Stepping up

MONTREAL -- Without their Russian General, another Habs defenseman stepped up on Tuesday night.

With Andrei Markov sidelined by injury for the first time in over 100 games on his 38th birthday, Jeff Petry and the rest of the Habs all pitched in to get him the perfect gift -- a win.
"No one feels sorry for themselves [because we have some key injuries at the moment]. They know this is an opportunity to step up and show what they're made of," stressed Max Pacioretty, in reference to the fact that the club was without the services of four regulars against the Ducks.
Yet with Markov, Alex Galchenyuk, David Desharnais, and Andrew Shaw all nursing injuries, the Habs still put five-straight past a tough Anaheim team while allowing just 13 shots on goal.
"Guys have stepped up and played roles that they've never played before, and have contributed greatly to the team's success. We're happy for everybody when they have that individual success. It takes a group effort, especially with the situation we're in right now," continued the Canadiens captain, who picked up his 13th goal of the season on the power play midway through the third. "Everybody needs to make sure they're skating and making it hard on the opposing team, because even if it doesn't show up on the scoresheet, it shows as the game goes on."
Or in the case of Petry, it shows up on both.
"He's probably playing the best hockey of his career right now," underlined Michel Therrien on the topic of the night's three-point performer. "We've seen him improve since the day he arrived from Edmonton, but lately he's become as involved on offense as he is on defense. He skates well and he plays with confidence, which are important things on this team."

On Tuesday, Petry was named the Habs' first star against the Ducks after setting up the first-period equalizer and second-period game-winner, then potting an insurance goal himself unassisted in the third.
All that without his usual partner on the blue line in Markov.
"I think Beau [Nathan Beaulieu] did a good job coming in, because [Anaheim's] not an easy team to play against down low -- they have some big bodies. Our focus was to outskate them tonight, and not let them lay the body on us," added Petry on playing with the 24-year-old who stepped in for the veteran rearguard. "Tonight we used our speed really well, and that's one of our biggest assets. We knew with the start we had in Anaheim [on Nov. 29], it would be tough for them to keep up with us if we played a full 60, so that's what we did tonight."

With the effort, Petry is now riding a three-game goal streak and boasts seven points in his last five games.
Credit the coaching staff for the fortuitous turn of events.
"I went through a little bit of a drop off for a few games, so I had a meeting with J.J. [Daigneault], and he just told me that when you're a the top of your game, you're skating and playing physical, so my focus has been on getting back to that," explained the 29-year-old, who finished the night a plus-2 with five shots on goal and two hits over 25:07 of ice time. "So far it's paying off."