Gerard Gallant met with the media following the win over Philly and said (MSG, NYR):
- On Georgiev, “Georgie was excellent, a real strong game, looked real solid in there, made some really big saves for us. He was the difference in the game for sure.”
- On playing a team that lost as bad as the Flyers did the night before, “I think that anybody that has been around the teams in the league knows that they are going to come in and work hard and they came out and worked hard in the first period and were really good. We were fortunate to get the opening goal, so that was big for us, but Philly worked hard and competed hard tonight and we just took advantage of some of our chances and made some good plays, but they competed and battled hard tonight. I give them credit for that, it was tough last night, losing 9-2, but they came out and worked their tails off tonight.”
- On Kakko’s game, “he was excellent, drove to the net. The line was excellent, made some real good plays and they played the way they are supposed to play. They created some good offense down low and I think they were the most conisstent line all night for us.”
- Is Lafreniere healthy, “yea…just, it’s a long season, kid is 19-years old and we just felt like trying something else and giving him a little break.”
- What does it mean for Kakko to get those two, “It means a lot for him, good for our hockey team. He’s a good player and even after he scored his two goals, I liked the effort he made coming off the boards and driving the middle lane and trying to score his third goal. That is what we talk about all the time with young players, get to the scoring areas and he did that tonight. It’s great for his confidence, good for our team.”
- Kakko’s game is going in the right direction, “He was hurt for nine weeks, so this was his third game and you expect a guy, he worked hard when he was out. I think he got a little bit bigger and stronger and he’s done a lot of good things. He feels real fresh right now and he showed good jump in his legs tonight.”
- Is the team trending toward playing playoff-style hockey, “Tonight we traded chances a little too much for our liking, but overall we played good hockey. We’ve got a talented hockey team and I think we got a little too cute in the offensive zone trying to handle the puck too much. But you get a lead and your skill players want to make those plays, overall we are getting ready for it and hopefully keep playing well down the stretch.”
- Is there a plan to rest other players, “it’s day-to-day. Fil was ready to come back and we didn’t want him sitting out for three games in a row and that is what you do, you make decisions like that. Alexis is not from bad play, it’s nothing to do with that. He’s a young guy, looks a little bit tired lately, he hasn’t played an 82-game NHL schedule before. It’s nothing to jump ship about, he’ll be back next game.”