Quotes of the day: Tatar, Lehkonen & Julien

VANCOUVER - The Canadiens practiced at Rogers Arena on Friday.

Following the on-ice session, forwards Tomas Tatar and Artturi Lehkonen met the media.
They were followed by head coach Claude Julien.
Here are a few highlights from their Zoom-based Q&A:
Tatar was asked to explain why he believes the Habs have started the season on such a high through five games:
All four lines are playing well. There are areas where we can be better and we're working on it. We want to get less penalties and less goals against, but it's very nice to see all four lines get going and scoring goals. I think that's our team's strength right now. We want to play on both sides of the ice. Sometimes the goals are coming and sometimes not, but hopefully we'll keep it up.

The 30-year-old Slovak sniper also commented on the significance of starting the year on road ice and the benefits of a lengthy trek to get everyone on the same page:
Someone asked me about this road trip before camp started. I think we're very happy we could spend the first two weeks together. The mood is great. We want to remain humble, though, keep working hard and do our job. But the confidence is there. I just wanted to say we're having a lot of fun all together. That's important.

Lehkonen, meanwhile, shared his thoughts on how the Canadiens can keep on trending in the right direction:
We've got to use all four lines and try to keep the puck out of our own net. We know that we can generate offense, so we've just got to keep playing hard and playing the right way. It's going to pay off for us.

Like Tatar, the 25-year-old Finn cited the group's collective confidence with respect to producing offense as a key ingredient to long-term success:
It's a good thing. We know that we're going to get chances and we're a tough team to play against. We've just got to keep building our game, one game at a time, and build confidence around the whole team here.

Julien commented on the health status of Paul Byron, who may or may not be available for Saturday night's game:
We'll make those decisions on Saturday. Byron is day-to-day. There's still a chance he could play. Depending on his situation, we'll decide which player we add into the lineup.

Julien also discussed the new baseball-style schedule this season, which he genuinely appreciates:
It wasn't a bad thing to start on the road. We're travelling less. It's easier on the body because we aren't just playing a game and then flying to the next city and arriving in the wee hours of the morning. There are a lot of good things about it. It's also good for the fans. We're seeing rivalries developing as teams play each other. I think we'll see more and more as the season continues.