James van Riemsdyk, Patrick Kane, Todd McLellan Post Game @ CBJ | Dec. 4, 2025

James van Riemsdyk, Patrick Kane, Todd McLellan Post Game @ CBJ | Dec. 4, 2025

wild back in Portland tonight. How do you summarize the way things played out in the way it ultimately ended? Yeah, you know what, I feel like the last couple years of these games, they’ve always been kind of crazy games. Um, I like the way we stuck with it, obviously getting down there and, um, just keep battling and keep trying to, uh, claw our way back in, which we did. Um, and usually when you’re leading in the end of a game like that, uh, like to try to find a way to get the two points, but I thought we kind of played resilient and just didn’t really let the stuck with the process even if, uh, things didn’t go our way. So I I like that part of our game. Is that sometimes hard to do is balance that navigation of the process versus some of the results and ultimately execution you guys might want to see more and better of. Yeah, we definitely could execute better in some some different areas of the game for sure. But I think uh I think that uh that’s that fighting spirit of playing no matter what the score is. I think that uh is a really good quality for teams to have and I think we’ve shown that this year that um some if it’s not going our way early that we’ll still try to stick with it and chip away and um we did that. So, obviously nice to get at least a point out of this and start the road trip off that way. So, uh we know we uh definitely uh can play a more complete 60 minutes. The power play was certainly cooking for you guys tonight. Yeah, for sure. I think uh I don’t know. I think we kind of kept it predictable and simple and went through our reads and progressions and wasn’t really anything fancy. All the goals was just getting uh getting pucks to the net at the right time and um capitalizing on our chances that way. Your fourth goal in five games for you. What’s clicking right now, James? Um, I don’t know. I think again sometimes it’s uh funny the way the puck will bounce your way sometimes and things like that. Um, so nice for that to happen. Uh, and yeah, I obviously want to continue to do that to help produce the uh continue to produce to help the team win. Still want to tighten things up defensively though as a team. Is that one of the things from tonight? Yeah, I think uh there’s some times I think we can make uh more predictable plays maybe with the puck, I think, and that’ll allow us to maybe defend a little bit less. I think uh sometimes when you’re defending too much, there’s going to always be those breakdowns. But I think if we can defend hard when we need to, but also make sure we’re we’re not uh defending more than we have to, if that makes sense. So, I think uh maybe maybe a balance of uh some of that, but uh again, it was nice, I think, that we uh just continue to play right till the end. You guys walk out of here with the point, but I would assume you guys probably felt like you deserved to or wanted to after this one. Yeah, I mean um I think uh after the second if, um you told us we would have got a point and and taken it to overtime, I think we would have I mean obviously always won two points, but um that would have been that would have been good for us, but you know, you get that one goal lead in in the third. It would have been nice to uh to finish it off and and get the two points. When things go back and forth like that in the second, how do you settle it down, I guess, as a team? I mean, I think um just kind of the way we did, right? We got we got our power play opportunities and capitalized on the power play. You know, three goals on the power play tonight. Um that’s kind of what we expect from our group and um both units uh producing too. So, uh I think it’s uh um the ultimate equalizer if you can be good on special teams and obviously we we had a good night on the power play but gave up a couple on um on the penalty kill and six on five. So, um that’s kind of what the game game comes down to sometimes. Per was clicking on the power play. It didn’t seem like you guys kept it simple, but you’re pretty effective at I think I think that’s just it. You know, if we can keep it simple, look at the net. Um try to uh um you know, have that shot first mentality. You know, we find a guy in the slot on the first one. It also starts with getting pucks back. Um you know, winning battles, getting retrievalss, and kind of getting our setup from there and then getting pucks to the net and creating some some chaos. But, you know, we saw, you know, one unit score and then we kind of had like half the one unit half the other unit out and then the the second unit scored for us too. So, it was a good balance across the board for for both units. Defensively, these guys still need to clamp down in certain points in the game when games on the line and whatnot. Yeah. I mean, I think uh you know, we we were dominating there in the third and then all of a sudden we we go up one and um kind of sit back a little bit. I’d like to see us, you know, stay on the gas, you