Quotes of the day: Muller

TORONTO - For the first time in the 2020 postseason, the Canadiens have their backs against the wall and face elimination, trailing the Philadelphia Flyers 3-1 in their best-of-seven Eastern Conference quarterfinal.

Habs associate coach Kirk Muller met with the media via Zoom prior to Game 5 on Wednesday; read on for some highlights from his media availability.

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The 2020 postseason has proven to be a huge stepping stone for some of the organization's young stars, including Jesperi Kotkaniemi and Nick Suzuki. Despite the invaluable experience they've gained win or lose, Muller noted that his squad's eyes remain fully focused on the prize:

"You can't replace experience, and this whole process since we arrived in Toronto has been great for the whole group. But we don't want to sit here and say that we'll walk away and say this has been great, it's been an experience. We want to win that game tonight. We're not done. We want to bring our A-game here. This is one more test for our guys, like, hey listen, this is tough. It's going to be a tough game tonight, they're not given anything right now offensively; they're clamping us down. This is where we have to learn how to dig in, and this is where you have to learn how to win hockey games. So that's the mentality and attitude that we're going to have today. e want to keep that going with our group and never be satisfied."

Muller on the message he'll be delivering to his troops as they look to get out of their scoring funk and get back into the series:

"As a group, I think the message is going to be: We don't care about last night. As a team we win, and we lose as a team. They're character guys. They care, they want to do well. We're going to start tonight, go right back at them and forget about yesterday. Let's get ready for that game tonight. The message really is for the 20 guys who are going to play tonight: be ready to play, play hard, and let's do everything we can to get a win tonight."

Still looking for his first goal of the playoffs, Brendan Gallagher was deployed for 13:07 of ice time - including 3:37 in the third period - on Tuesday, but Muller remains fully confident that the Canadiens' sparkplug will rebound with a stereotypically gritty effort in Game 5:

"Gally is one of our best character guys on this team. He plays hard, he cares. Those are the type of guys you want on your hockey team and in your organization. It was a tough night for him, and we have to win hockey games, so I have to make those decisions. But I guarantee he'll be ready to go tonight, and he's going to be a good hockey player. I have full confidence in him as a player, and that's what I'm expecting from him because he's such a character guy."