Danault: 'We know we can be a lot better'

LAS VEGAS - The Canadiens were dealt a 4-1 defeat by the Golden Knights on Monday night in the series-opener at T-Mobile Arena.

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After the game, goaltender Carey Price, defenseman Joel Edmundson and forwards Cole Caufield and Phillip Danault spoke with reporters via Zoom.
They were followed by interim head coach Dominique Ducharme.
Here are a few highlights from their respective chats:
Price on the impact of Vegas' defensemen in the series-opener:
They've got some solid defensemen over there. They were finding lanes, getting pucks through and jumping into the rush. That's what good defensemen do. I just have to find a way to mitigate that.

Price on his positive takeaways from Game 1:
It was a great start. I thought we came out firing. They grabbed the momentum going into the second period. But, I thought in that first period, we showed that we could play with them.

Edmundson on countering the Golden Knights' impressive group of blueliners:
They do a good job of getting pucks through. Their forwards are at the net front. They've got some bodies blocking Carey's view. They jump up in the play. We've just got to do a better job taking them away and slowing them down coming up the ice.

Edmundson on the Canadiens getting into penalty trouble, which proved costly:
I thought we had a good first period and then we just took too many penalties. That gave them the momentum. Our killers were playing a lot of hockey, which is tiring, especially against a power play like that. We've just got to limit our penalties. When we do that, we're an effective hockey team.
Caufield on scoring his first career playoff goal in front of his family:
It was pretty special to have them at the game. It was really special just to have them in the same country as I am, honestly. It was a really special feeling. Obviously, it wasn't the result we wanted, but we'll be back on Wednesday for more.

Caufield on trying to rally after falling behind:
I think we had our chances to get back in the game. It was tight for a while. We got it back to 2-1 and then we just had some bad bounces. There are things that we can get better at and work on. We'll be ready for Wednesday. We just need to bring more energy and more focus.

Danault on why the Golden Knights were particularly effective:
They played with good rhythm. They finished their series with Colorado just a few days ago. On our end, we had a week of rest. We need to come out strong and get our rhythm back from the last two series. We know we can be a lot better.
Danault on the adjustments the Habs must make for Game 2:
We weren't surprised by the way they started the game. It's up to us to make the necessary changes. We can't be spectators. We need to play our style.
Ducharme on the turning point in the contest:
It was the penalties we took in the second period. They killed our rhythm. I liked our first period. We could've taken the lead at the start of the game. I think the three or four penalties we took in the second period really hurt us.

Ducharme on what he'd like to see from his group come Wednesday night:
We need our four lines and our six defensemen. We want to be more consistent and we want to be better. We have players who had a good game, while others didn't. Right now, we can't allow that to happen. I think our four lines can be more consistent.