Quotes of the day: Tatar, Kulak, Petry & Julien

MONTREAL - The Canadiens skated at the Bell Sports Complex on Monday.

Following the on-ice session, forward Tomas Tatar and defensemen Brett Kulak and Jeff Petry met the media.
They were followed at the podium by head coach Claude Julien.
Here are a few highlights from their Zoom-based Q&A with reporters:
Coming off a career-high 61-point campaign, Tatar is thrilled to be playing with longtime linemates Phillip Danault and Brendan Gallagher again this season:
To play with Phil and Gally, we understand each other. This is going to be our third year. It helps a lot. We know where we are on the ice and we're talking off the ice. We're really happy that we're together.

While beginning the season with six straight road games isn't easy, Tatar believes there is some upside to the experience:
It's so different than a normal season. On the one hand, you're really looking forward to spending more time with guys because we didn't see each other for a long time. In that way, it's nice. On the other hand, it's always tougher to play in away buildings and not at the Bell Centre, so it might be a little tougher. But I think we're all excited to spend almost two weeks together and get into that regular season flow.
For his part, Kulak is chomping at the bit to get started on Wednesday night in Toronto and play alongside newcomer Alexander Romanov on the back end:
Last year coming into camp, I had some highs and lows in camp, but overall I didn't like the way I started the season. But now looking back, it's fresh in my mind and I learned a lot from that, so I can bring things I learned to this year. I feel already, even with the short camp, I feel really prepared for the season and know my role well with the D corps and among the team. I'm excited to get things going and I'm loving playing with Romy. I think we're going to do well on the third pair.

The 27-year-old defenseman believes his playoff experience in the Toronto bubble will be a huge help going forward:
I think the playoff hockey, the game gets simple and it gets harder and it gets a little quicker and a little grittier. Those are some things I took from there. I simplified my game. I made the quick, easy first play and it slowed the game down a little bit for me and made things easier. I was able to have success and I'm looking to build off of that.
Like Kulak, Petry is also excited about his new playing partner, Joel Edmundson:
He's a guy that plays physical. He's got that big frame and he skates well. That's something that I've always had in a partner and had success. He's just up in the play in scrimmages, so we've been reading off each other. Playing those scrimmages was beneficial, but we have to make sure that once the regular season starts, we just kind of communicate and work on things together and just build from game to game.

Admittedly, the 11-year NHL veteran fully expects the regular season to be a playoff-style battle from start to finish:
I think it'll be closer to that than in years past. Anytime you're playing a schedule where you're playing the same team two, three times a week, it's about making sure that you bring that physical presence and making sure that they know it's going to be a hard weekend or a hard week. That's what playoffs are. In Game 1, you're setting the tone for the remainder of the series and I think that's how it's going to be, playing teams back-to-back or three times in four or five days.
Julien was asked to comment on blueliner Noah Juulsen being claimed off waivers by the Florida Panthers:
We would've really liked to keep him. He's a young guy who didn't play a lot over the last two seasons because of injuries. It would've been to our advantage to give him a chance to get his rhythm back. Unfortunately, it's a part of the business.

With training camp winding down, Julien also shared his thoughts on the overall makeup of his group:
I'd say that we have a more balanced lineup than in previous years. We have good balance in front of the net with two good goaltenders. We're also bigger on the defensive side of things. I think we'll be tougher to play against. We have a lot of depth up front, especially with Evans, Byron and Lehkonen on the fourth line. That gives us a lot of depth. We're a team that should be tougher to face.