday night, the Canadiens shifted their focus squarely to their upcoming encounter with the Winnipeg Jets.

Under these circumstances, there just wasn't any time to dwell on their 6-2 defeat at Nationwide Arena that enabled Columbus to move right back into the final wild spot and left them on the outside of the playoff picture looking in.
Following the final buzzer in Ohio, head coach Claude Julien's message to his players was rather straightforward.
"As a team, we know we have to be better than that… As I told the guys, we need to park this and really focus on Winnipeg because we've got to go to Winnipeg and win a hockey game," stressed the veteran bench boss, referencing Saturday evening's tilt at Bell MTS Place. "That's where all our energy has to be starting right now."

It most definitely does, and Julien fully expects that his group will be prepared to answer the call in Manitoba.
"We've done it all year. It's pretty simple. No matter how bad this loss hurts, we've got character players in that dressing room, character players that care, that want to do well, and as a coach you love seeing that," explained Julien. "I've got a lot of young guys, but I've also got some good veterans and a good mix, so I'm confident we're going to go to Winnipeg and we're going to be ready to play."
The tilt versus the Jets will mark the start of another tough stretch of games to close out the regular season. After that, the Canadiens will play the Tampa Bay Lightning at home before travelling to Washington to battle the Capitals ahead of their finale against the Toronto Maple Leafs at the Bell Centre.
With that in mind, Julien's troops know exactly what they have to do the rest of the way in order to give themselves the best chance possible to secure a postseason berth.
"We need to win all of the games," said assistant captain Brendan Gallagher. "We're a pretty good team ourselves. Playing the way we need to play, that's all we need to focus on. We need to focus on ourselves. We can't be worrying about what's going on around the League. We just need to win our games."

Like Gallagher, captain Shea Weber stressed the importance of putting Thursday night's performance out of their minds and only looking straight ahead.
"It's disappointing, but at the end of the day there's no way we can get those two points back. It's unfortunate. All we can do now is take care of the next four," emphasized Weber. "We've got work to do and we've got eight points to get here and see what happens."

Remember that the Canadiens handed the Jets a 5-2 loss at the Bell Centre back in February, so they're more than capable of taking care of business against the Western Conference powerhouse.
Winnipeg has also lost two straight games, so perhaps the Habs are catching them at just the right moment.
Regardless, the mission in the provincial capital is crystal clear.
"As much as this one hurts, we know we still have a chance. Our focus has to be one game at a time and that's Winnipeg," said defenseman Jeff Petry. "They're a good team and we're not looking past that one."