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The Canadiens’ must have woken up with quite the hangover this morning, finding themselves on the brink of elimination and it’s time for Dominique Ducharme to come up with some answers. The rookie coach has his work cut out for him, the Lightning is quite a well oiled hockey machine and the task looks almost impossible. Only once in history did a team down 3-0 in the Stanley Cup final manage to turn the tide and win the most emblematic trophy in hockey and it was the Toronto Maple Leafs back in 1942.
During his morning media availability, Ducharme faced more than a few uncomfortable questions, be it about the way forward, how to accomplish a small miracle and whether or not he’ll finally use guys like Tomas Tatar and Alexander Romanov. For now, the bench boss is holding his cards close to his chest and being very non committal in his answers. He’s basically saying that they are studying all options at the moment and that they’ll act for the best come Monday night. In short, Ducharme said that if he considers the team would be better off with one or some of the healthy scratches in the line-up, he’ll make the changes. One thing is for sure however, even if Price has been underwhelming in this series, he’ll start Monday night, the coach wouldn’t even entertain the thought of putting Allen in net, not that this should surprise anyone.
For now, it’s all about practicing and being able of making a better job out there on the ice. Has Ducharme has said time and time again, the Lightning is a team that will make you pay cash for your mistakes, so you’re better off not making any. That’s of course easier said than done, but the coach says that this approach of being smart with the puck doesn’t put more pressure on his team.
Clearly, Ducharme is confident that this series is not over. I know that when there’s a will, there’s a way, but this Tampa outfit has been so impressive that it’s hard to see how the Canadiens could manage to come back in this series. As, the coach said, they’ll just have to take it one game at the time and start all over again after the next one...
Montreal Canadiens Blogger • 
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