Fortunately, the worst is over and Drouin is doing his best to prepare himself for the matchup against the likes of Connor McDavid, Ryan Nugent-Hopkins and Leon Draisaitl at the Bell Centre - his first taste of game action since November 29.
"You lose your rhythm when you miss games. The more you miss, the more you lose. You can practice or do whatever you want in the gym, but it isn't a game. You can't work on that," explained Drouin, on the challenge that comes with being unable to play for an extended period of time. "It's more my legs and my speed. Getting my timing back won't be that tough, but it's more about getting the jump back that you had before."
Drouin is eager to see what the trio can accomplish if it remains intact against Todd McLellan's contingent.
"Alex and I know each other now. We're capable of playing together. We've played a lot of games together and we have some chemistry going on," praised Drouin, before expanding upon Shaw's capabilities. "Andrew is a hard worker who goes to the net and is always doing something to disrupt the opposing team. I think he has talent not many people know about. You see it when he brings out good moves in games and good shots. He has real offensive talent, so it should work."
Speaking of Galchenyuk, the 23-year-old fielded questions aplenty from media members about his season-low 9:18 of playing time against the Flames, and it was rather difficult for him to hide his frustration.
"On the ice, it's disappointing not being played more," said Galchenyuk, who has six goals and 16 points in 30 games so far this season. "It's definitely not fun, but it happens."
Head coach Claude Julien addressed Galchenyuk's ice time during his post-practice press conference, insisting that the work continues to help the young forward reach his potential.
"We know he's a good player with a lot of talent. We're sitting down with him, looking at video with him and talking about different things. At the end of the day, we never give up on players and we know that Alex is still young," said Julien, on the six-year NHL veteran. "He started out early and because of that we're expecting more from him. But, there's still untapped talent there and we can't throw in the towel. He has to continue to work and we have to keep on trying to help him."
