Ozzie (Osgood) made some good stops tonight and we had a lot of jump. |
Right off the bat, Mike is stressing the kind of system he wants to play. He wants to play a high-tempo game and he wants a lot of energy and intensity. |
Right up until I got that phone call I wasn't sure. And when I hadn't heard anything by about 4 o'clock (Wednesday) afternoon, I thought, 'Well, I didn't make it.' But then right after that I got the call. |
So you realize that our division just got that much tougher with the upgrades that all these teams made. They've turned themselves into some great hockey clubs. |
That first goal, they moved it around real good on us. We got down 2-0. We still took some penalties. We took a 5-on-3. Guys killed it off. That's the important thing. |
That's something we can't control. Columbus had one of the best records in the league the second half of the season. We feel good about what we accomplished during the regular season. Now everything counts, and we're playing for real. |
That's what Mike has been preaching to us all year. Get the puck to the net, get guys to the net. During the regular season he was preaching that's how you score playoff goals. |
The first power play they were snapping it around pretty good. They kind of got some things going. |
The last couple games we were firing goose eggs, and that's something you don't want to do going into your elimination game. |
The last three or four years I've played all three positions and I've enjoyed that. It's a different game, a different look, and it's an opportunity, hopefully, I can take advantage of and get things going. |
They're part of this team. We're not going to put any added pressure on those guys. |
Those two kids are special. And the new rules are going to be exciting for them. |
To be able to go out there and let guys skate and make plays, ... that's how the game should be played. |
Tomorrow night is the start of four games in five nights, and we have to prepare ourselves for that. |
We feel good about what we've accomplished so far, but there's still a lot of the season left. |