PIT@MTL: False start

MONTREAL - The Habs deserved better on Saturday night.

Following a slow start which saw the Penguins score three goals in the opening 8:51 of play, the Canadiens bounced back with an otherwise solid game.
"Unfortunately, we dug ourselves a hole there at the beginning, but I thought that we played with energy," underlined Claude Julien following the 5-1 loss. "We pushed hard in the second, but couldn't find the back of the net often enough. [Pittsburgh] played a good third, and didn't give up a lot of chances."
The Habs' lone goalscorer agreed with his bench boss.
"You're putting yourself behind the eight-ball when you get down 3-0," described Brendan Gallagher, who nevertheless scored for a third-consecutive game. "We did have a push -- we had some breakaways, we hit some posts… If just one of those go in, maybe you get some momentum going, and maybe they tighten up a little bit."

Indeed, luck wasn't on the Canadiens' side on Saturday night.
"It was weird. It was one of those games where even some of the bounces… It bounced off a shin pad and he saved it, or pucks were going to the back post and not in," explained captain Shea Weber, who fired four shots on goal, but was held off the scoresheet. "It was a weird one, but I think energy-wise on a back-to-back after a road trip, we had good legs and did good things. It was just a weird night."
Sidney Crosby and Jake Guentzel picked up four points each with the visitors, but Jeff Petry insists the Habs deserved a better fate.
"I think the result of the game doesn't reflect the way we played," stressed the American blue-liner. "We competed all night, and if we do that more often than not, we'll be on the other side of the equation."
Lack of opportunism
Following the tough start, the Canadiens came out strong in the second, but only solved Matt Murray once.
Julien would like to see his team bury more of their chances.
"We missed the net on numerous occasions tonight. We missed out on scoring chances," continued the Habs head coach. "It was a frustrating night in that sense, because we could have put ourselves back into the game."

Still, the Canadiens will focus instead on what went right and put this one behind them.
"We have to take the positives out of this one. We're going back on the road here, all the way out west, and we'll play some teams where we need to get points," concluded Weber. "We'll keep playing overall like we did, obviously minus a few things."
The Habs take-off for Los Angeles on Sunday morning, and will spend the next seven days in California, beginning with a date against the Kings on Tuesday.