Gerard Gallant met with the media following the win over Calgary and said (MSG):
- How entertaining was that, “Yea, exactly, I agree with you 100%. First game back after the break, thought it was an exciting game, no doubt about that.”
- On fighting through mistakes, “yea, definitely a couple of goals were self-inflicted, but overall, for the first game back and playing against a pretty good Calgary team, it was a physical game. Who expects three hits like that in a hockey game like that? Wherever that came from, I don’t know, especially a team out of your conference, but it was a good hockey game, wasn’t a great hockey game, but it was an exciting hockey game.”
- What does it do for the team when Trouba throws those big hits and fights, “I don’t know…tonight, it was different, big hits, a bunch of fights going on. First game back, I don’t know, maybe the guy are pissed off that the break was too short, I really don’t know how to explain it. It’s the first time I’ve been involved in a game similar to that since I’ve been with this team, for sure.”
- On Chytil picking up where he left off, “Yea, two big goals by Fil, played really well, the line played really well. Overall real happy with the game, but, again, it was first game back and we’ll get better and move on from there.”
- Is there anything you’ve seen from Fil or was it heading in that direction, “It was heading in that direction, he had a breakout last year, the second half of the season and through the playoffs and this year he’s more confident, feels stronger and bigger and the line is playing well. And, again, Fil can play with anybody, he played in OT with Panarin and creates a lot. He’s taking a big, big step for us.”
- On the goal reviewed for kicking, “Yea, I don’t know, I thought it was kicking for sure…you move on.”
- Do they explain it, “they don’t explain it at all. As far as I know they talk to Toronto with the referees and they make a decision over there. I’m not going to sit there and argue over it. I thought it was a direct kicking motion, but, again, I’ll read the rule tomorrow (smile).”
- Do you see the resiliency coming, “Yea, we were disappointed, obviously, with that goal, we were playing really well, they didn’t have a shot in the period and they get that goal and it’s 3-3 and all of a sudden they get a fortunate…I think Stone scored the fourth one to go up 4-3 for them and it was a huge shot and we had to bounce back and fortunately for us Mika buried another one and tied the game up. We are definitely disappointed giving up two goals that quick.”
- Was that Lafreniere’s best game of the year, “Up there for sure, Laffy played well, huge goal for him in OT. I don’t know if it’s his best, but he played well and I was happy with his performance, definitely.”
- Are you seeing Panarin and Zibanejad starting to develop chemistry, “You gotta give it some time and I don’t know if I’m gonna give it time or not, we’ll see (laugh). But they are playing well and talented players and reading off each other real well. Kreider and those guys and Trocheck are playing pretty well, too. Again, we’ve had nine days off, first game back and overall I’m happy with it.”
- On Trouba being ready to fight right after a big hit, “
- “It’s a shame you have to do that every time you throw a hit. For me, the first one was a good, clean hockey hit, It wasn’t a dangerous hit. You wouldn’t think there would be retaliation to that, but there was, and that’s fine. But the second one, he hit Kadri pretty hard and It looked like Kadri might have got hurt. I understand guys standing up for their teammates, but I just think sometimes, it gets a little overreaction sometimes. Trouba’s a big hitter and people know that. The first one, I thought was a little overreaction for me.”