MONTREAL -- If anyone so much as peripherally associated with the Penguins was enjoying one millisecond of their time here in La Belle Province, it sure wasn't evident Thursday morning at Bell Centre.
On the ice, the dozen players who participated in the optional skate whisked through drills, with barely a smile visible, barely a syllable audible. The one laugh I heard was when assistant coach Mike Vellucci reacted playfully to nearly being struck by a wayward ricochet, but even that was brief.
Don't overthink why:
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"We need to get two points while we're here in Montreal," Todd Reirden, assistant coach, replied after this session when I asked about the collective mindset.