Deslauriers: No plans to change

BROSSARD - Nicolas Deslauriers took one more step forward in his recovery on Tuesday, participating in his first real practice session alongside his teammates since going under the knife.

It was back on September 18th that the 27-year-old forward underwent surgery to repair a facial fracture suffered during a preseason tussle against the New Jersey Devils.
"It's a tough injury, but things have gone well, even a little bit faster than expected. I'm happy," said Deslauriers, who will be sporting a cage for a little while longer for protective purposes.
When the LaSalle native finally returns to active duty - which is still to be determined - he doesn't plan on altering the way he goes about his business on the ice, especially in the physicality department.
"I think there are risks in every fight. I don't think just because I had surgery there's any extra risk. That's the first question I asked the woman who performed the operation," explained Deslauriers. "She said everything would be o.k. and that I just have to wear a cage for a little while. I just have to give it time to heal, but it isn't something that will change the way I play."

In retrospect, the six-year NHL veteran wouldn't have gone about things any differently on the night he went toe-to-toe with Devils prospect Brandon Baddock.
Shying away from engaging in fisticuffs just isn't his style.
"Whether it's the preseason or the regular season, I'm battling for a job every time I'm on the ice," affirmed Deslauriers. "I would have done the same thing in the preseason or the regular season."
Head coach Claude Julien featured Deslauriers on the left side of a line that also featured Andrew Shaw at center and Nikita Scherbak on right wing.
Shaw returned to practice after missing Monday night's game against the Detroit Red Wings with the flu.
De la Rose placed on waivers
During Tuesday's practice, the Canadiens announced that they'd placed forward Jacob de la Rose on waivers.
The 23-year-old Swede hadn't seen game action so far this season after suffering a cardiac episode following a preseason tilt in Ottawa back on September 29.

Head coach Claude Julien was asked to explain the rationale behind the move.
"We had to choose someone. We didn't have a choice. Like I said last week, we had some tough decisions to make. That's the decision we made. We hope we don't lose him because we still believe in him," mentioned Julien. "But, you don't have a choice when you can only keep 23 players on your roster. We'll see what happens."
De la Rose's good buddy Brendan Gallagher is hopeful that the Arvika native will ultimately remain in the Canadiens' fold.
"You hope for the best, whatever happens. He's a really good hockey player, so you hope for the organization's sake that he sticks with us and he ends up back here," said Gallagher. "It's one of those things that is just a part of the business. We have a lot of good hockey players around here. He's certainly one of them. He's able to contribute to this team, so if we're fortunate enough to keep him, then he'll be back here and have an impact."

What a start!
With a record of 3-1-1 - and seven points in the bank - through five games, the Canadiens have every reason to feel good about themselves heading into Wednesday night's contest against the St. Louis Blues at the Bell Centre.
It's been exactly the type of start Julien had envisioned for his group to begin the 2018-19 season.
"You always hear talk about the season being just like a marathon. I'm 100% in agreement with that. I think you also have to sprint out of the gates to start the year to position yourself well, and then the marathon starts right after that," said Julien. "If you don't start out with a sprint, it's tough to catch up."

So why has this edition of the Canadiens enjoyed so much success early on this year?
"I think it's about the way we work together. We chose to play a certain way this year given the things we identified over the summer. It was about speed and execution. At the same time, it takes players who believe and are capable of playing that style and playing it the right way together," explained Julien. "It's a good start, but there are still a lot of games left, and we have to continue to show that playing this style will serve us well right until the end."