PK Subban isn’t lacking confidence.
Down 3-1 to Ottawa in the Eastern Conference quarterfinals following a stunning 3-2 OT loss on Tuesday, the Montreal defenseman is anxious to get back out for Game 5 -- and beat a Sens team he thinks Montreal is better than.
“We can sit and talk about [Game 4] all we want, but it’s over with,” he told reporters on Wednesday. “Quite frankly, I want to beat these guys. We have another opportunity tomorrow to play, and we can beat these guys.
“We’re better.”
The Canadiens feel that, despite trailing in games, this series is closer than it appears. They’ve been besieged by injury (Lars Eller, Brian Gionta, Carey Price, Ryan White, Brandon Prust) and lost Game 1 despite out-shooting Ottawa 50 to 31.
After bouncing back with a win in Game 2, they were throttled 6-1 in Game 3, but rebounded to build up a 2-0 lead in Game 4 -- then watch it evaporate in the final 8:05.
Senators forward Mika Zibanejad cut the lead to one on a controversial skate-directed marker, and Cory Conacher scored with 23 seconds left to send it to overtime.
In OT, Kyle Turris scored on replacement netminder Peter Budaj to push the Habs to the brink of elimination.
Game 5 goes on Thursday at the Bell Centre, which should be raucous.
“We’ve got to turn the page and get ready for tomorrow,” Subban explained. “Like I said, we’re a better team. And I think we know that in this dressing room.”