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“It’s been different,” Brendan Gallagher said of Gorges and now Beaulieu being gone from the Canadiens, “but that’s the business we are in.

“They are two of my closest friends. I still keep in contact with them. I still talk to them all the time. You wish them all the best. That said, those games against Buffalo you get up for just a little bit more, because you don’t want to lose to them and have to hear about it over the summer.”

Gallagher remains one of the better bargains going in the NHL. He’s in the third season of a six-year deal with an annual cap hit of $3.75 million. That makes him the 10th highest-paid member annually on the Canadiens.

He’s arguably the steal of the 2010 NHL Entry Draft. Going into Tuesday, the fifth-round choice, 147th overall was tied for seventh in career goals in players from that draft pool, sitting at 100.

He sounds, too, like he’s taking on more of a veteran role with Montreal and trying to pass along what he’s picked up from the likes of Gorges about leadership.

“It’s not something that you just have. It’s a skill, like anything else, and you have to learn,” said the 5-9, 181-pound right-handed shot who put up 280 points, including 136 goals, in 244 regular-season games with the Giants.

“Especially playing in a market like Montreal, there are going to be ups and downs throughout the year. It’s important you understand that you’re never as bad you think you are when you’re losing and you’re never as good as you think you are when you’re winning.

“Playing in Montreal is awesome. We get to play, in our minds, in the best hockey city in the world. The fans are passionate. The biggest thing is keeping the outside noise exactly that — outside the locker-room.

“We need to control what’s inside the locker-room and understand the situation that we are in. You can really work your way out of anything. There’s always a solution.”

Sewen@postmedia.com

Twitter.com/SteveEwen

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