MTL@OTT: Quotes of the night

KANATA - The Canadiens' four-game road trip began with a 3-2 overtime loss to the Ottawa Senators on Sunday night at the Canadian Tire Centre.

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Following the contest, forwards Corey Perry and Nick Suzuki, goaltender Jake Allen, and head coach Claude Julien spoke with reporters via Zoom.
Here are a few highlights from their respective chats:
Perry had high praise for Allen's stellar performance in between the pipes. The 30-year-old netminder was peppered with 39 shots, including six in the extra frame alone:
Jake has battled all season for us. He kept us in this game. What did we give up? Six breakaways or five breakaways tonight? That's not how we play. We have to sharpen that up.

Given the fact that the Habs have won just once in their last five games, Perry was asked if there's currently any concern in the locker room:
We just have to limit our mistakes, limit the turnovers. It's all about us. We sometimes give them more than they deserve. That's about taking care of the puck in the right situations and knowing what's on the clock. We'll fix it and we'll move forward.

Suzuki, meanwhile, commented on why he believes the team has struggled in recent weeks:
I think we're pretty much all up in our own heads right now. I think we're just overthinking it, playing not to lose, and that's never a good thing to do. At the start of the season, we were really energized and everyone was having fun. That got away from us.

The back-to-back defeats over the weekend were especially difficult for Suzuki to swallow because the group was coming off a lengthy break before getting back to work:
I think everyone's pretty frustrated with how we've been playing and not winning at all. It's up to us to find a way out of this. We still believe in each other and we still have a strong group, so we've just got to work our way out of it.

For his part, Allen did his best to explain why the victories aren't coming as regularly as they did when the campaign began:
At the start, we came out flying. We set the bar real high. Obviously, it's dropped a little bit right now and we have to find a way to get that bar back up to where it was at the start of the year. We have a good hockey team. We believe it internally, and I believe it personally. We have good people and good leadership and good players. We've just got to get back to where we were at the start of the year.

Allen also reflected on a hectic extra frame when he was challenged on multiple occasions by the Senators' shooters:
Three-on-three, it's sort of a crapshoot. That's the way I've always thought of it. You're going to win some and you're going to lose some. It's all about breakdowns and getting guys tired on the ice. We had our chances and they had their chances. Tired legs, it's tough out there with a lot of space for guys to move. We'll find a way to win that next one.

Like his players, Julien shared his thoughts on the tough stretch the team is going through right now:
We never took anything for granted, even with a good start to the season. We knew that it would be tough because of the condensed schedule. There are highs and lows during a season. We have to find a way to manage this situation. Obviously, there's frustration. The majority of our players are bringing good efforts, but we have to make better decisions.

As far as Allen's play is concerned, Julien gave him another strong review:
Our goaltender was excellent tonight. He played well for us. He gave us an opportunity to come away with at least one point.