Rangers coach David Quinn was on ESPN Radio on Wednesday and said:
- He thinks that Pionk and the Rangers were able to catch Montreal a little bit tired on the game winning goal.
- On how Pionk has responded to being scratched earlier in the year, Quinn said Neal has made the most of his opportunity since coming back into the lineup.
- “One of the things I think we have had is a mental toughness and some resiliency. We have been building in this direction, it was a little bit frustrating the first 7-8 games where we were playing pretty well and not getting rewarded. The bottoming out was probably against Calgary where we thought we played really well but lose 4-1 and go into a little bit of a tailspin and ever since that San Jose game we have turned things around a little bit, mentally tougher, haven’t let situations get us down and put us in a position where we have won four in a row.”
- On hard work, “the league sets that standard, I don’t think anyone goes out there thinking they are gonna be lazy, I think they think they are working hard but there is a whole new level at this stage where you have to redefine it. The best news for us is that some of our veterans are our hardest working guys and the best way to get the young guys help redefine what hard work is. No one works harder than Hank Lundqvist, Zibanejad works his tail off day in and day out. When you have guys like that setting a great example it makes it easier from a coaching perspective to have the younger players understand what hard work actually is.”
- On Henrik Lundqvist, “he is such a presence on and off the ice. I’m not surprised he is playing at the level he is at his age. He is a guy that is incredibly committed on and off the ice and is a true professional and takes care of himself away from the rink. He loves playing for the New York Rangers, it means everything to him. He wants to be part of the next run here and as good as he has been on the ice, he’s been that good off the ice.”
- How do you get players to show up consistently, “that is a challenge for every coach. Everyone is trying to get that out of all of our top players. Hayes and Kreider are two guys that are key for us moving forward. You are not going to have 82 great nights but how bad is your bad? The floor is just as important as the ceiling when watching and evaluating a player. Both of those guys have done a good job of not only raising their ceiling, but their floors. They are not having those really bad nights that can really hurt your team. Both of them want to come back and prove they are part of the future here and I think those things give themselves a chance to have a better season.”
- “This is a game of will and toughness and when something happens to a teammate you gotta stand up for them. Our guys understand that and it helps bring the team together, rallies the guys and creates a bond that you can carry forward.”
- On expectations and Chytil and Andersson, “expectations are that we want to win. I know about the letter and the direction we took last year but there is no reason we can’t win. How much? Who knows but on a daily basis we are trying to get better and trying to move forward daily. Chytil and Andersson are a big part of our future. I really liked Filip’s game last night, Andersson came in and did a good job. Howden has been outstanding for us, DeAngelo has played well, Pionk has played well, Vesey, Hayes. We have a lot of good things going. We just want to continue to build daily. The winning and losing takes care of itself.”
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