John Gibson, Axel Sandin-Pellikka, Todd McLellan Post Game Comments vs. TBL | Oct. 17, 2025

John Gibson, Axel Sandin-Pellikka, Todd McLellan Post Game Comments vs. TBL | Oct. 17, 2025

you know, down the ice. What’s kind of going through your head seeing that play? Uh, hoping he scores. I mean, it was a nice move. Trust guys like that that have the offensive capability that get one-on-one breakaway chance that they’re going to score and he did. What did it mean to you in the crowd sharing your name after those saves in the third period? Yeah. I mean, I didn’t, like I said earlier, I didn’t have a really good first game and it was unfortunate timing wise, but it’s a long season and just get back to playing my game and guys did a really good job tonight in front of me blocking shots and clearing the shooting lane. So help me out and it was a good team win. John, can you contrast what it was like when you get no shots at the start of the game and then at the end, you know, it was like rapid fire. Yeah. I mean, you just got to stay in it. Obviously, sometimes it’s a little tough, but like I said, when they did have the push, the guys did a good job clearing the net front and blocking shots. I mean, there was a number of forwards indeed that had a bunch of big blocks tonight, so it was a team effort. What do you do there in the first period? How do you stay in the moment? Yeah, I mean, you just got to stay with it. I think uh I think the toughest part was probably like the first 10 minutes not getting any shots and then you kind of get one off the head just to make sure you’re in the game. So it’s part of the job. I mean some nights you get bombarded with shots. Sometimes it’s more spread out. I mean that’s just the nature of the position. You just always got to be ready. So just tried to be ready for whenever my name was called. I know it’s a game at a time, but when you have when you had the first game you had is it still a relief to come back with something like this? Yeah, I mean that’s what I kind of pride myself on. When you have a bad one, you got to follow it up with a good one. So, tried to do that tonight. The team helped me out and it was uh nice to to get the win, too. I don’t think they got a shot. Yeah, I mean that’s I think that’s what I was saying with the with the blocks. I mean, there’s Simon, Benny, I mean, Axe, Mo probably had a ton. I mean, there’s they were getting the shots down, but like I said, with their them clearing the lanes and the D and the four was getting in the lanes. They did a great job. Did you see the one that got by you or just kind of saw it at the last second and got through, but found a way to win and that’s all that matters. Was the Gensel saved the rapid fire two in a row there? Was that the toughest of the night? Yeah, sure. Yeah, I mean there some are harder than others with traffic and everything, but I don’t really keep track of the hard ones as long as uh we win the game and that’s really all that matters. Axel, obviously asked you before kind of how it felt that goal going in, but to get a win on the night where you score your first goal, what is the feeling like? Um, yeah. Uh, unbelievable. I think uh you know this this part is also a little bit of a dream come true. You know scoring scoring a goal is a is another step. Uh so um yeah very happy it was some good plays before that and uh yeah grateful we got the win with the faith that the coach is showing in all three of you guys. How much does that build your confidence? Uh I mean it’s fun. Um you know let the uh yeah let us play like uh we love it. It’s uh it’s the best sport in the world. It’s um you know it’s our dream to be here. So we we want to get better and that we get uh uh yeah that we get to feel that they trust us. Uh of course it boosts boost confidence. Was a celebration as good as this goal. It seemed like the huddle was going crazy around you there. Yeah. Like first I wasn’t sure if it hit Appleton before. It was like he had a point at me like soon as he gave me the point I started just screaming. I don’t really know what happened but yeah it’s uh it’s unbelievable. I don’t know if anyone was happier for you in that huddle than Finny jumping up and down. What do you think of his game tonight and his impact on forjack? Uh, I mean, he’s uh he’s always good and he’s uh um yeah, he’s really fast. Like he’s probably one of the fastest guys in the league. So, I mean, the the effort he puts in is uh um yeah, it’s very good for us. And I think uh when he shows that he skates hard, it gives energy to all the rest of us, too. you out there for the uh for the start of overtime. What was your first thing? What’s your overtime experience like? Uh you know, it’s uh it’s fast. You got to be on the right side. Uh I think we um yeah, we had the puck most of the time, so uh they got tired, so that was uh was pretty nice. Uh but um you know, it’s uh it’s fun to get that that experience, too. When he sends the two rookies out there with Larkin to start the overtime, that’s got to make you feel pretty good. Yeah, as I said before, like we um we’re very happy to be here right now. It’s u it’s a dream to play here. So, we we just want to do do good from us and um you know, the guys uh did a terrific job today. I think uh you know, just keeping it together um not letting them score any more goals. So, um yeah, it was a great team effort. What was it like in here after that one? Obviously, that’s a pretty emotional way to end it. Um yeah, it’s it’s loud. You know, music’s music’s going, guys screaming. Uh it’s