Desharnais faces old friends as Oilers host Canadiens

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EDMONTON, Alberta — David Desharnais thinks it’s a good thing that he will face the Montreal Canadiens so soon after they traded him to the Edmonton Oilers.

The center has played 438 career NHL games — 435 of them in the famous bleu, blanc et rouge. But, he was dealt to the Oilers right before the trade deadline. And, so far, so good; he’s got two points in three games since joining Edmonton.

So, when Edmonton hosts the Canadiens on Sunday night at Rogers Place, Desharnais will be a major storyline.

“Maybe I can turn the page quicker,” Desharnais said after Saturday’s practice. “I guess it’s better that way.”

Desharnais will be motivated. He’s not happy how his time in Montreal came to an end. He was injured for much of this season, and he said he didn’t feel welcome when he was trying to get back into the lineup.

“It ended pretty badly,” he said of his time as a Hab. “I didn’t want to be in the stands and all that. But my memories with Montreal, it was my dream come true, playing in the NHL, playing with the Montreal Canadiens. They gave me a great chance, I’m really thankful for that, now I’ve got to move on.”

“It’ll be a little weird playing against Davey,” Montreal’s Max Pacioretty said. “He’s one of my best friends. I’m happy for him.”

For Oiler Milan Lucic, the game will allow him to face his old coach, Claude Julien. The pair won a Stanley Cup together in 2011 as the Boston Bruins came back to beat the Vancouver Canucks in seven games.

Julien was fired by the Bruins earlier this season, and was hired by the Habs. Montreal is 7-3-0 since Julien took over.

But the Canadiens limp into Edmonton after being routed 5-0 by the red-hot Calgary Flames on Thursday night. The Habs weren’t at full-strength; starting goalie Carey Price was out with the flu, while Alexander Radulov was out with a lower-body injury. Both were practicing with the Habs on Saturday, and both are expected to be good for Sunday. Radulov has 46 points in 63 games.

Julien juggled the lines at practice.

“I don’t know who I’m going to play with,” Radulov said. “It always can change. I don’t know. I’ll wake up tomorrow, come here and see who I’m going to play with… It doesn’t matter who you’re going to play, it’s all about the team, and we need to get that win and that’s the most important thing.”

Tomas Plekanec skated Saturday but had the no-contact jersey on, a sign that he is questionable for Sunday’s game.

Brandon Davidson, who Edmonton sent to Montreal in exchange for Desharnais, didn’t skate with either of the three pairs expected to play Sunday.

The Oilers are coming off Friday’s 3-2 shootout loss to the Pittsburgh Penguins. And the atmosphere at Rogers Place will be electric Sunday, as a visit from the Canadiens always brings out their many die-hard fans spread across Canada.

“It’s exciting when Pittsburgh, Montreal, those types of teams come to town,” Oilers coach Todd McLellan said. “We don’t get to see them often, and the energy around the building seems to go up a little bit.”