Final Score
Habs lost 4-2 to the Buffalo Sabres.
Suzuki Segment
[Armoured_K] Suzuki on if this game is an example of what might be coming up in the next games, fighting for a playoff spot
"Yeah, I mean, it's kinda, it only felt like that early, I thought. I think they were taking it to us a little too much early on, and you know, we just weren't being strong enough on the puck and winning not enough battles. You know, I thought as the game progressed, we just kinda took over and they were hanging on. We just couldn't dig ourselves out of the hole we dug ourselves in."
[Armoured_K] Suzuki on if this is the type of night where the PP wasn't giving any rhythm to the team
"Yeah, I mean, if we were better, we probably tied up there. It was just… Poor execution on our part, getting in the zone. Once we got in there, the last one, just kinda weren't able to make the final play. Yeah, I mean, if we're better, we're probably in a better position to win that game."
[Armoured_K] Suzuki on the first period. Was it a slow start?
"I think it was kind of our doing. They're a team that have five players in the rush at all times, and we didn't do a good enough job forechecking through the neutral zone. We gave them a lot of odd-man rushes, 2 on 1s to start the game. Can't happen. I think, yeah, it was more so on us than whatever they were doing."
[Armoured_K] Suzuki on if anything was said after their 3rd goal, where they started to take over the game
"Yeah, I think we just started defending them a lot better, and you know, it's a shame that it took us getting down 3-0 to start doing that. You know, it's a big part of the reason we lost. I thought after they scored the third goal, we pretty much carried the play. Could've tied it up, just… Didn't find that third one."
Bolduc Segment
[Armoured_K] Bolduc on losing with twice as many shots as the other team. How disappointing is that?
"Yeah, like you said, we dominated them for a good portion of the game. I think it's the first period, maybe it wasn't really going the way we wanted, but we answered well, I think we played the right way, we got shots on net, we had traffic. At the end of the game, a broken stick, it's a bit of bad luck, but it's part of the game. I think in general, we can be happy with our game."
[Armoured_K] Bolduc on having a good game
"I had rhythm. I had energy, good chemistry with the guys on the ice. I think we played well as a 5-man unit. No, I felt good, it's fun to play that way. It would've been fun to leave with a win, but we'll make sure to be ready for the next game."
[Armoured_K] Bolduc on getting sparks fly with his physical game. Is that something he wants to be as a player?
"Yeah, yeah, it's something I can and want to bring to the team. In my game, I think it's something I've improved in the last years, and it's something I want to repeat night after night. Yeah, like you said, I had good scoring chances, would've been fun to score, but at the end of the day, we didn't find a way to win, so it's disappointing. "
[Armoured_K] Bolduc on how being physically involved leads to more scoring chances
"Yeah, for sure like you said, my physical involvement is something I want to bring with consistency and that can help me create more offensive, create more space for my linemates and myself as well on the forecheck. Yeah, it's something I want to bring and bring with more consistency."
Montembeault Segment
[Armoured_K] Montembeault: "[Missing question/portion]… They never shot on net, always trying to get the perfect play, so obviously, statistically, it wasn't "top top", but no, I felt pretty good. Obviously, like I said, on the statistics side it wasn't at the top, but I don't think I gave a bad goal. Maybe the second, on a read, I didn't think he'd have space to go to the other side, so maybe I'd like to play it differently, but it was still a good game."
[Armoured_K] Montembeault on whether they felt the urgency in Buffalo's game
"Yeah, I mean, they got a chance early in the first and they made a good play on that 2 on 1 to get on the board early, but just something that we needed to adjust after the first. In the d-zone, I think we were doing a really good job, they were just getting all of their chances on the rush. I think like we had to do a better job there, but we fixed that after in the second, and we were really good, we didn't give them much after that."
[Armoured_K] Montembeault on where they fell short in their push in the second half
"Yeah, I mean, in the second, I think we played a really good second period. Obviously, their goal, it's like a bad bounces. I just think it was going wide, but after that, we kept pushing, we were sustaining offense, we were always first on the rebounds, and just retrieving, our forecheck was doing a really good job too. We were able to get just one goal behind after the second, but they did a good job in the third period not giving us much to come back."
[Armoured_K] Montembeault on how disappointing it must be, considering they had the upper hand for 40 minutes
"Yeah, for sure. We played really well. If we play like that for 60 minutes, there's a good chance it's on our side at the end of the game. On their side, they were real good too. Like I said, in the second, we really pushed, we had an excellent period, and in the third, we could've gotten it too, they played really well. Like I said, if we can play 60 minutes like that, we're giving ourselves a better chance."
Danault Segment
[Armoured_K] Danault on if he felt this is a good indicication of the grind up to the end of the season to get a playoff spot
"Yeah, for sure, the game tightens up, like you say, and everyone's pushing to get a spot in the playoffs. It'll be less and less easy, it's always going to be a big challenge."
