The good thing is, he's seeing clearly. |
The greatest thing is the players' spirits are unbelievable. You can tell they're anxious to get back. They missed the game, they love the game. That makes it great for a coach when you have that enthusiasm on the ice. |
The last couple games, we have made decisions that have come back to bite us. You have to look forward to the next game. You have to win four games to win a series, and the last time I looked nobody has won four yet. |
The message today was to prepare for our game and what we need to do to win. Tonight is the night that it was really put to the test because you cannot get caught up in everything that is going around. |
The players are determined and they're finding ways to win. They push toward it without pushing the panic button. |
The puck seemed to follow him around. He was always on the puck and making good plays. He's not going to hit a lot of people or grind you up. But he makes good plays under pressure. |
The reality is we needed a slap in the face – hard. |
The shootout is going to provide very valuable points. If you don't take them seriously, you're going to be behind the game. We've talked about that since Day 1 of training camp. |
There are a few issues, but I think it's the stuff you normally have to deal with. These guys are in great shape, but they still have to get in game shape. One of the big challenges is getting the body conditioned to hitting. Not only is it hard physically, it really takes the air out of you. |
There are some question marks and things that need to happen for us, but I like this team. |
There are things he does that the average person doesn't see, but we see it. |
There are things to build on, even though we're down 2-0. |
There was a lot good, old-fashioned hard work out there. If you want to stop the bleeding, that's a good place to start. |
There were a lot of guys that we put into roles where we knew they had to jump in and do a good job. They've excelled in all of them. |
There were poor decisions on our part. You can't give away goals like that. Those are frustrating ones for a coach. |