MTL@PIT: No slowing down in the Steel City

PITTSBURGH - Head coach Claude Julien was pleased with the way his players performed in Toronto, so the fact that he's keeping his lineup intact for Saturday night's contest didn't come as a surprise.

Once again, Tomas Plekanec, Karl Alzner and Nikita Scherbak will all be healthy scratches as the Canadiens close out their two-game road trip against the Penguins at PPG Paints Arena.
After coming up just short earlier in the week to the Maple Leafs, picking up a win versus another high-flying opponent would be rather sweet. It won't be easy, though.
"We're playing a team with a very good power play and a lot of skilled offensive guys who could hurt you," said Brendan Gallagher, referencing the likes of captain Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin and Jake Guentzel, among others. "It doesn't matter who you're on the ice against, someone on the ice is probably going to be a gifted goal-scorer, so you've got to be smart, play the right way and just try to work hard."

Working hard is something the Canadiens certainly did earlier in the week against their Atlantic Division rivals, and that effort must be there again if they hope to pick up two points in the Steel City before heading home.
"We've kind of simplified our identity a little bit down to outcompeting, outworking teams," explained Gallagher. "It seems to be something guys are buying in to and guys are enjoying. If we do that tonight, I think we give ourselves a shot… It's fun to match up against some of the best players in the world. Certainly, this team has a lot of them, and you better be ready to compete, because these guys don't take nights off."
It might be early in the regular season, but Jonathan Drouin has already seen an important change in the way this edition of the Canadiens goes about their business once the puck drops.
"You see that our forwards are faster, whether it's in the offensive zone or our zone, too. We're getting more pucks and creating more turnovers. I think that makes a difference," mentioned Drouin. "I think that we have the puck more than we did last year. We control it more and we have more chances. We're also really quick on our breakouts."

And, Julien has liked what he's seen from his group so far.
"That's what we've been trying to do since the start of training camp, trying to make it something that we bring every night," said Julien, on the Canadiens' overall effort level. "That's the identity of our team this year - skating well, being aggressive on the puck, closing on the play quickly. The guys have done that well."

Another big game for Jesperi
After going up against the Maple Leafs' big guns, Finnish phenom Jesperi Kotkaniemi will battle some of the sharpest shooters around again.
The 18-year-old centerman has been looking forward to the challenge, of course.
"It's nice. They're great players," mentioned Kotkaniemi, when asked to describe his thoughts on squaring off against Crosby and Malkin, in particular. "Same as [Auston] Matthews and [John] Tavares, so it's always fun to play against good guys."
Trying to slow down snipers of that calibre often brings out the best in players, according to Drouin.
"You have to turn that switch on. You don't want to be minus-2 against Sidney Crosby and just watch him. You want to compete against him. You want to challenge him. You want to finish on top and have a good game against them," said Drouin. "That's where you find out if you're really ready to play against talented players who've been in the League for a long time. It's a good test for Jesperi. I think he already responded well to the test in Toronto."