The Montreal Canadiens weren't about to let Claude Julien slip away.

After the Boston Bruins made the decision to part ways with the winningest coach in club history on Feb. 7, Canadiens general manager Marc Bergevin acted quickly, requesting permission to speak to Julien on Feb. 12, according to Pierre LeBrun of ESPN.

It should shock no one that Montreal wasn't the only team interested.

That Boston granted its fiercest rivals permission to speak with the deposed head coach may be a bit of a shock, but Joe McDonald of ESPN added the Canadiens weren't the only team allowed to speak to Julien.

In other words, Julien was presented with several options, and while Montreal - a team Julien coached in the past - stood out as the most logical fit, the Bruins weren't going to stand in his way of seeking immediate employment, despite holding him under contract through to the end of 2017-18.

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The Montreal Canadiens weren't about to let Claude Julien slip away.

After the Boston Bruins made the decision to part ways with the winningest coach in club history on Feb. 7, Canadiens general manager Marc Bergevin acted quickly, requesting permission to speak to Julien on Feb. 12, according to Pierre LeBrun of ESPN.

It should shock no one that Montreal wasn't the only team interested.

That Boston granted its fiercest rivals permission to speak with the deposed head coach may be a bit of a shock, but Joe McDonald of ESPN added the Canadiens weren't the only team allowed to speak to Julien.

In other words, Julien was presented with several options, and while Montreal - a team Julien coached in the past - stood out as the most logical fit, the Bruins weren't going to stand in his way of seeking immediate employment, despite holding him under contract through to the end of 2017-18.

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As the NHL's trade deadline nears, a big addition to the Edmonton Oilers roster could come from within the organization.

General manager Peter Chiarelli recently made the trip to Bakersfield in order to check in on Jesse Puljujarvi, the 18-year-old first-round pick who was sent to the AHL earlier this season in order to develop his game.

Chiarelli certainly appears to have liked what he saw.

"He is getting a lot of touches and you could see his confidence is coming back," the GM told Chris Wescott of EdmontonOilers.com. "The defensive side of his game is getting better, and he's made a lot of progress down there and he's playing a lot of minutes."

After managing only a goal and eight points in his first 27 NHL games, Puljujarvi has recorded five goals and six assists in 15 games for the Condors, including three goals in his past four games.

As a result, he could certainly warrant a recall later this season, giving the seemingly playoff-bound Oilers a potential offensive boost from within as other teams look for help prior to the March 1 deadline.

"He's going to be in the conversation come the deadline," said Chiarelli. "He's a dangerous player down there. He was far and above the most dangerous player I saw in both the games down there."

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The Montreal Canadiens have named Claude Julien as their new head coach after relieving Michel Therrien of his duties Tuesday afternoon.

"I would like to sincerely thank Michel for his relentless work with the Montreal Canadiens over his eight seasons behind the bench, including the last five seasons when we worked together," general manager Marc Bergevin wrote in a statement. "The decision to remove Michel from his coaching duties was a difficult one because I have lots of respect for him.

"I came to the conclusion that our team needed a new energy, a new voice, a new direction," he continued. "Claude Julien is an experienced and well respected coach with a good knowledge of the Montreal market. Claude has been very successful as an NHL coach and he won the Stanley Cup. Today we hired the best available coach, and one of the league's best. I am convinced that he has the capabilities to get our team back on the winning track."

Julien, of course, was let go by the rival Boston Bruins on Feb. 7. This will be his second tour of duty as head coach of the Canadiens, a post he held from 2003-06.

During his tenure with the Bruins, Julien amassed a record of 419-246-94 in 759 regular season games, leading the club to a Stanley Cup in 2011, another appearance in the final in 2013, and the 2013-14 Presidents' Trophy. He also won the Jack Adams in 2008-09, and became the winningest coach in Bruins' history.

Therrien, meanwhile, led the Canadiens to an Eastern Conference Finals appearance in 2014. While Montreal got off to a 13-1-1 start this season, a recent swoon - and, more importantly, Julien's sudden availability - appears to have prompted a change behind the bench.

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There are limits to what Ottawa Senators general manager Pierre Dorion is willing to do prior to the NHL trade deadline.

Speaking on TSN 1200 on Monday, Dorion acknowledged he's spoken to his counterpart in Colorado, and while he didn't refer to the likes of Gabriel Landeskog or Matt Duchene by name, it's clear the Senators won't meet the asking price being set by Avalanche GM Joe Sakic for either.

"Joe (Sakic) and I talked and, at this point in time, I can’t see us going in that direction. It wouldn’t make sense," Dorion said, according to Bruce Garrioch of Postmedia.

"We want to do something to try to improve the team and making deals is very difficult to do," Dorion continued. "But I can’t see us mortgaging everything in the future and some stuff in the present to get one or two or whatever players that are out there. I think we have to be realistic that we want to improve but to give up three, four, or five assets would be something that would be very difficult to do."

Dorion recently pulled off a deal with San Jose that saw Tommy Wingels find a new home in Ottawa, and a similar depth deal - whether up front or on the blue line - is probably more in line with what the Senators might do in advance of the March 1 trade deadline.

