Gerard Gallant met with the media following the Rangers win over Tampa and said (MSG, NYR):
- On players stepping up without Panarin, “all of our players stepped up, the best player was really good, obviously, but all of our players stepped up.”
- On the overall effort, “very satisfying, a good team like that, over there, they come at you with a lot of talent. Missing some top defensemen today and obviously they put a lot of pressure, but the kids went out and played a real good hockey game. Shesty played a real good game in net, PP did it’s job and everybody was ready to play and compete and that is the only way we can beat that team today.”
- Has Shesterkin gotten better each game, “definitely. The guy was out for quite a while and he never played bad in any of them, but he was excellent today.”
- Does Igor surprise you with how good he is, “same for you, he really took off last year from what I hear. Benny told me when I got the job and we talked about goaltending that we had two very good goaltenders ready to take the next step and that is what happened with him. Georgie is real good too.”
- When did you know you weren’t going to have Nemeth, “Pretty much when I was in here, I wasn’t going to say much. It happened quick, things happened really quick, we were scrambling at that time.”
- Do you think Nemeth might be ready for tomorrow, “There is a possibility, but I can’t say. It’s a personal issue and we will see.”
- Did you find out about Panarin today, “yea.”
- Was this a full 60 minutes, “Real close, they pushed some there when it was 3-0 in the second period. They had a big push there, I don’t think they had outstanding chances against us, they controlled the play, but it wasn’t like they dominated. They had some chances, but it wasn’t dominating.”
- On putting Lafreniere on the second line, “I liked it a lot, I thought Laffy was forechcking well and had some chances and made some plays, I really liked it.”
- On Goodrow’s strong play, “I think he’s played well all season, but you definitely get a little extra juice against your old teammates.”
- Does this give you a chance to see what you have in other players, “100%. When you got some of your top players out of the lineup and some of the kids get a chance to step in, especially on the blue line, Laffy goes up to the second line and plays good hockey, it’s a good thing for them and our management to see our kids step up and it makes the coach feel a lot better when you see those guys go into a bigger role that they succeed. It was a big day for us today.”
- On the Jones/Lundkvist pair, “real good, moved the puck good. You try and get the matchups you want for them and sometimes it’s not easy sometimes when they are making line changes on the fly, but they were out there against the top line sometimes and did real well. They didn’t show a lack of confidence and that is important.”