Gerard Gallant met with the media following the loss to the Devils and said (MSG):
- On the game, “first period was good and then we sort of did the unwritten rule of starting to turn pucks over and make fancy blues inside their blue line and it cost us 2-3 goals and we couldn’t stop it…they got a goal and we couldn’t stop it. A lot of it was self-inflicted, but they are a talented team and have some great young players that we talked about and they can make those plays when you give them the opportunity. We didn’t do a good enough job clearing the front of our net, a couple of screened goals, guy pushes the puck in when it’s between the goalies legs. We looked real good in the first and then we looked like we were mentally tired and didn’t have it the rest of the way.”
- More on the game, “no, not at all, there was a lot of mistakes from our guys. We had very few turnovers in the first period, played a real good game, what we talked about and then all the sudden we started trying to make plays that weren’t available and then they came at you. That is the biggest thing I saw.”
- Is Shesterkin tired, “No, not at all. He’s not tired. He played an unbelievable game in Tampa bay the other night. Our team, you play those two big games on the road and win those games, the Carolina game we didn’t play well, but we won. It was two, big emotional wins and you come in here, a team that is not in the playoffs, a young team, talented team, skilled team, they’ve had trouble winning games, some so-called goalie issue, the kid played well tonight, played well against us the other time we played. We just weren’t mentally sharp from what I saw and those turnovers turned the game around for them.”
- On shortening the bench in the third, “What was it after two? 4-2, 5-2? Trying to start play three lines and get a little rhythm going. We got one back to make it close and then the 2 on 1 went back the other way and they put the game away again. It was too bad, we just tried some different things.”
- On taking penalties, “I think it was 4-1.”
- Was putting Georgiev in about trying to get a spark, “yea, well, you don’t want to let the other guy hang and dry either. I don’t blame the goalie, there was tap-in plays, nothing, I’m not going to leave him in there…he’s been great for us all year and I’m not going to let him hang and dry because the team isn’t playing well.”
- On Andrew Copp’s versatility, “You know the guy from playing against him and around the league and he can play any position and do anything for you and went on the PP at the end, too. That is what he can do, definitely.”
- On sitting Lafreniere to start the third, “everything was okay, it was me wanting to go to three lines and that’s what I chose to do. It wasn’t just Laffy.”