Gerard Gallant met with the media following the loss to the Devils and said (MSG, NYR):
- On the game, “it was back and forth a lot and a lot of good scoring chances and obviously, Shesterkin was our best player tonight, he was outstanding and gave us a chance to win a hockey game, he was great in net.”
- On Zibanejad’s chance in OT, “He had a great look in OT and even in the third period, that shorthanded one I think hit the crossbar. We had some looks, had some chances and just couldn’t hold onto that lead.”
- On the Devils comeback and the third period, “Well, they get that PP goal and you knew they were going to get some momentum and they had some great chances in the first two periods, but once they got that PP goal in the third they started to carry the momentum a little bit. Like I said to our guys, ‘we gotta keep playing, we gotta keep forechecking, you’re not going to beat that team standing there and watching them get speed in the neutral zone.’ They took it to us a little bit and unfortunately for us they got the tie.”
- Did it seem like the shot differential was so much in the first period, “Not at all. Honestly, I looked up and it was 11-3 and I said ‘you gotta be kidding me?’ Maybe the guy upstairs had an itchy finger, I don’t know but it didn’t seem…what about you guys? Am I wrong? Because I was shocked when I looked up. First time I looked up it was 11-3 and I said ‘come on.’ I thought it was 5-3, 5-4, honestly, when I looked up.”
- On the intensity level, “It was almost like a playoff game, without great defense, I thought, on both sides. There were a lot of good scoring chances both ways and there were some turnovers, but when it’s a fast game like that people tend to make some mistakes and that is what happened.”
- On Jack Hughes, “he’s a great player, talented kid, great player, takes advantage of opportunities and we gave him a little bit too much ice the second half of the game.”
- On cutting down the lines near the end, “that was exactly what it was. Nothing that they did wrong, I just go with my defensive guys and Goody is one of those guys.”