Gerard Gallant met with the media following the Rangers win in Game 2 and said (NYR, MSG):
- On the last two minutes, “They weren’t going to quit. It was 3-1 and were playing good hockey up until that last 10 minutes. When we made it 3-1 we played a great game and after that they took it too us and stepped their game up and Shesterkin made some great saves to keep that win.”
- On Zibanejad making it 3-1, “It was huge, a big goal obviously. We knew they were going to push real hard and we held on a little bit there, a little too much for me, anyway, we battled, found a way and are playing against a real good team over there and they pushed it and we made some key saves at the end to keep it 3-2.”
- On the response after Tampa scored in the first, “definitely, we battled back after that, quick PP goal and we are down 1-0. We battled and I thought we played a great first period and great second period that I was really happy with, for sure.”
- Can you appreciate the team’s status around the league now, “no, I say it all the time, it’s a huge game for us and a huge win and we get ready for the next one, it’s in the past, behind us, we know what we are doing and playing a real good team like Tampa and to play the way we played the last two games, that is the way we’re going to have to play to win the series and we want to battle hard and compete hard and we’ve been a tough out so far and the guys have to rally around that. I think we’re a good hockey team, we’ve played great hockey in the playoffs and we find a way to win games and the next game is the most important one now. It’s over and a good feeling, but the next one is the big one.”
- How has the team gotten better as the playoffs have gone on, “I think everyone is buying in. You gotta pay a price to win games in the playoffs and I think that if you look at our team since, probably, game four or game five of the Pittsburgh series we’ve blocked a lot more shots, finished a lot more hits, played the game the right way a lot more and that is how you win in the playoffs.”
- How important was the discipline and not taking another penalty, “Discipline is a big part of it and we’ve got to continue to do that. Our PP has been good all playoffs, our PK has been real good all playoffs, you stay disciplined and stay 5-on-5, I like our chances.”
- On Kakko scoring, “it was great to see him score. We talk about it all the time, he’s a big kid, he gets to the front of the blue paint and and he scored a huge goal for us. Good for Kakko and that line has played really well again tonight and real happy with those guys.”
- On Adam Fox leading the charge, “I agree, he’s played outstanding hockey and moves the puck so well. It’s both zones, d-zone, offensive zone, he’s really a leader of our team and makes some great, great plays and plays big minutes every night for us.”
- On K’Andre Miller, “He’s been good all year, every month he got better and better and more confident and he plays 24-25 minutes a night for us and playing with Jacob Trouba has really helped his game and he’s a reliable player and a young kid, but still playing great hockey for us. We love him, love the way he plays.”
- On forcing Tampa into turnovers, “Execution is a big thing with us. We say we play our best game when we forecheck hard and make them make mistakes. Everyone makes mistakes in this game and when we put pressure on them sometimes their D turn the puck over and that is what we want to do, we want to skate and play fast and it’s no different than how we wanted to play all season long, it’s huge a little bit more energy tonight. I loved our first two periods, we played hard, played fast and did the things we wanted to do.”