MTL@VAN: Quotes of the night

VANCOUVER - The Canadiens posted a 7-3 victory over the Canucks on Thursday night at Rogers Arena.

Following the contest, defenseman Shea Weber and forwards Tyler Toffoli and Nick Suzuki met the media.
They were followed by head coach Claude Julien.
Here are a few highlights from their Zoom-based Q&A with reporters:
The Canadiens added another four even-strength goals to their resume on Thursday night, which Weber attributes directly to the make-up of the roster. Nevertheless, getting into penalty trouble remains an ongoing issue:
We've got depth. We've got a lot of guys, a lot of lines that can keep rolling, and six defensemen - and our goaltending has been solid as well. That being said, we still have to be more disciplined. I think we've got to find that line that we can play on because we want to be that physical team, we want to be that team that's hard to play against, but we've got to find a way to stop taking penalties.

After watching Toffoli and Joel Armia score short-handed goals against Vancouver, Weber was asked why the team's penalty-killing units are enjoying that kind of success:
Obviously a lot of speed up front. We've got guys that can fly. Tonight, there were a couple of good reads. Guys picked off pucks and were able to give guys breakaways and they finished off. The aggression and guys' ability to skate has really helped out with the short-handed goals.

Speaking of Toffoli, his line featuring Armia and Jesperi Kotkaniemi is clicking right now, and the 28-year-old right-winger pointed to a few factors behind that effectiveness:
I think just doing a better job holding onto pucks. They're big guys, and I'm not small by any means, but holding onto the puck and making smart plays and not really giving the puck away so we weren't really chasing it.

Like Weber, Toffoli insists playing an aggressive brand of hockey on the PK is paying dividends and leading to prime scoring opportunities:
I think we're just making good reads. The four of us on the ice at all times are putting a lot of pressure on them on the break-ins. They tried to make some plays and we got sticks on it and had little breaks.

Admittedly, the Canadiens' leading goalscorer was already familiar with Armia before the pair joined forces in Montreal:
I've known of him for a while. I played against him in the minors a couple of times and then when he was in Winnipeg. He's been around, and he's always been that big guy making really good plays, holding onto pucks and that's what he's shown the past few days here.

Suzuki, meanwhile, shared his thoughts on why the team has been scoring at such a torrid pace through five games:
We've had some great games offensively. We've got a ton of depth throughout our whole lineup. The points are spread out and the goals are spread out through all the lines, so it's really fun to play like that. We're playing fun hockey. We've just got to keep that going. I think our depth is our strongest suit.

He's loving the internal competition, though, as players up and down the lineup look to contribute to the cause game after game:
I think we definitely feed off each other. We're happy with whatever line's going. We just want to ride their momentum. It depends on what line starts off well. I think the depth that we have, it's going to be tough to handle for a lot of teams, fourth line to the first line. We've got people that can put the puck in the net, so it's a huge boost for our lineup.

Armia's four-point performance (2 goals, 2 assists) was spoiled when he was on the receiving end of a hit by Canucks defenseman, Tyler Myers, late in regulation time, which Julien subsequently confirmed caused a concussion:
Armia suffered a concussion. It's a big loss for us. It's too bad. I didn't like the hit. Armia never had a chance to see him coming. It looked like a shoulder that was high. I think the referees did the right thing by giving him a five-minute major. We'll see how Player Safety handles it. We don't have control over that. I really didn't like the hit, especially with the score being 6-3 and just two minutes left. It wasn't necessary. We're trying to take that kind of hit out of the game. We'll wait and see what the League says.

The veteran bench boss also touched on the team's huge offensive outburst in the middle frame:
There were four goals that were scored pretty quickly. When we came out for the second period, we talked about playing tight defensively and minimizing the penalties. We managed to minimize their scoring chances, too. We adapted better from the start of the second. It was more our type of game.