"Overall we liked the way we played," the coach said after the game. "And I think we will be better next game.
"And that's what we're going to do."
Inspired by a 29-save performance from Carey Price and the return of defenseman Jeff Petry, the Canadiens will carry momentum into Game 3 of the best-of-7 series at home Friday (8 p.m. ET; USA, CBC, SN, TVAS, USA).
The Canadiens are in the third round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs for the first time since 2014, when they lost the best-of-7 Eastern Conference Final to the New York Rangers in six games. It didn't go well for them or Price.
RELATED: [Complete Canadiens vs. Golden Knights series coverage]
In Game 1 of that series, Price sustained a lower-body injury when Rangers forward Chris Kreider crashed into him after missing the net on a breakaway in the second period of New York's 7-2 victory. Price missed the remainder of the series.
He said he's embracing the opportunity to be here again, and he's backing it up on the ice.
Price made a number of impressive saves, none better than at 5:17 of the second period when Vegas defenseman Alec Martinez appeared to have an open net only to have his shot from close range deflect off the top of the goalie's outstretched right thigh. Asked which body part he used to make the save, Price smiled wryly.
"Just using all my extremities so far," Price said. "It's just all about competing."
No one competed harder than Petry, who had missed the previous two games with an upper-body injury. He had an assist, two shots and two blocked shots in 20:47 of ice time. He led Montreal defensemen with 42 points (12 goals, 30 assists) in the regular season,
Price laughed when asked about Petry's eyes, which are red because of blood-vessel issues.
"He's scary-looking," Price said. "But he's obviously a big part of our team and he had a big game tonight."
Price wasn't the only one who was caught off-guard by Petry's appearance.
"The kids were at school one night when I came home, and my wife gave them a warning," Petry said Thursday. "They came in and didn't want to look at me and decided that I would be the villain and they would be the superheroes and we started playing. That got them to relax and feel a little bit more comfortable now."
Petry looked comfortable on the ice in his return and said his health continues to improve. He said the eye issues and hand injury were sustained in a 5-1 victory against the Winnipeg Jets in Game 3 of the Stanley Cup Second Round, which Montreal swept in four games.
"It feels good this morning," Petry said. "It responded well after a game. For me it's just a matter of I didn't do too many battles in practice, so it was kind of taking things on the fly and seeing what worked, what didn't, and overall I felt good.
"I have to use my skating ability. The physical play might be a little different and using my stick, using my legs to get through the games and to play. That's something that I think ... my best asset is my legs, my skating ability, so just focusing on doing that and closing quickly."
Petry credited Patrick Langlois, assistant to the equipment manager for the Canadiens, for preparing a stylized glove for him to protect the injured hand.
"It took him no time to get that done, and we played around with a couple different minor tweaks, but we got it where I was comfortable with holding the stick with enough padding to protect everything," he said. I've got to give him props for coming up with this so quickly."
Petry did not take part in line rushes before the game, leading to speculation that he would not play. Ducharme was glad he did.
"If it was up to him, he would have come back earlier," Ducharme said Wednesday. "Even when it happened, he wanted to play against Winnipeg in Game 4. It's good to see him back and see the way he played after missing a couple of games and a few days.
"He's an important player for us. The way he defends, the way he moves, and the way he moves the puck, it's really good. And he's a gamer. Every time you get in critical moments in big games, you see him at his best."
