Peter Laviolette met with the media following the win over the Wild and said (MSG, NYR):

• “It was a really good game. Kind of tale of the tape in different periods, but I really liked the way we started and came out and pushed and pressed right away. Did a lot of good things, got ourselves a lead, I don’t think anybody was happy with the second period and the way we played that, sat back too much. They kind of dictated what went on in the second and I really liked the response of our guys in the third period, we came right out again off the hop and pressed and pushed the action and played a terrific third period.”

• Did you say much after the second period, “It’s the players, they dictate what goes on and so we always chat between periods, but the players dictate what goes on. You steer a conversation once in a while, but I just really liked the response, I don’t think anybody was happy with the second .”
• On Trocheck, “I feel like, you try and build lines and a lineup and I’m sure he has been the guy who has played 22 minutes or 20 minutes and he fills so many valuable positions on our team. I feel like he could play wing on the first line or center on a checking line, he’s a real versatile player, PP, one of the first guys out the door on the PK and just his 5-on-5 minutes, he does a lot of things out there and does them really well.”
• On Panarin and Lafreniere, “They seem to find a little bit of chemistry and I really liked, particularly, their response in the third. Everybody came out on the right page and got it done, but they were sharp.”
• What is Lafreniere doing to adjust to playing with Panarin“I think Alexis has a lot of skill and I think they think alike and I think they have a lot of skill that matches up and connects on the ice. Alexis thinks the game about making plays and creating space how to find areas to generate offense and when you get two guys who can read off each other and feed off each other it can become dangerous. I do think that Vinny has done a real good job moving up in there and adding, that is a little bit of a different element, north/south physical guy that is heavy on pucks and wins faceoffs and still has an unbelievable skill level to complement those two players. To me, Artemi seems like an easier player to play with because he has the puck and he makes things happen. If you can find spaces and find areas you can generate.”
• On Cuylle, Bonino and Kakko, “I do like the line, I think they played well….that line has been good, responsible and it seems like all the lines now have an equal balance and they can become dangerous.”
• On Domginue, “To me, he was in place on everything and played a heck of a game. Defensively we were really good in the first and pretty good in the third, but the goaltender still has to make saves. He really stepped up in that second period when I think they fired 30 attempts at our net and end up with 15 shots or whatever it is, a lot of quality scoring chances and he made some big saves and ultimately he gave us a chance at 1-1 to push in the third period and change the course of the game. Really strong effort.”
• On Blake Wheeler, “It did feel like it was coming. I think he’s played better, he talked about the first 5-6 games and then every game has been a little bit stronger. I think that going up and playing with Mika and Kreids has been positive for all of lines. It’s been good for that line, but it’s been good for all the lines, a little bit better balance.”
• On being 8-0-1 since losing to Nashville, “It’s hard to paint it with one brush because I think every game is a little bit different. There have been games where we’ve been a little bit loose defensively and still able to get a point in Minnesota or score a couple of goals on the PP and when you stay tight defensively like we were for two periods tonight and defend hard you’ve got a chance to win hockey games. I think that has been good, the PP has been excellent and that has really helped in that streak and the 5-on-5 is starting to connect a bit. It’s never one thing. Say a team goes 10-0 it’s probably never just one thing, probably a combo of a bunch of different things and you can have objectives of what you think is necessary to be successful and if you can check off eight of those ten objectives and do it consistently you are probably going to find yourself winning hockey games.”