Gerard Gallant spoke after the loss to Dallas and said (MSG, NYR Game Notes):
- On the start, “after they scored that second goal we got some good momentum, played really well and were pretty dominant for eight to nine minutes and got right back in the hockey game. We simplified things, got pucks back to the point, got a couple of deflection goals in front of the net. You can’t get the cute goals every night, but when you work hard like that and go to the tough areas and blue paint you are going to score some goals.”
- On not collapsing like they did in Washington, “they score that second goal and you think ‘here we go again,’ but we bounced back. I knew we weren’t going to collapse tonight, in front of our fans in the building, you know, they come back hard and we got our nose dirty a little bit and did some good things.”
- Did the emotions at the start play a factor, “I don’t know, it’s hard to say. A lot of emotion early in the game, it’s the home opener, so guys are pretty excited. I don’t think we had a great start to the period I mean, it was a sort of a dull period to be honest, we didn’t have many shots, but they didn’t either, so it was one of those periods where teams are feeling each other out.”
- On moving Goodrow around, “I like to move him around when things get a little stale. He had that one good shift…
- On swapping him with Lafreniere, “Just to change the lines once in a while, when we aren’t scoring and you want to try some different things I’ll do that. I like to leave the lines alone, but a situation like tonight you can try different things and that actually worked out pretty well.”
- Is he a guy that provides a spark, “definitely, he’s a guy that is a real dependable forward. When we got him in the summer, obviously, you know, you talk to the TB Lightning people and they love him, his character, work ethic, a guy you can put on the ice and feel real comfortable you aren’t going to get scored against. He does the simple things that we’re talking about, cycles the puck down low, resets pucks behind the net in the offensive zone, low to high plays, you know sometimes you try and get too cute sometimes and be one of those guys that simplifies things and the other players follow.”
- On Adam Fox, “his skill level, his talent. He is on the blue line and as a coach you are saying ‘get it deep, get it deep,’ but he makes that extra play and 99% of the time he makes the right play.”
- On going to the net to score, “definitely. When the players see that and they get good results from that it’s a good thing moving on to the next game and the games after that. I think the open seam plays after you do that stuff. You got to do that stuff first, the hard work and stuff and then after that those seam plays are going to be there. Their goalie made some unbelievable saves on a few of those seam plays. So just keep working at it, I thought tonight was a good night overall, but we still lost.
- On Lundkvist, “I mean, you know I just told the kid to go out there and have fun, play your game, don’t worry about it being your first game. It’s an exciting time for him, but go play your game and I think his skill level and his talent, he’s just going to get better and better. You see a lot of skill there and he’s got a good hockey IQ.”
- On going to Canada without a win, “you can’t worry about wins, you have to worry about how you play. I really liked how we played. The first was sort of a wash period, but after that I thought we played pretty well. You go in there saying we gotta win tomorrow, we gotta play well and when you play well usually you win.”
- On Shesterkin, “real good, solid, goaltending.”
- On coaching his first game at MSG, “It was fun. The ceremony before the game was really nice, honoring Rod Gilbert, a special night for us for sure. But the fans get going here pretty good and they support your team and a big part of our group, so pretty exciting.
- On taking fewer penalties, “A lot more controlled and settled, real good work.”
- Do you have a timeline for when chemistry will develop, “I expected them to start clicking last night. We’re like every other team, it’s early in the season, a work in progress, I saw some real positive stuff tonight and that is all you can worry about as a coach, keep moving forward. Show them some of the plays you really like tonight hopefully we’ll continue to do that stuff.”
Advertisement