Message delivered

After seeing his team's lack of effort last night, Claude Julien said it wouldn't have mattered if he ran a traditional practice today based on drills and strategy.

So instead, he sent them out for a 30-minute bag skate without pucks, then called a team meeting after the session.

"It's a situation where your message has got to be clear," said Claude Julien. "Hopefully, today it was."

While the players did not divulge specifics of the meeting, they said it was a chance for everyone to speak honestly about what has been ailing the team lately -- namely, a lack of effort in executing the little things.

* Aaron Ward participated in today's bag skate but is not likely to be available tomorrow against Montreal.

* Today's lines remained the same from yesterday's game.