MTL@WPG: Quotes of the night

WINNIPEG - The Canadiens were dealt a 6-3 loss by the Jets on Thursday night at Bell MTS Place.

Following the game, forwards Jonathan Drouin and Phillip Danault, goaltender Carey Price, and interim head coach Dominique Ducharme spoke with reporters via Zoom.
Here are a few highlights from their respective chats:
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Drouin talked about where things went wrong against Winnipeg in the first meeting of the season between the two squads:
We could ask our defensemen not to give them the blue line, but that doesn't really serve a purpose if we don't backcheck. We definitely changed some things before the game. It's all a bit new, but we didn't change our game plan and our system completely. We still have to play the same style of game. We've been shooting ourselves in the foot and we aren't helping ourselves.

He was especially disappointed that the team couldn't secure a victory for Ducharme in his head coaching debut:
Every time a new coach comes in, you want to win your first game. You want him to feel good and show that the team is performing. We were in good shape early on. We were fired up. Everything was going well. The lines were rolling. Small mistakes hurt us tonight against a team with a lot of talent offensively. We'll have to look at that to try and understand what isn't working. We have to come back with a big game against them on Saturday.

Danault, meanwhile, discussed the momentum shift in the game after the Canadiens were the better team in the opening frame:
We have to be more intense for 60 minutes. I think we stopped playing and they scored two quick goals. We have to be stronger than that. We had the lead. We know that Winnipeg is an offensive machine. They're capable of scoring goals up and down the lineup. We have to play 60 minutes. It's important for us.

Danault discussed the coaching changes as well:
First, I'd like to thank Claude. He was very good for me. He gave me a lot of advice with respect to my game and my attitude off the ice. I'd like to thank him for that. Coaching changes happen in hockey. At some point, the message isn't getting through. Change can be good something. It's up to us now, the players. We have to regroup and move forward.
After surrendering five goals on 29 shots versus the Jets, Price was asked how he's been working through his struggles of late:
It's the same as last game. I'm just sticking to the process and trying to figure it out.

Price briefly touched on Claude Julien and Kirk Muller being relieved of their duties, too:
It's shocking, obviously. We have some changes to make that we'll address here coming up. It's a work in progress.

For his part, Ducharme addressed the confidence level of his group:
We're a little fragile right now. It's normal. We have to find a way to control the things that we have the ability to control. We didn't do good work in that aspect of the game. We made mistakes that led to scoring chances and goals.

The new Habs bench boss was also asked to evaluate the play of his veterans on Thursday night:
I think it's a lot like the performance of the team in general. I liked what we did in the first half of the game and I didn't like the other half. Whether it's the young guys or the veterans, it's the same thing.