John Leonard, Elmer Soderblom & Todd McLellan Post Game vs. WSH | Dec. 20, 2025

John Leonard, Elmer Soderblom & Todd McLellan Post Game vs. WSH | Dec. 20, 2025

Yeah. Yeah. They were uh they were able to land this morning uh around 8ish. Um they landed and then they were able to swim by the hotel quick too to say hi. So that was really cool. >> Just I mean just getting this opportunity and scoring like it has it feel. It’s got to feel good. >> Yeah. No, it’s it’s really cool to be a part of. everyone um from the first day I got here has um been awesome to me whether it’s just saying hi or uh talking about hockey or different situations or systems like that. So um it’s been a lot of fun like I said and a lot of credit to those guys. It’s it’s uh been easy. >> Did you get a chance to catch up with Ryan yesterday? >> Yeah, he uh he was able to swing by the hotel uh obviously we had the mom’s trip here so uh we had a dinner last night but he swung by the hotel uh for about 45 minutes or so before the dinner and got to catch up with him which is which is great. Obviously you can, you know, FaceTime and text and all that thing, but uh to be face to face is obviously a little better. >> Little disappointing not to be able to face him on the ice. >> Yeah, it would have been really cool. Obviously, uh 6 years younger, so we’ve never had the chance to play with each other or against. Um but yeah, it was still really cool to be able to play against the team and um you know, have a bunch of family. >> Just your thoughts on the win overall and the way you guys started and even ultimately finish it. >> Yeah, obviously it was it was a good team win. I think uh obviously it was good to get that lead early and um tack on a couple more and you knew that they were going to have that push which they did and uh for the most part overall I thought we did a good job of weathering it and then uh you know able to kept it off. >> Decided at first I mean they had some kind of seamless the way you kind of came into the lineup I mean what do you kind of attribute it to? I mean just like you said the comfort level or something like that or >> um yeah I mean I like I said earlier I just I try to take it day by day practice by practice shift by shift and um you know try to speak for itself kind of thing and um whatever happens happens and I’m just grateful for the opportunity to even be here and um whether it’s you know one more game or whatever the case may be obviously I don’t know but uh like I said day by day and uh try to make the most of it and work as hard as I can. Yeah, it was really nice to get the early lead there and get off to a good start and then we just uh kept building off that. So, yeah, really good. >> Talk about your goal just getting on the score. You I know you there seems like there be a little bit of frustration so that feels pretty good. >> Yeah, of course. Feels like I’ve been having uh a lot of good chances lately. So, it was uh yeah, really nice to get one pass as a goalie. So it was uh just front net trying to get uh five positions down on the D and uh then C made a good play through that and I was able to get the net. So it was fun. >> You talked about playing with Cass and Daniel and it seems like you guys got a little bit of chemistry here. >> Yeah, it feels like we uh have a good chemistry. We think alike out there and uh feel like we uh are uh yeah good together so far and it’s feels good when we play together. How about just playing in front of the man? >> It was fun. Uh yeah, it was uh they’re they’ve been exciting for us for a long time. So it was uh really nice that we could get the win for them and uh yeah, hopefully we can do the same thing tomorrow. >> Was the whole trip kind of fun that way and just pretty exciting with them there. >> Yeah, it was uh unbelievable. I mean uh it’s uh always fun to give back in some way. So I think everybody’s happy. >> They kind of pushed their late in the third. What were some of the keys for you guys to keep them at bay? uh just play simple I think and don’t don’t let them get by us in the transition. So just get the pucks deep and uh be around both nets and I think we did a good job with that. Uh so it was yeah nice to get the win. >> Max been Max’s been talking a lot about playing well in front of the net both ends that really today that really >> yeah I think that’s where the games uh like that’s where you win or lose games in front of both nets. Hope we can find a way to be good around both nets. I think we’re going to have a lot of success. >> Think about this game tonight that first period overall. I mean, we were talking earlier in the week about we’d like to see a little better starts on the road or whatnot, but couldn’t have asked for a better >> No, it was a good start. Um, >> you know, these afternoon games, I think they sometimes favor the the road team. There’s you’re at the hotel, you have your meal, you come and you get ready to play. Um, when you’re at home, your rhythm’s thrown off a little bit. I don’t know if that was came into play, but I thought we did have a good first period. Um, it’s a lot easier to play against that team with the lead. Well, it’s never easy to play against that team, but easier when you have a lead. Um, cuz they can turn the the momentum as we saw at any given moment, but probably thought we handled ourselves well for most of the night. >> Any specifics that you really liked out there tonight? >> Well, I I thought we got good individual performances throughout the lineup. Nobody was a superstar, but everybody contributed. um able to roll four lines for most of it. Uh Gibby when he was tested, there were some deflections and tips that that he had to um fight through to find. Then I thought RD did a good job of clearing out the garbage and and moving on. So um it’s a good night, but uh we’re going to need that more tomorrow night. >> That front both ways. I mean, you guys are pretty strong tonight. Yeah, better than obviously the Utah game when it was a focus focal point of ours in practice yesterday and uh yeah, we were better. >> So, there must have been a little bit of frustration with him not hadn’t scored in a while. Just seeing him score there the way he did, that’s got to make him feel pretty good. Nice to see. >> The frustration part, yes. Um, you know, that’s gone now. Uh, but there’s a lesson to be learned there. just the simple feeder shot to the net with a guy that’s 6’8. Um, if he’s willing to go there and we’re willing to send pucks there, he should win his share of those competitive situations and and be able to put some in the net. So, let’s hope he keeps doing that. >> We talk about cider away from the puck, but on the puck, what stands out to you in terms of his confidence, the way that he just handles himself offensively? >> Well, I think it all goes together. The he defends well and all of a sudden the puck’s on his tape. He makes um really good decisions with it most of the time. Uh I think he’s starting to use his shot a little bit more. Uh it’s not the big slap shot, it’s just that feeder wrist shot that becomes effective, but both he and Simon were real important uh pieces in in our win tonight. >> Are you seeing some a new level with him offensively this year? Talk about Mo. >> Um I mean you saw you talked about the shots a couple times. See a little more confidence there in that >> I think he has on the power play. he has a little more confidence to shoot the puck. Um, you know, and we’ve been trying to stress that all year as you know it, like forget about plays and and this fancy stuff. It it’ll be there if we attack the net a little bit. And Mo’s got some confidence now in his shot. He’s willing to use it more and not defer to the the the four forward. So, um, I think that’s where some of the offense is coming from. >> Not a lot of time to rest on your laurels after this one, right? >> No, not at all. um get home and get some rest and and then right back at it. So, quick two game series. Um we know they’re going to be better. Um and uh we have to take it up a notch as well, but right now we’ll worry about tomorrow when it arrives. >> Leonard been able to come in and just give you a little bit of a spark the way he has here. >> Um one can skate. He understands how we want to play. That’s the benefit of of the minor league system, mimicking what we do up here. So you can just plug and play him. And you know, he’s played 70 games in the league or somewhere in that range. He’s he’s confident. He’s comfortable and it shows. >> Mom’s trip’s pretty successful, I guess. >> Well, there’s one more game tomorrow, so we’re 50% of the way there. Um, and we talked about it a little bit before the guys went out. We want them to be able to look their moms in the eye and uh ask them what they thought. And and if you don’t really uh leave it on the ice, it’s hard to do. So, uh, we got three more periods of that.

John Leonard, Elmer Soderblom and Head Coach Todd McLellan speak with the media following Detroit’s 5-2 win over the Washington Capitals on Saturday December 20, 2025.