MTL@OTT: 'They deserved to win'

OTTAWA - The Canadiens were dealt a 5-1 defeat by the Senators on Wednesday night at the Canadian Tire Centre.

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Following the game, defensemen Joel Edmundson and Jeff Petry, forward Josh Anderson and interim head coach Dominique Ducharme spoke with reporters via Zoom.
Here are a few highlights from their respective chats:
Edmundson on whether fatigue was a factor in the loss:
No. There's no reason not to feel good out there. I just think our compete level wasn't there. We were getting beat off pucks all night and they took advantage of it. It was one of those nights where we weren't there, but we have a quick turnaround in Toronto and we're looking forward to that.

Edmundson on falling behind early again:
We just have to get to our game before they get to theirs. It would be nice to get the first goal, but we've battled back in games the past couple of weeks where we've been down by two goals. It would be nice to get the first one and come out hot. I think it just starts with getting pucks deep, doing the simple things and winning those battles down low.
Petry on the Canadiens lacking intensity and emotion:
I don't think we should've. If guys were thinking that way, it's not the way we need to be thinking down the stretch here. We knew they were going to compete and work hard, and we weren't ready to match that. That can't happen, especially at this point of the year. We can't let one game of bad habits slip in. We have to really sharpen up and make sure that we're on top of our game down the stretch and have that momentum on our side going into the playoffs.

Petry on the specific bad habits that showed versus Ottawa:
Our starts have to be better. They haven't been good enough lately. We've shown our character by battling back, but it'd be nice to play with the lead. Then, just our compete on a nightly basis. We have to make sure that we're ready to show up, win our battles, make sure we're doing the right things, not letting guys jump by us and things like that.
Anderson on what went wrong to begin the road trip:
We were flat from the start to the finish of the game and we just couldn't find our energy and get up to that level. Obviously, you've got to give them credit. They worked hard, they reloaded, they were hunting pucks and they were the better team tonight. They deserved to win.

Anderson on the keys to rebounding in Toronto on Thursday night:
Be ready to start. It's pretty simple. We've got to come out and perform and have everybody buying into the system. It's a big game. Playing against the Maple Leafs, who can be a playoff contender and a matchup, we've got to come out hard, physical, play the right way and play hard for 60 minutes.
Ducharme on the Habs' subpar performance:
I don't have an explanation. It's not like the players wanted to play poorly. We were bad. It's as simple as that.

Ducharme on another disappointing start:
We definitely want to score first every night. I don't think we've had bad starts recently. We were just bad tonight. We weren't good from start to finish tonight.