Gerard Gallant met with the media following the Rangers win in Game 6 and said (MSG, NYR):
- Is the game plan to go down and then come back, (laugh) “It started out like the other two games here, fortunately we found a way to battle back again. It was good, we battled back after that, showed some character in our group and being down 2-0 it wasn’t looking too good in the first.”
- On the first period, “it’s not easy playing on the road. Game six is a huge game tonight, obviously, and they have the home crowd and they’re going crazy just like we get the momentum in our building. They come out and we just looked a step behind. It happened in all three games here and we found our game and in the second period we started forechecking more and taking advantage of them a little bit. That is what happens when you get a 2-0, sometimes, 3-0 lead, you sit back and don’t want to make a mistake and they didn’t take it to as much in the second and I thought we got our game going and fortunately for us we got some big goals.”
- What changed in the second, “I think it was a better commitment by us. Pittsburgh is a real good team and they created a lot in the first period and obviously, for me, in the first period we weren’t skating, we weren’t paying attention to the game or working hard enough and then it all changed. We started to work hard, get pucks behind their defensemen and they played Letang and some of those guys a lot of minutes tonight and when you get pucks behind them and make them work a little harder, it’s easy when you play in the offensive zone the whole time, but we made them work harder and got some breaks from it.”
- “Putting pucks to the net and good things happen sometimes. The PP was huge, obviously, tonight and to kill that 5-on-3 , did a real good job and battled hard there and we did good things and the special teams were key for us.”
- On Zibanejad, “He feels a lot better, there is no doubt. Mika puts a lot of pressure on himself and he hates to see a little minus-two beside his name before the game, but you just gotta relax and play your game. Have fun, Mika, go play and don’t worry about other players on the other team, worry about your game because he’s a great player and carried us all year long. He felt loose tonight and go play and that is what he did….if he’s not scoring goals he’s one of our best two-way players, if not our best two-way player, no doubt.”
- Did you see Kreider throw the iPad, (Laugh) “I didn’t notice that. The guys are looking at those iPad’s all the time, it would drive me nuts if I was a player doing that. You see your mistakes, that is what happens with those.”
- On Tyler Motte, “Real good, real excited to see him play that way. He didn’t play a whole lot minutes, but he felt great and every time I asked him he said he said ‘I’m ready to go, coach. He was good and an important guy for us, no doubt.”
- On Shesterkin’s pass, “That was great, it’s nice when it works like that and Igor can play the puck real well, it was a great play.”
- Were you nervous seeing him do that, “Yep, I’m not gonna lie. He handles the puck so well and can make those plays. You can’t take that away from him, he sees the ice real well and shoots it that well.”
- On Game 7, “It’s exciting, three days ago we were down 3-1 and now we get a chance to go back home and win a Game 7. The first two were battles and we had to win hard and nothing is going to change in the next one. Home ice is great, it’s going to be a great game.”
- “I hope I’m right, but we played well in our building. It’s a Game 7, winner goes on and loser goes home. I think it’s going to be a great game.”