Postgame Availability | NYI vs WSH (10/11/25)

Postgame Availability | NYI vs WSH (10/11/25)

take me for your first NHL ball. Yeah, obviously uh I think I seen the exact same scene in uh Mighty Ducks or something. So trying to react that, I guess. But no, um no, it was it was good. I mean, obviously I think the biggest thing with uh me is just I I love the win. And uh you know, I thought we battled back and I thought it was, you know, a great fight back for sure. 26 minutes tonight. I mean, how you feeling? Yeah, I feel good. I mean, I love to I love to play hockey. So, um you know, anytime I get out there, I love it. So, um no, I mean, like I said, I mean, it was awesome. I think we made another big step. I mean, we we fought back. I think we could have came out a little hotter there. Um you know, and you know, maybe started up on top, but I I think we fought back and I thought that was a, you know, good fight back. I think we just, you know, wish we got the win. And what do you think of the fan reaction? Yeah, it’s uh it’s crazy. I love these fans. It’s crazy like hearing your name getting ch uh chanted out there and it’s uh yeah, it’s awesome. I mean, it uh it feels like home for sure. And you know, when when I go away from home as a young kid, I mean, I’m 18 years old and, you know, when the fans uh show so much support, it’s uh it’s pretty amazing to to me. And I know my, you know, dad and brother and you know, all family that was here uh you know, definitely love that. And uh um I can tell you, I mean, uh some of my family haven’t even been here yet. I mean, cousins and all that. And I guarantee you they’re going to leave with a great impression of the fans and the fan base and stuff. So, um, I mean, like I said, we want to win for the fans and, um, we want to be there every night for them. I mean, they come out for every night for us. So, um, you know, I think we wish we could have got the win for them and, you know, for for our team in here. So, uh, we’re going to keep working keep working towards that and, uh, look forward to getting our first, you know, W. Can you describe what happened on that goal? Such a was a weird play obviously. What did you see and when you saw that loose puck? Yeah. Um, I mean, I think, you know, us on the power play, we we were working around really good. And, um, you know, I think if I think, you know, 10 times out of 10 times Palm’s going to put that in the back of the net. And, um, you know, I I guess I was there to kind of dive in to save him there a little bit. So, um, no, we were crashing the net. I thought, you know, our power play was, you know, good in the chances we got tonight. Um, you know, a lot of looks, a lot of, you know, shots on goal. So, uh, like I said, I mean, we’re always going to look to improve, um, you know, in a lot of things and we’re going to see what we could have done better this time and, you know, learn for next time. You mentioned kind of the love you feel from from the fans, both you and your family as a whole. Obviously, that comes with some pressure, too, of of expectation, I guess. How do you balance kind of feeling that appreciation with not letting the pressure, I guess, get to you at all? No pressure. I mean, pressure is a privilege. I mean, the fans are just there to help you. Um, I mean, you want to play for them. You want to win. You have expectations for yourself and, um, you want to hold yourself accountable on a lot of things, and you want to win for the fans. I mean, I’ve said that and um you know, I I mean, the fans hate it just as much as we do. So, um I think we’re all one group. I mean, the players in here and then the fans are right behind us. So, um like I say, we want to win for the for the group of guys in here and we want to win for our fans and, you know, the more we win, the more our fans are going to, you know, be there for us and they’re always there for us. I mean, uh through the ups and downs, they’re always going to be there for us. So, um yeah, like I said, I mean, wish we could have got the win, but we’re going to learn from, you know, things we could have done better on for sure. What did you think of the uh the kid’s goal and just the whole delay there for the whole eight? Yeah, I mean I’m not sure what the challenge was. Um but I mean, you know, I was just really happy for him. Um you know, he brought the building to life um the whole game. He’s one of our best players, if not our best player, and um no, just couldn’t be happy for him and his family and um we’re lucky to have him. What does it say about 26 minutes in his first game? Yeah, I mean Yeah. I mean, how can you not put him out there? I mean, he’s um like I said, he was one of our best players, if not our best player tonight. And you know, he uh he carried the offense. He was making plays and making stuff happen. So, I mean, he deserved everything he got tonight. What do you make of special teams tonight? Yeah, I mean, you know, I was happy our penalty kill was a lot better than the first game and obviously a power play was good tonight. So, you know, like I said, it’s um you can take more victories. Obviously, it’s good to um to get our special teams going, but at the same time, we need to start um you know, we start getting uh some wins here. How impressed have you been just by how seamless the transition’s been for Matthew? Yeah, I mean, you realized how good he was in the uh in the preseason stuff, but obviously for it to translate in the regular season this quickly, I mean, he’s just continued to keep getting better and better and better. So, um, like I said, we really we’re lucky to have him and he’s just going to continue to grow his game and, um, he’s going to be a force in this league, that’s for sure. Looks like you guys lost a little momentum there in a second when with the Pomery penalty that was kind of Yeah. No, I mean, again, yeah, like it was it was um, you know, it was it was one of those things where it was it was kind of a weird call and just it is what it is sometimes. sometimes um you know the refs you know see time you know see things in in full speed and it’s it’s a quick game but you know I’m happy we we killed that off and like