Gerard Gallant met with the media following the win over Arizona and said (MSG):
- “I agree 100%.”
- On the start, “They played fast and hard and put pucks behind us the first half of the game and we didn’t respond well to it, couldn’t get our legs going and then all of a sudden we get a couple of good PKs and everybody started to jump from that point on and pretty happy with that because before that we were pretty stale and slow and that PK gave us a good boost.”
- On the PK and Igor keeping you in the game, “Yep…they had a lot of shots, but as (reporter says) ‘were they really great chances?’ (laugh)”
- Were you passing up opportunities in the first half of the game, “Tonight? No, I don’t think we had opportunities to shoot in the first half of the game, to be honest with you. I thought we gave them too many turnovers, didn’t put pucks behind them and we just weren’t skating. They were winning all the loose puck battles and first on pucks and, again, it was tough travel and three in four nights for us and you don’t make excuses, but that has something to do with it. I just thought we were slow and then all of a sudden, those two PKs were good for us to get our legs going.”
- Does it even out that there were some games you should have won and didn’t and then tonight, “exactly. It’s like last year. Last year there were plenty of times we came in here and said that our goalie stole the game for us…I don’t think he had to steal it tonight because we did play a good second half, but he definitely kept it scoreless and that was important.”
- Do you think Igor needed a game like tonight, “he’s been good and solid and you can’t stand on your head like he did last year for all those games in a row, he was outstanding. It’s only 17-18 games in and he’s played really solid, has a good record, but I think that if you ask him there is still more for him, no doubt.”
- On the PK looking to create chances, “I’m glad we looked to go the other way at least some part of the game because we weren’t doing it the other side. A couple of opportunities jumped from that and we got chances going the other way and those were the best chances and that is really why I think our team changed from that point on, I really do.”
- Does it build character to win when you don’t have your ‘A’ game, “I hope so. Again, it was a tough go, we had 3 in 4, we get home at 3AM last night and you gotta get ready and battle again today. They played last night too, but it was across the river, so it wasn’t much, but we found a way and it was an important win. It would have been a tough loss, but it was an important win for us.”
- On putting Carpenter back in, “I like Carpenter as a player, he’s done a good job. I always say that you can only play 20 and last game Reavo was in there and we switched it up today and I’m not going to tell you the main reason why, maybe someone is hurt, maybe somebody isn’t feeling good, but Carpy deserves to play, he’s an NHL player and he does a good job for us, kills penalties and does all the right things…he rewarded us late in the game, but he played solid and was real good for us.”
- Was it important to win to go on the road with a good feeling, “It’s a good feeling and definitely with the guys. Last night was a tough loss, I thought we played well enough to win last night and when you come off of that and now you are going on a long West Coast trip and four games is going to be tough and a battle, but it definitely feels a lot better when you have a day off tomorrow and then you get ready for four games in 7-8 nights out West.”