know, make them play in their end. That’s that’s the toughest way to uh to score, right? Is if you’re playing your end, you got to come 200 f feet. But um you know, they’re a good team. They have uh some guys on the back end that kind of move around a lot and it’s a little bit of um a lot of switching and um got to make sure you’re you’re staying on your man and you’re and you’re talking and communicating with your teammates. So, it’s a little bit of a challenge against them. When you scored, it seemed like there was another another pump or two in that exclamation point. Did it feel good to score obviously? Yeah, for sure. I mean, um, you know, it’s it’s been a little bit and, uh, I feel like I’ve been I’ve been getting some good looks. So, um, you know, that’s probably just the way to do it, right? You attack, you shoot through the defenseman and and find a way to, uh, to, um, get a shot on that. And good to see it go in for sure. And, um, you know, big goal, too, to make it 4-4 at that. You said you you the chances have been there. You kind of felt, right? I mean, I think so. Yeah. I think uh you know since I’ve been back from injury been getting one or two good looks every game and um you know just been a little off. So I think that was the case again tonight and um you know nice to see one go in but um you know just try to produce right scoring chances, make plays, be good on the power play, be good in my spot defensively and um you know try to do you know play my game. Thanks Gar. Thanks a wild game tonight. A lot of highs and lows, I’m sure. How do you summarize what went what what happened out there and you guys walked still walked away at the point? Kind of reminds me of the game that we played in uh Detroit a couple weeks ago against them where we fell behind, had to come back um got to overtime and in in that case we got the shot off that we needed. Um tonight we didn’t and then it comes down to a crapshoot the shootout. But um you know again we uh power play was excellent. penalty kill gave up, you know, two and then call it the six on five goal. So maybe we’ve given up three there. So um we got to clean some stuff up in that area. Um some mistakes around our net getting beat back to loose pucks cost us also and it was a real focal point of ours heading into the game was net play at both ends. I thought we did a pretty good job offensively and uh just an okay job defensively. Javier talked about being more predictable on defense as a way for you guys to maybe clean some things up on the back end. Do you share that or how do you navigate? No, I think he’s he’s got a good point. We’ve been we’ve all been talking about this for for a long time and um you know there’s there’s moments where we do a real good job of it and we we look solid and then we get away from it and trying to find that consistency and I think that consistency uh word predictable word uh that you can bundle them all up and and we still got to work on it. Our play was cooking pretty good. I mean it was basic stuff too. I mean you had to be pleased about that. Well that’s actually a really good word basic. um you know, simple uh wasn’t upside down. I’ve used that word simple. We’ve got guys that can shoot it. We have people that are willing to go to the net when they’re combined. Um and it becomes somewhat predictable. Then it’s then it’s dangerous and um you know, it’s safe for bacon at least tonight for one point. Um it’s got to continue on to do that. Defensively though, you still need to clamp down in certain situations. Yeah, we do. Well, um, you know, the two power play goals, we lose a face off. Whether it was dropped clean or not can be debated, but, uh, we lose one and it’s just a it’s a one-timer. I think it’s hard for Talbus to pick up. The first one probably like to have back and then defensively I, you know, the the, uh, was it the third goal? I think it was the third goal. Um, turnover and then we compound one mistake into two, we get beat back to the net. And that’s what I’m talking about with net play. Um, for as hard as we work, we have to eliminate those simple ones. If it goes off somebody’s pad, if it’s laying, you know, a broken stick or something, there’s nothing we can do about it. But those are preventable ones. Those are detailed ones. Those have to get cleaned up. Those six on five slate, is there an easy way to learn through those or navigate those or how do you how do you kind of process? Well, we 50/50 faceoff, they double up on the wall and and strip the puck. There’s nothing that Benny could really do in that situation was bouncing. It gets to the top and they send a floor to the net. I think it went off Albert and in like there’s there’s no system or structure in that situation that’s going to going to take care of it. Um, prior to that, I thought we played the p the pulled goalender situation quite well, but um, sometimes it doesn’t just doesn’t go your way. Inside.

James van Riemsdyk, Patrick Kane, and Todd McLellan speak with the media following Detroit’s game against the Columbus Blue Jackets on Thursday December 4, 2025.