you said gain some momentum and um but we need to we need to be like that uh right off the hop Patrick I think three shots in the first I think you had 33 or 32 after that so maybe three only three shots in the first but 32 after that so I think maybe um you need to come out maybe with more uh well the difference I think it was it’s not that we didn’t have shots in the first is we missed the net in the ers um compared to them that they hid the net. So, but um yeah u I thought we were better, you know, in the third obviously. I mean, we had a great third period. I mean, I love the the urgency that we showed there and the push that we tried to make. Um so, it was power up scored two two for three. The PK was good. Killed all the penalties. So, um, it was bad luck on the fourth. I think it was the fourth one, uh, third one, sorry. The guy missed the net and hit that thing RD and and went in. So, I thought it was a great kill, especially the fact that Simon got block a shot and got hurt and then lost his stick at the same time. So, I thought it was almost like a threeon five. I thought we defend very well. Your thoughts on, you know, Matthew’s first goal and you gave him 26 minutes tonight. Yeah, that’s what it is. I mean, he’s so good. I mean, he was our best player out there tonight. I mean, um, I thought he brought energy at the end of the second period and then we got that power play and he deserve to be there. It’s plain and simple. I mean, he’s he’s he’s exciting to watch. I mean, if I’m a fan, I’ll pay for for to watch him play. There’s no doubt about it. I’m sorry. the decision to kind of get him on the top power play unit. It obvious I look at you and I said I think Andrew wants him on the power play. It was an easy one. I mean come on when you see someone I mean playing like this I mean you want to give more and and and he’s like I said I mean he deserve it and he was exciting to watch and he was where he deserved to be. that that goal kind of where where Tony like lost the puck and then Ilia sort of stayed in his net. Was that a miscommunication between the two of them or how how do you see that? It’s tough play for the goalie because you’re not sure if the puck’s going to reach, you know, like and I I think I trust himself to make the save on that one. I mean, um but hey, it happens. Wondering just in general what you’ve thought of IA’s first two games. I think tonight we gave too many chances, you know? I mean, come on. We we got to we got to do a better job in front of our net and and taking away I mean, those those chances. Um and um but he made some great saves, you know, to keep us in the game. And um and the Romanov D’Angelo pair just What did you think of them tonight? Um, I mean obviously I mean if you’re asking me about that goal, yeah, Tony turned it. I’m sure he he wish it would have been a different play. I think he was trying to put it deep and he just fed on it, but um I thought they they’re up and down. I mean overall and and there was some good moments. There was moment that was a little tougher. Look like you swapped Lee and Shabban for a little bit tonight in the third. What? Just one time. Just what did you see from Shaban though tonight? Well, I for some reason I mean when there’s penalties and then there’s I was trying to give him a little more ice, you know, more more ice time. I mean, come on. The play he made in that second period, the spin, I don’t know if we call it spinorama, whatever it was. I mean, that was phenomenal. If he scored on this, I mean, we watched this on TV on the highlights night after night. So, I mean, it was could have been a play of the year. So, I mean, it’s I I just want to see more of him. I I’d like to give him more ice time and and I tried to give it a little more. I mean, we were trying to get a push and get a goal and that was the only reason. Patrick, obviously there’s going to be mistakes that Matthew’s going to make along the way being 18 years old. How do you as a coach try to find that balance of, you know, letting him make those mistakes, getting that ice time at the same time, you have to win hockey games. It’s pretty easy for me. I mean, when I was 20 and and it was my rookie year, don’t worry. I made a lot of mistake. I remember one night I was in the sauna and Larry Robinson uh one afternoon I was in a sauna and Larry came in he said hey kid no more bad goals first shot I got from Jero from the blue line went in so I mean it’s not a world of perfect and and I know he won’t and and but how you cannot love a guy playing the way he’s playing right now I mean he’s playing with passion he’s playing hard I mean he’s so he’s exciting to watch what did you make of Anthony Duclair’s game and how he played on the top pretty well. Scored a nice goal um on the power play. I thought he had a strong game. Um I thought that line did well. Patrick, on Matthew’s goal, just did you tell or could you understand maybe what they were trying to challenge there? They did challenge it. Yeah. Could Could you make out what they were trying to Oh, I think it was antp pass, wasn’t it? We we we thought it was no pass on it. I think he hit Orvat on the Borvat on the on on the elbow or whatever it was. So, we didn’t see any hand pass on that. It could have been a a turning point in that game because I mean, come on, we had another power play. If we click on that one would have been a but didn’t happen. Yeah. Uh Patrick Schaefer played over 25 minutes tonight. How do you balance his impact verse that he’s 18 years old and only played 17 games last season to not ride him into the ground this year? I’m sorry. I don’t look at what happened last year. I’m focusing on what I see right now. And what I see right now, it’s a guy that’s capable handling those minute. We’re going to be there for him. If if he he needs whatever he needs, we’ll we’ll we’ll take care of him. I promise you that. You have to balance that as a coach or Well, I’m not balancing anything right now. The way he’s playing, he forced me to play him. We he forced us to play him. So, I mean, we’re going to give it to

Hear from Bo Horvat, Matthew Schaefer, and Head Coach Patrick Roy after tonight’s game vs Washington.