Canadiens motivated by missing playoffs last season

MONTREAL -- There were moments this season when some of the Montreal Canadiens could feel it happening again, and the circumstances were all too familiar.
Following a convincing 10-1 win at home against the Colorado Avalanche on Dec. 10, the Canadiens had a 19-6-3 record, the best in the NHL, and all memory of what happened to them last season appeared to be very distant in their rearview mirror.
From that point to a 4-0 loss at the Boston Bruins on Feb. 12, the Canadiens went 12-13-5, a two-month stretch of mediocrity that began at around the same point that the previous season began going downhill.

What made it worse this time is that goaltender Carey Price was healthy, unlike last season, but he simply wasn't playing very well.
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"I feel like were in almost the exact same situation as last year where things were looking so good and we had a little bit of a down part, probably at around the same time as last year," Canadiens captain Max Pacioretty said. "But guys stuck with it, guys knew that through hard work the bounces and the chances would come."
The Canadiens clinched a spot in the Stanley Cup Playoffs on Thursday with a 6-2 win against the Florida Panthers largely because of what has happened since that loss in Boston on Feb. 12.

Coach Michel Therrien was fired two days later and Claude Julien was brought in a week after he was fired by the Bruins.
The Canadiens have a 13-5-1 record since then and Price has found his game in a big way with a .942 save percentage and 12-4-0 record in 16 games under Julien.
The downward spiral was halted, but the Canadiens who were here last season insist it was not only because of Julien's arrival.
What happened to them last season allowed them to maintain some degree of sanity during that two-month slide down the standings.
"Not competing in the playoffs, it was the first time I've ever had to deal with that, regardless of what level it was," forward Brendan Gallagher said. "Sitting at home watching and not being part of the Stanley Cup Playoffs was tough, and I'm sure it was tough on all the guys.
"We've really used the experiences we had last year. There were different points in the year where we could look back and say that we've been through this before and we know how to handle this. It definitely helped and I think we were stronger for it."
While that may be true, it is hard to ignore the change in the team under Julien and the change in Price since he arrived.

Price's save percentage was .897 over the two months preceding Julien being hired and Montreal was in a general state of panic over his level of play.
There are not too many people panicking about Price today, least of all his new coach.
"First of all," Julien said Thursday when asked to size up the Canadiens chances in the playoffs, "we know we've got a great goaltender."
Yes, the Canadiens have that and it is the biggest difference between this season and last. There are other differences, including the additions of defenseman Shea Weber and forward Alexander Radulov, but none are bigger than Price.
"When you have the best goalie in the world healthy, you have a chance to win every single night," said forward Paul Byron, who scored his 21st and 22nd goals of the season Thursday. "It's up to the rest of the team to go out there and execute. The whole year I think we did a pretty good job of that."

The Canadiens lost their swagger without Price last season, had it back at the beginning of this season, and then lost it again when he and the team began to struggle. His impact on the overall psyche of this team is now undeniable, so maybe what he said once the playoffs were clinched should carry the most weight.
"We knew we could do it," Price said. "There wasn't any doubt when we came to training camp at the start of the season that we'd be in the playoffs."
There was no déjà vu in Price's mind, no moment of dread that the same thing that happened following his injury last season was happening again.
There was just confidence, and that is how the Canadiens are feeling right now heading back to the playoffs.