7PM: Gerard Gallant said after practice today (NYR):
- Is Chytil possible for tomorrow, “He’s day-to-day, but it’s definitely a possibility, see how he gets along today. He lasted the whole practice, that was good, felt good we’ll see.”
- Is it tough to get a read on the bottom-six with all the players in and out, “They are doing their jobs, playing their roles. When we’re playing well and winning…I’m happy with the way things are going. Just trying to get the right mix at the right time and it seems like more injuries, switching the lineup more the first 10-20 games than we did in the past.”
- On Sammy Blais, “Sammy’s frustrated, but the last three games he’s a lot happier and playing better and feeling better. We talk about it, he’s been out for 11 months, or whatever it was, he’s played seven or eight games now. I’m happy with it, he’s getting better, playing better, it’s going to take him some time. He just can’t get frustrated, things aren’t going to happen overnight for him and I like the direction he’s going in right now. We talked about that yesterday and we like what he’s doing, he’s working hard, he’s coming, his game is going to keep getting better and better.”
- On Lafreniere and Kakko getting chances but not finishing, “Just keep doing what you’re doing. You are getting the chances, they are going to come. Last night Kreider had a couple of breakaways and we hit a lot of posts last night. You just gotta keep working and stay with it and fortunately we won last night with all the chances that we had. Play your game, play well. As long as you’re playing well I’ve got no issues with it.”
- Do you like how the Top-Six seems to be clicking, “I like it a lot, yea. They are playing really good, last night, I thought was going to be a real tough night for us with the travel and three in four nights and usually that is the day that it hurts you, but the guys had a lot of jump last night and played well and played hard. For me it wasn’t a 1-0 game, we had great chances and their goalie was outstanding. We found a way to get two points, which is huge for us, but it was good, I was happy with our group last night.”
- On Kaapo Kakko’s growth this season in protecting the puck, “Exactly what you just said. He’s confident with the puck, moving his feet with the puck, getting closer to the net. He’s creating chances every night. One of the coaches talked to me, on the last road trip, he said that this Kakko kid has really taken a big step and we know that, but when another coach says that, he’s really coming. He’s been really good.”
- What have you seen different from Shesterkin in the last three than a few weeks ago, “I wouldn’t say that. A couple of weeks we lost two games to Colorado and somebody else before that or after that and I said, I think I said that we played good hockey, we just didn’t win. We had a couple of games, whether it was Game 6, Game 7, I can’t remember, but we’ve had two games that I didn’t like and besides that I thought we played real good hockey all year.”
2:10 PM: Mika Zibanejad and Jacob Trouba did not skate today with what the team called a maintenance day. (NYR)
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Filip Chytil skated today in Zibanejad’s spot and Vitali Kravtsov did not practice. (Brooks)