[Armoured_K] Danault on how disappointing it must be considering they didn't give up too much
"Yeah, that's right. A loss that hurts. At the same time, if we look at it, Ottawa, we didn't deserve to win, we won that one, tonight… They [Ottawa] got a point though, I'm sure we earned a point tonight for sure, but maybe 3 goals was a bit much to start with. If we could atleast limit to 2, but… That's how it played out today."
[Armoured_K] Danault on what they did to adjust after the first
"We don't want to say it on camera. Keep it to [ourselves]. But great adjustment from Marty."
St-Louis Segment
[Armoured_K] MSL on how he explains their bad start
"Well, it's the first period, and the only department we were missing in the first, and it hurt us, was our forecheck. We… We have a way to forecheck that…. We're never supposed to have 2 guys going for one guy. Their team, both defensemen use each other. The second you chase the puck, he gives it to the other d-man, so you have to forecheck your guy, you have to stay with your guy, that way, you limit their touches. There, they saw everything, and their forwards left [for the offense]. That was the first. In the first, the only thing I hated in our game was the forecheck […], and it hurt us. [Reporter: "Guys were double teaming?] Yeah, that's it. We were forechecking space instead of forechecking the players, and then you lose two, a long pass, you lose two players, and…. We talked about that in the first and second, and we saw the different. It's not even an adjustment, that's just how we play. We started playing the way we want to play, and we didn't give them much, we were annoying, but we dug too big of a hole."
[Armoured_K] MSL on the powerplay not helping them tonight
"For sure [Reporter: "What prevented it from working? The Sabres or the execution?"] In the two first ones, I'd say it was our zone entries, we couldn't execute. In the third, we had some time, and you have to give them credit, they put a lot of pressure on us, we have to make our plays faster, it takes quick and sharp execution, and we were lacking there a bit."
[Armoured_K] MSL on Bolduc having a great game, getting chances and being a spark plug on the forecheck. What let to tonight being a good night for him
"We're in a society of results, you know, and it's tough to measure his result without production. That's the only thing that… You measure it like that… But if you look at Zach, it's a good sequence here where I find that the way I measure the results, he's coming along. His details are a lot better, he's more engaged in the way we play, and it takes some time for a young player to acclimate like that. I'm happy that he's getting rewarded with success that you can measure, but it's… We don't only measure with the stat-sheet. I'm happy with his progression, and I'm happy he got something tonight for us. He played a good game."
[Armoured_K] MSL on if he feels like having many options with his forwards can create an urgency for Bolduc, which leads to his progression
"I don't think so. [Reporter: "Do you think this good sequence of success started before that (players coming into the lineup)"] Yeah, it started way before that. It's development."
[Armoured_K] MSL on the Sabres speaking with a lot of respect about the way the Habs play. What has he learned about them, with their good sequence
"You gotta be calculated in how you forecheck them. You know, you look at who beat them the last two times, Florida and Carolina… You know, they forecheck hard, Carolina plays man-on-man, you can't forecheck space against that team. As soon as you double up in space, you're gonna get eaten alive. I feel like when teams do that to us, we can eat them alive too, so… You know, when there's always a player close to you, you've gotta execute at a high level, and that's what we… It's not even an adjustment. We talked about between the first and second, we talked about it before the game. For some reason, we didn't quite execute that and we dug ourselves a hole, and once; short example, it's exactly what I talked about before the game. We start doing it, and they couldn't execute under that pressure, and we started taking the game over. We just kinda ran out of time because the hole was a little too big."
[Armoured_K] MSL on why he put Zach with Nick and Cole on the play where Nick scored
"It was a little bit managing minutes, a bit. I felt he was going, I felt I wanted to give him a little more. Managing Dacher's minutes too. There's nothing that Dacher didn't do or did, it was just an opportunity, I felt, that I could give Zach a little extra shift."
[Armoured_K] MSL on talking about how he doesn't coach one offs, but he coaches trends. Does he worry that the tendency to fall behind and having to come back has become a trend?
"That we slow start? [Reporter: "That things kick in once they're down 2 goals"] I don't know. I mean, the game is being played. I mean, in Ottawa we were up 2-0. Were we up 2-0 against Ottawa, or was that last game? Yeah, so I don't see that [as] a trend. [Reporter: "You had a lot of comeback wins this years."] Yeah, hockey is being played."
[Armoured_K] MSL on talking earlier in the season about how he wants to watch Bolduc progress. Does he feel that Bolduc is progressing?
"Yeah. The last month, it's been… he's actually played better the last I would say maybe 2 weeks than earlier in the season when he was scoring, but it's easy to measure that, but if you understand the way the game should be played, and where you should be on the ice, and the action, regardless of the actual score-sheet, he's a way better played right now, and that's what… I'm excited about that, and I'm glad he gets rewarded tonight with something, cause I feel he's been in the right spots, and it's just a matter of time. So, it's a process, he's still a very young player."
2 comments
No words on playing Hutson on his offside, with Struble?
Be nice if they asked Monty on letting in 6 first shot goals this season so far.