VAN@MTL: Quotes of the night

MONTREAL - The Canadiens posted a 5-3 victory over the Canucks on Tuesday night at the Bell Centre, improving their record to 7-1-2 so far this season.

Following the contest, forwards Josh Anderson and Tyler Toffoli met the media, along with goaltender Jake Allen.
They were followed by head coach Claude Julien.
Here are a few highlights from their Zoom-based Q&A with reporters:
Anderson, who registered his fifth and sixth goals of the year in the win, was asked to share his impressions of Toffoli, and he offered up a glowing review:
He's scored some pretty incredible goals. You just look at that one tonight, the one-on-one where he goes through his legs and then puts it on his backhand top-shelf. I was just in awe. I couldn't believe it. He's been awesome. He's been a very consistent player for us and a very dangerous threat out there. We're very lucky to have him.

The 26-year-old right-winger also praised the various ways the Canadiens marked captain Shea Weber's 1,000th career NHL game, including compiling video tributes and placing signs drawn by his children at ice level:
I thought that was awesome. It was a very special night. Maybe it's a little unfortunate that his family and friends couldn't go to the game with the situation going on, but I thought they did a tremendous job, and then we had a nice get-together after the game. We had a little gift from the boys there and the management. It's not every day you get to play your 1,000th game. I think it was such a special night, just to be a part of it, and seeing Webb's being such a great leader and going through that. I'm very happy for him.

Following his 36-save performance, goaltender Jake Allen talked about what he believes makes Toffoli and Anderson so good at lighting the lamp consistently:
I just let them score [in practice]. I give them confidence. (Laughs) Toff, I played against him a lot in the West over the years. He's always a guy that's just dangerous out there. He's not overly flashy. He's got a ton of super nice goals this year, but he just knows how to score. He can find those quiet spots, stick in the right spot. It's funny. When goal scorers score, they always say that pucks sort of come to them. He's always had that when he was with LA for that tenure. Josh, he's just a beast out there. He's a presence. He's a big man, he can skate like the wind, and he can really shoot the puck as well. Obviously going to the net hard is where he's going to score most of his goals. I think you're just seeing the beginning of what he can really do.

Allen also provided some insight on the high degree of difficulty involved in stopping shots like the one Toffoli used to score his highlight-reel marker on Canucks goaltender Thatcher Demko in the middle frame:
Backhands are honestly really tricky. I think a lot of the times the players don't even know where they're going. They're really just trying to get it on net, and most of the time high and hard. You really can't read the release because the blade's backwards. There's no real specifics on where the puck is going to go. It sort of just slides off the blade on one side or the other. It's a tricky thing to be able to read, but it's a really nice goal by him. He's playing with a lot of confidence right now.

Toffoli, meanwhile, couldn't easily identify why he has torched Canucks goaltending for so many goals this season. Eight of his team-leading nine markers have come against his former team:
I think it's just one of those things, even early in my career when I was in LA, I just always felt really good. All of those games my legs were always under me and things just go my way. Tonight was just another example of sticking with it and capitalizing on some of my chances.
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As far as where he ranks that slick solo effort among his 154 career regular-season goals to date, Toffoli didn't provide a concrete number:
It's a nice goal for myself. I don't know. It's just fun out there right now. We're just doing so well as a team and all the guys are getting along great. Hopefully we can just kind of stick with it, stay together and keep getting better every single day. That's what we're trying to do, and I think we're on the right path right now.

For his part, Julien appreciates the way his players are going about their business at the moment:
We're having a good start to the season. That helps build our confidence. The guys are smart enough to know that confidence also comes with the work we do in practice. We had a good challenge tonight, especially in the third period. Vancouver tightened things up, but we stuck with it. We found a way to win. We're a confident team, but we must realize that our confidence comes from the fact that we work hard.

And there's no denying the Habs' bench boss appreciates what Anderson brings to the table:
He's a guy who skates well. He uses his speed along the boards. He has a good wrist shot. He isn't scared to go to the net. When you go to the net like he's been doing since the start of the season, pucks find you.