Richardson: 'The guys love playing for each other'

LAS VEGAS - Forward Joel Armia, defenseman Erik Gustafsson and assistant coach Luke Richardson spoke with reporters via Zoom before the Canadiens flew home.

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Here are a few highlights from their respective chats:
Armia on lessons learned over the years for playoff success:
Just stay calm every game. Treat every game like it's the first game. You need to have the same attitude that you would have for the first game. Just play with a lot of energy, like it's your last game kind of thing. Stay calm and never quit.

Armia on why the Canadiens are clicking in the postseason:
There's a lot of trust in each other in the locker room. Everybody on the bench can trust the five guys on the ice to do their job. That's a big key. We can play all four lines and everybody knows the guys on the ice are going to do their job.

Gustafsson on frustrating the Golden Knights with solid defensive play:
We're on them all the time. We were kind of going into this series like underdogs, and they probably thought that they were going to have more puck possession and do more stuff on the power play. We've been on them since Game 1. We forechecked hard last night, we played hard in front of our own net, and we made the easy play out of our own zone. Our forwards are doing a great job. The whole team is doing a great job. It's fun to see how we played last night. We knew they were going to have a little push at the end, but we resolved that pretty well. It's going to be fun to play in front of our fans in Game 6.

Gustafsson on the approach to Game 6 with a spot in the Stanley Cup Final on the line:
I think the most important thing that you have to do right now is to stay together as a team. We're up 3-2 and we know that Vegas is going to come back to Montreal and they've got to win a game. Everyone has to do their job for 60 minutes. We've been in this position before. We're in a great spot right now, but we know that Vegas is going to do everything they can to win. But, I see the leadership in our team, how tight we are, and it's fun to see. That's what you want from a winning team. We've shown that before, and everyone is ready for Game 6.
Richardson on preparing for another huge game at the Bell Centre:
We have a good game plan for the players and we keep it simple. The guys are playing great. They're bought-in and really skating hard and playing the system to a tee defensively, which is very frustrating for the other team. Right now, we try to keep it to bullet points, keep playing the same way, emphasize a few things, and maybe make a few alterations here or there. But, the guys are great. We have a good veteran core that is leading the way inside the dressing room internally. That really helps as well. Right now, the guys are confident. We want to keep them confident, not give them too much information, but bring up a few of the main points that they're doing well and just encourage them to keep doing that.

Richardson on the uniqueness of this edition of the Canadiens:
It goes back to training camp when Marc Bergevin said that he built this team to win in the playoffs. We had our ups and downs and struggles, as every team does. It was obviously a little concerning when it was that close to the playoffs, but we were lucky with some health coming back and we just kind of clicked half way through that Toronto series. We just started to find our way. It's very exciting. The guys love playing for each other. We're starting to get fans back in the Bell Centre, and hopefully that keeps growing, because they're feeding off of it. I know it's a big week coming up in Quebec with Saint-Jean-Baptiste Day, so what a festival that would be if we could get more fans in and excite the players and have a really good celebration. That's just what it feels like right now. It feels like a celebration. And we're not satisfied. We're just enjoying the ride and the run because the players deserve it. They're earning it, and as a coaching staff, we're really enjoying watching them have the success that they deserve because they've really earned it on the ice.