NYR at BUF: Mike Sullivan Postgame Media Availability | Oct. 9, 2025

NYR at BUF: Mike Sullivan Postgame Media Availability | Oct. 9, 2025

just what was the biggest difference that you saw from game one to game two? Well, I just thought, you know, we obviously had way more energy to start. I thought um just from an energy standpoint, um you know, we a lot of the guys, I think, felt a whole lot better physically for whatever reason. And I think that was that’s where it started. But I also thought we had the right intentions. You know, it wasn’t perfect by any stretch. Buffalo has a dynamic offense and they’re not easy to handle. Um, but I thought the start of the game was that might have been the best period that we played, you know, since training camp started. And so, um, you know, there’s a there’s a lot to like about the game. You know, we lose we lose Troach early and everybody kind of digs in there and, uh, you know, and obviously Shesty made some huge saves for us when we needed it. With Troj, any any update there? No, he’s being evaluated for an upper body injury right now. I I don’t have anything else for you. the um as far as the the first period into the second. I mean, obviously a lot of penalties in the second. Was that the most disruptive thing or were there parts of the game you felt you got away from? Well, I think it was a little bit of both. I mean, you know, when you’re killing six of the 20 minutes, that doesn’t help you keep momentum, you know, and you got to give Buffalo credit. We knew they were going to push back. They’ve got a proud group over there and um you know when they push back and then when you add the you know we’re killing for six of the 20 minutes that that’s not easy cuz it taxes certain guys that are on the kill and it takes other guys out of uh the flow. Um you know when we’re killing for that long in a period. So um I I really liked our game in the third. I thought we responded really well. you know, just trying to play the game the right way and staying above their attack and and defending hard. You know, that that’s a team that if you don’t if you don’t defend well against them, they can they can fill the net pretty fast. And I thought I thought we checked really well in the third. You got a ground game established in that one with good for check and coverage. Yeah, I think we’re building that element of our game and and that’s that’s one of the things that our coaching staff looked at, you know, coming into this season was trying to was trying to build what we would call a grind game. And uh I just think it’s an important aspect of of today’s NHL. You know, it’s how you control territory. You control momentum. You force teams to have to expend energy defending you. You know, you can take them out of a heavy forch, for example. there’s so many elements uh and and you can manufacture offense on top of it. So, you know, I just think it’s such an important element in today’s game that that you know, ju just a team that has the ability to play on top of their opponent and control momentum that way. And u and I and we’re building that. I think we’re we’re getting better at it, but uh we got a long way to go, but but I I think our intentions are in the right spot. You’ve had a lot of wins, other significant wins in your career, but your person as a Rangers coach, the significance of that. Well, it’s humbling. You know, I I’ve said this uh on a number of occasions since I got the job, and it’s an incredible honor to to be the head coach of the New York Rangers, a franchise that has, you know, such history to it. Um for me, it’s uh it’s just a privilege that I don’t take for granted. And um I’m excited about the the group of players that we have here. I think there’s a certain enthusiasm around the team right now since day one of training camp that’s been really rewarding from a coaching standpoint. It’s tangible. We can feel it. Um, you know, and and I think we’re I think we’re building a relationship with the players right now that um, you know, that that will be meaningful moving forward, you know, and so to get the first win, it means a lot to me. Uh, JT gave me the game puck, which was nice. You know, he made a joke about how long our video meetings are, but they’ll continue to be long until we get on the right page and on the same page. How nice is it to see him get the goal, especially after that first game where, you know, he’s still coming struggling to come back. Yeah, I thought he was he was just way better tonight. You know, he felt way better. You know, we could tell just we could tell from the drop of the puck the very first shift. Um they could have scored on the very first shift. and he he’s he’s just he I think in a lot of ways JT represents um you know the the type of game from an identity standpoint that we that we’re trying to play. He’s a fierce competitor. Um you know he plays the game hard. There’s an honesty to his game, competes on both sides of the puck. Um you know and I thought it was on display tonight. You’ve been on the other side of it, Mike, with Igor now. How nice to have him on your side. It sure is nice. I’ll tell you, he’s uh I mean, he’s a world-class goalie, you know, he’s one of the very best. And when you get timely saves um like he he gives you, you know, and and he he makes really hard saves look routine sometimes and um we certainly don’t take that for granted either. He was terrific tonight. He was terrific the other night also.

New York Rangers head coach Mike Sullivan discusses the team’s energy and defense following the Ranger’s 4-0 win over the Buffalo Sabres on October 9.

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