Gerard Gallant met with the media following the Rangers win over Pittsburgh and said (NYR):

• On the game, “they controlled the first period a little bit, we took advantage of our chances. They had some good chances, Igor made some key saves, probably frustrated them a little bit. We buried our chances and that was the difference in the game. They played a pretty good game overall, it’s hard to say that when it’s 6-0, but they probably had more chances than us and we just happened to bury our chances every time.”

• Is it encouraging to see how things are going, “yea, it’s coming. The first two periods, I thought they controlled the first a bit, but that was fine and the second was real good, obviously, and the third period was one of those games, 6-0, and you don’t want to run the score up, you just want to play the game and get through it and fortunately for us Igor made some key saves to keep his shutout. It was a different game, I didn’t expect that game, for sure.”
• On Shesterkin lately, “He’s been in a pretty good rhythm the last two weeks or roughly 2-3 weeks and has played really well. Halak is going to go tomorrow and he’s played real well, too. Goaltending is a big part of it going down the stretch here, keep playing well and trying to win hockey games.”
• Do you sense that Shesterkin is in a good spot mentally, “He’s in a real good spot lately, for sure and our team is in a good spot. It’s good timing, but there are still 13 left and we gotta make sure we are still working hard and all buying in the same time and doing the right things.”
• On net getting overconfident, “Two weeks ago we weren’t overconfident, we weren’t playing well at all and things weren’t going good. It changes that quick and I think the chemistry is coming together. Sometimes it takes longer than you want as a coach, but overall, the last 6-7 games have been real good.”
• On Trouba’s game, “a lot of guys are trending in the right direction and that is key and we are getting people back and pretty healthy team right now for the most part. Good things are coming and the lines are staying together a little bit and we are trying to build chemistry, trying to keep them together.”