MONTREAL -- Jeff Petry said that he has "nervous excitement" for Monday's game.
It'll be his first game back at Montreal's Bell Centre since he was acquired by the Penguins in the deal that sent Mike Matheson to the Canadiens, and he's happy that it's his new team's first trip of the season.
"Coming back here so early in the year, it's nice to play that one early and get those emotions out," Petry said after the morning skate at the Bell Centre.
Petry spent 7 1/2 seasons here after being traded by Edmonton during the 2014-15 season, and he said he remembers his time here as something that was "really beneficial."
"If you look at the pattern in my career, I kind of came into my own and developed into the player that I am, a big chunk of that was my time here," Petry said. "And looking back at some of the teams that we had and seeing the accomplishments we made, it was a special time here."
Montreal is a place that's special to Petry's family, too. He and his wife Julie's first three sons -- Boyd, Barrett and Bowen were all born during Petry's time here, with oldest son Boyd being born during Petry's first full season as a Canadien. His family wasn't able to make it to this game -- Petry said that it would have been difficult for his wife to travel with all four sons here (including youngest son Blake, who was born just days before the trade to Pittsburgh). They'll be watching from home, provided that it's possible to "pull them away from the Yankees game," Petry added with a chuckle.
Petry said that in his time living in Pittsburgh so far, his first impression of the difference between the two markets is that in Pittsburgh there is a "little less coverage" of the team compared to in Montreal. That might be somewhat of an understatement after seeing the large swarm of Montreal media in the visitors' locker room at the morning skate gathered around Petry's locker stall. Petry said that the support and passion from the fan base is "very similar," though."
"Coming in and seeing how passionate the fans are and how it's a big sports town, how much they really care about their hockey," Petry said. "Obviously, in the Canadian markets, it's huge and some of the U.S. markets you don't necessarily see that. But they're very passionate about their hockey team there."
Petry has skated on the right side of the Penguins' second defense pairing with Marcus Pettersson through the first two games. His seven blocked shots leads the team by a margin of three, and his seven hits rank third. He has one point so far, a secondary assist on Jason Zucker's goal in the season opener.
Mike Sullivan was asked what he's learned about Petry in his time coaching him so far, and he had high praise.
"What we've learned is that he's an elite player," Sullivan said. "That was what we had hoped we were getting. He's been everything that we expected. He helps us on both sides of the puck. He's big and strong at our net front, he defends well, he helps us on our penalty-kill. We've played him in our top four, and he's a big part of all the situations. He's just a real solid defenseman on both sides of the puck. That's what we were hopeful we were going to get.
"He certainly has lived up to all of our expectations."
MORE FROM THE SKATE
• It was an optional morning skate for the Penguins. Participants included Tristan Jarry, Casey DeSmith, Jeff Carter, P.O Joseph, Brock McGinn, Chad Ruhwedel, Evgeni Malkin, Ryan Poehling, Danton Heinen, Jan Rutta, Pettersson and Petry
• DeSmith will make his first start of the season.
"We're excited to watch him play tonight," Sullivan said. "He's had a real good camp. We think we've got two really solid goaltenders, we're going to try to keep them both involved because we think it's beneficial for both of them when we can share the workload. It allows both of them to be at their very best. Casey is healthy and strong, and I think he's looking forward to getting into the game."
• Joseph will have a lot of family and friends in the stands for his first game in his hometown.
"I wouldn't call that pressure," he said of playing in Montreal. "I would say that it' more excitement. It's a dream to be playing in this rink so it will be exciting to see the family and friends in the stands. It's another game and we've just got to play good and get out with a win."
Joseph said that he tried to have a "moment" to himself and take it all in before stepping onto the Bell Centre ice for the morning skate.
• The Canadiens will go with backup Sam Monteambeault in net as starter Jake Allen's wife is having a baby today. Cayden Primeau was recalled from Laval to back up.
• Montreal used these lines and pairings at the skate:
Cole Caufield - Nick Suzuki - Sean Monahan
Evgenii Dadonov - Christian Dvorak - Brendan Gallagher
Jonathan Drouin - Kirby Dach - Josh Anderson
Juraj Slafkovsky - Jake Evans - Mike Hoffman
Kaiden Guhle - David Savard
Jordan Harris - Johnathan Kovacevic
Arber Xhekaj - Chris Wideman
• Matheson won't get to face his former team tonight as he's expected to miss eight weeks with an abdominal muscle strain. A Montreal reporter asked Sullivan what he saw from Matheson during his time in Pittsburgh.
"Mike was an invaluable part of our team," Sullivan said. "He's one of the greatest athletes that I've coached. His skating ability, his strength, his ability to shoot the puck, he can really drive offense with his ability to skate and help the team break out. He's a one-man breakout when he goes back for pucks. But he really developed into an invaluable part of our defense corps. He's a terrific person, really cares about his team and his teammates. And in his time in Pittsburgh, he really developed into one of the more valuable players on defense that we had. I'm sure when he gets healthy, he's going to bring those same attributes to Montreal."
• Pascal Dupuis was at the skate, chatting with former teammates (and Dan Potash) beforehand, then watching the skate from the tunnel.
Pascal Dupuis is down there watching the Penguins’ skate pic.twitter.com/G7nbrZmlYi
— Taylor Haase (@TaylorHaasePGH) October 17, 2022