MONTREAL -- Montreal Canadiens general manager Marc Bergevin said he has no plans to make any immediate trades to improve the Canadiens after their longest losing streak since 1939-40, and challenged his players to fuel a turnaround following a 2-6-1 start.
"I'm not going to make a move just to panic," Bergevin said after practice at Bell Centre on Wednesday. "The answer is in the dressing room, it's up to them. There's no one from the outside that is going to come in and help us."
Bergevin addressed the Canadiens before they flew home Saturday, following an 0-3-0 trip to California.
"We're all in this together and right now we're going through a tough stretch," Bergevin said. "Guys are squeezing their sticks and it becomes a mental thing. So I hope that we'll come out of this together with confidence."
Montreal was 0-6-1 during a seven-game losing streak prior to a 5-1 win against the Florida Panthers on Tuesday.
Prior to that, the Canadiens' 1-6-1 start was their worst through eight games in 76 years; Montreal had one win, six losses and one tie through its first eight games in 1941-42 on its way to a 1-10-1 start.
The Canadiens' seven-game losing streak was their longest since they lost nine straight games from Dec. 16, 1939, through Jan. 6, 1940.
Bergevin said he was encouraged by left wing Alex Galchenyuk's power-play goal Tuesday, but needs to see more from the 23-year-old in his quest to establish himself as a top-six forward. Galchenyuk has two goals in nine games.
"He needs to find the little things that make him score, not thinking about scoring but the process of, 'How am I going to score? What do I have to do?'" Bergevin said. "Sometimes you think you're working, but you might not be working as hard as you can. The only place that success comes before work is in the dictionary. So you have to work, and then the result will be success."
Bergevin gave 19-year-old rookie defenseman Victor Mete (two assists, minus-5) a vote of confidence. Mete is expected to play his 10th game against the Los Angeles Kings on Thursday (7:30 p.m. ET; TSN2, RDS, FSF-W, NHL.TV) and remain with the Canadiens.
"As long as he continues to perform like this, he is going to stay in Montreal," Bergevin said.
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