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The Montreal Canadiens have some soul searching to do during their bye week.

So says goaltender Carey Price, who lamented the team's recent struggles following a 4-0 loss to the Boston Bruins.

"We seem to have lost our identity," Price said, according to Amanda Stein of TSN 690.

Since starting the season with a record of 13-1-1, the Canadiens have gone 18-18-7, and things have been quite dire over the past month or so.

The shutout loss to the Bruins - Tuukka Rask's first regular-season home win over Montreal - marked the third time the Canadiens have been held off the scoresheet in the past five games.

Price, meanwhile, hasn't been his usual self, allowing four goals against in each of his past three starts, two of which came against lowly Arizona and Colorado.

The Canadiens remain atop the Atlantic Division, but their cushion has shrunk to six points, with both Boston and Ottawa looking to overtake them, and Toronto lurking further down the standings with games in hand.

Montreal is off until Feb. 18, giving the team ample time in which to try and figure out what's gone wrong.

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Tuukka Rask could not have picked a better time to mark a first.

After posting a record of 0-9-3 in 12 previous regular-season home games against the Montreal Canadiens, the Boston Bruins goaltender finally earned a win over the team's fierce rivals within the friendly confines of TD Garden.

Rask, of course, had beaten the Canadiens twice on home ice back in the 2014 Stanley Cup Playoffs.

The victory came courtesy of a 25-save shutout performance in Boston's final game heading into their bye week, and capped a perfect record of 3-0-0 for the Bruins under head coach Bruce Cassidy.

For Rask, it was a much-needed strong start after posting a save percentage of .868 in 16 games so far in 2017.

The Bruins are now off until Feb. 19, when they will visit the San Jose Sharks, who they beat 6-3 in Cassidy's debut as head coach.

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Tuukka Rask finally got to enjoy a win from the bench.

The state of Boston's goaltending depth has been a point of discussion all season long, but interim head coach Bruce Cassidy - in only his second game with the club - rolled the dice and called upon Anton Khudobin for Saturday's tilt with the Vancouver Canucks.

The result? A 4-3 win in which Khudobin stopped 29 of 32 shots and earned the first regulation win of the season for a Bruins backup.

Related - Watch: Pastrnak scores late beauty to seal victory for Bruins

It had been over 11 months since a Bruins backup had won a game in regulation, with the feat being achieved on March 8, 2016 by Jonas Gustavsson.

Khudobin signed a two-year, $2.4-million contract with the Bruins last summer, but his second tour of duty in Boston has been anything but a success. Prior to Saturday, the 30-year-old had posted a record of 1-5-1 (with the previous win coming in overtime) and a save percentage of .885.

He recently spent several weeks in the AHL after being placed on waivers, but was recalled when it became apparent that Zane McIntyre wasn't faring much better.

General manager Don Sweeney has conceded the lack of a capable backup has put tremendous pressure on the Bruins, as Boston had earned three of a possible 22 points in all previous games in which Rask had not started.

Kudobin was good but not great in the win over a Canucks team far removed from the one that was considered a Boston rival, but the win from a goalie not named Rask was much needed.

Whether this is a sign of things to come from Khudobin, or Sweeney is considering other options (such as Andrew Hammond, who was placed on waivers by Ottawa) remains to be seen.

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Every point matters.

That was the simple message espoused by Toronto Maple Leafs defenseman Morgan Rielly after a 6-5 overtime loss to the New York Islanders.

The single point vaulted Toronto past the Boston Bruins for the third spot in the Atlantic Division - both teams are level at 58 points - but the Maple Leafs have the advantage of playing four fewer games.

The eight points that could be amassed as Toronto catches up to Boston only exist in the realm of possibility at this point, Rielly told reporters after the loss to the Islanders:

The games in hand only matter if you win them. You've got to make those games and those points count. We know what the situation is with the standings, we check it pretty frequently so we know how big the points are, we know what's at stake when you're playing teams within the Eastern Conference.

Obviously tonight, going into it, we wanted to come away with two, we only came away with one, and that's not going to be good enough down the stretch. Moving forward we're going to continue to work, continue to take advantage of those games and it's important that we come away with two points more often than not.

In terms of point percentage, Toronto does indeed rank third in the Atlantic, behind Montreal and Ottawa. The Bruins have fallen to fifth, with resurgent Florida making a late push for a playoff berth.

The Maple Leafs will move even closer to Boston in games played when they host Dallas on Tuesday.

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The reeling Colorado Avalanche have dipped into the waiver pool for help on the blue line.

The club claimed defenseman Mark Barberio, who was waived Wednesday by the Montreal Canadiens.

The 26-year-old was drafted 152nd overall by the Tampa Bay Lightning in 2008, and has spent more time in the AHL than in the NHL since that time.

When given a chance, first by Tampa Bay and then by Montreal, Barberio has proven to be a positive possession player, and clearly Colorado liked what they saw from the left-hand shot, who has averaged 0.66 points per game in the minors.

The Canadiens also have a bit more cap space to work with down the stretch.

In a corresponding move, the Avalanche waived defenseman Eric Gelinas.

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