Tampa, FLORIDA — David Desharnais woke up feeling just fine on Sunday, and then the symptoms of stomach flu presented themselves out of nowhere. He called Graham Rynbend—the Canadiens’ head athletic trainer—who after assessing the situation told him to get to the hospital.
As reality set in that playing Game 2 that night would be impossible, Desharnais strapped into intravenous and waited for his release some five hours later.
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On Tuesday, with most of the virus expelled and the chance of contagion all but nullified, Desharnais hopped on a plane from Montreal to Tampa Bay via Orlando and met up with the team.
“Every time there’s a virus, you don’t want it to spread around,” said Canadiens coach Michel Therrien Wednesday. “We took our precautions, and David looked pretty good this morning.”
Despite not eating from Sunday to Tuesday, Desharnais woke up with the necessary energy to participate in the morning skate, and though Michel Therrien wouldn’t confirm his presence for Game 3, Montreal’s diminutive centreman was confident he’d be playing.
“The voice is not that good, but I don’t need it for tonight,” Desharnais said hoarsely. “I feel ready to go.”
The challenge for Desharnais will be having the energy to jump back into a back-to-back situation with Games 3 and 4 scheduled for Wednesday and Thursday. The situation isn’t ideal for any of the players, who understand the elevated pace of play of the Stanley Cup Playoffs is hard to maintain over a single game, let alone in consecutive ones. And the possibility of continuous overtime looms as another cause for exhaustion.
“There’s nothing we can do about [the schedule],” said Desharnais. “I’ll be fine. We deal with back-to-backs all season, and even if I was sick, it’s no different.”
The players that spoke following Montreal’s skate focused on discipline after the team took 53 minutes in penalties and allowed four power play goals against in Game 2.
Canadiens coach Michel Therrien believes it to be the most important factor in getting the Canadiens to 2-1 in their series with the Tampa Bay Lightning.
“We’ve all talked about [discipline],” said Therrien in French. “We’re not a team that’s known for being undisciplined. I think we showed a lot of discipline all season long and it’s something we take a lot of pride in. We have to learn from Game 2, and I’m convinced we’ll be coming back to our good habits in that regard.”
Lars Eller was a little more specific on what the Canadiens must do to stave off frustration.
“We gotta be able to take a punch in the face and not push back,” said Eller.
Another key for the Canadiens in Game 3 will be bringing a punch-less power play back to life. They’ve yet to record a power play goal in this series, and they’re 1-26 in these playoffs.
Having offered all the clichés of establishing a presence in front of the opposing goalie, of having poise with the puck, of making the right shot selections, Therrien stated that the team simply needs to execute.
Game 3 is set for 7 p.m. ET.
