Above all, that would involve completely forgetting their 7-1 loss to the Minnesota Wild on Tuesday.
The game is one to wipe from the memory bank for several reasons, say the players, but they acknowledged that experiences like those are part of the learning process for a young team.
"I don't think we should accept the loss, but at the same time, every team goes through nights like that," outlined Julien. "We're no different; I think the most important thing now is to look at what's coming up in front of us and to be able to rebound."
The importance of the rebound was a message continuously hammered home in the room following the Habs' morning skate on Thursday.
"I think every team will have games like that where nothing works. I've been through other tough losses in my career; it's something that can happen in an 82-game season. The important thing is to be able to bounce back the right way," affirmed alternate captain Brendan Gallagher. "We're obviously disappointed in our effort last game. We want to bounce back and prove as a group that it was just a blip on the radar, so it's a good opportunity for us."
"We have to bounce back after last game. Even in Chicago, we weren't satisfied with the win so it's a big game for us tonight," shared Phillip Danault. "We need to go back to basics. We need to work on the little details defensively and help out on offense too. We have to get back to our identity. We got away from that a bit the past two games. We have to play a full 60 minutes. We're not far; we also had some big wins on the road. Like we know, we didn't play our best games. Tonight's game is a big one for us, and the next two, too. Every one of those games is going to be huge."
The homestand that begins on Thursday is indeed a huge one for the Canadiens, as they're three intra-conference games, including two against divisional rivals.
"It's a very important stretch against Carolina, Ottawa, and Boston. The Hurricanes are close to us, the Senators too," added Danault. "It's time for us to separate ourselves from them."
"We have the chance to play three straight games at home against teams in our conference," explained Julien. "Those will always be important games for us to stay in the hunt."
Peca and Reilly in, Deslauriers and Schlemko out
The Habs will be making a couple of changes to the lineup they'll ice against Carolina. Up front, Matthew Peca replaces Nicolas Deslauriers, while David Schlemko will sit to make room for Mike Reilly on the backend.
For Reilly, it's another opportunity to find his game again.
"I think I can be a big help for this team," he concluded. "I just want to get back to the way I was playing at the start of the season."