uh it’s the best feeling in the world. Todd, your response after the the first game was, you know, when is it going to be time for this group? What have you seen in their response since that moment now that’s been four in a row? Well, we’ve seen a little bit of everything really to tell you the truth. Um we’ve seen our team play really, really well where we’re completely in charge. We’ve seen uh goalender steal a game in Toronto. We’ve seen a fairly well played game coming back here. Tonight we kind of saw two games in one. Um you know, tonight specifically, I thought it was a a good start. I thought our penalty kill or pardon me, our power play allowed them to get back in the game. They were our power play has to score or establish momentum and it didn’t do either of that. All of a sudden, they’re going, “Okay, they didn’t score. We’re in this thing.” And then they started to push. Um, there’s still opportunities for us to have more poise, I thought, in the third period. Got a little scrambly. We get the puck. We’re just whacking it away. We can make a play to to some rescue ice or escape ice, I call it, and be able to to handle things, settle it down, and get going the other way. Um, so seen a little bit of everything since that night. Todd, can you speak to just the trust you have in the rookies in that they play pretty much any situation? Yeah, they’re, you know, I I don’t know what to say anymore. We talk so much about these guys like uh I I’m, you know, I’m working the forwards, Jon is working the back end, and Alex Tangi is in between, and we’re talking to each other, and we just feel like we can keep playing them. They they’re um they’re not often at the scene of the crime for mistakes. Yeah, they make some and um they’re hungry and they’re effective right now. Um and we’ll keep playing them. Just I know you stayed out that is Patrick okay? Yeah, he’s okay. He’s Yeah, he crashed into the boards there, but he’ll be okay. Todd, just segueing off that just the decision to play them in overtime with Larkin. I mean, that shows you that shows how much confidence you have in those guys. Well, a lot of times that would be Razer obviously because Larks and Razer play together um you know in those situations and common partners are are often a good thing. Threeon-ree you kind of get some tendencies and um you know uh you can kind of anticipate what might be happening. Uh but the way EMTT skates um you know he does he was a threat in overtime. Um, I just felt that that would be an asset that we could use at that point. Can’t be too surprised about the way Gibby came back tonight then. Nope, not at all. Um, you know, again, we’ve watched him play in Anaheim multiple times. Um, you know, I’ve been on three different teams and played against him and that’s the type of games that that he gives us. Um, you know, that first night against Montreal, yeah, he’s wearing different equipment and it goes by him last, but the the team struggled and um, you know, Talbs went in and played some good games. Kiby’s come in and answered the bell. That’s that’s a real healthy thing for our team. Another strong night in the PK. What’s allowed that unit to find success early on this season? Uh, well, confidence goes a long way. um you know, believing that we can get things done and um some some structure adjustments, but just some reads and uh I I think we’re able to stay um on the fresh side, if you will, a lot more than the tired side, and that’s made a difference. Uh but, you know, lots of hockey left and usually your goalender is your best killer. So, um we need that to continue. You talked about some of the scrambliness in the third period. What do you think led to that? Was it guys sitting back? Something else? A little bit of poise. Like we we have to learn how to handle these situations a little bit. And um like I said, I think our power play uh it wasn’t crisp. It wasn’t sharp. And some of those guys uh get a lot of confidence and a lot of feel off those situations. They didn’t get any of that. And uh you know, again, now they’re sitting on the bench. their high-end players are going, “Okay, well, they they’re not going to put us away. Uh, let’s go.” And that’s what happened. And and um but I think some of those moments in our end, we’re going to run around a little bit, but once the puck gets on our tape, we can we can take some time, just a little bit of extra time to make a nice play and and move on, maybe get some fresh guys on the ice, but um it’s hard to replicate that in practice. You get that through this type of experience. back on the PK. Um their first three power plays you held them without a single shot. Um considering that how the PK was last season, how how far can that go towards establishing some momentum on the PK this season? Well, it’s my my answer would be very similar to the one that I just gave, but just the confidence. It can go a long way. Um, you know, this team can can really hammer you on the on the power play penalty kill situation. And um, now they didn’t have Cutrov, which advantage us. We’ll take that. Uh, but good teams take advantage of of somebody else’s misfortune. We didn’t have Raymond in and it affected our power play tonight, too. So, um, but I I think that the group is confident when it comes to penalty kill right now. Ty, I know you’ll you’ll take two points against whoever you can get it from, but to finish this stretch, early season stretch against divisional opponents four- one. Just what does that do for you? You know, it’s, you know, you take points from from anybody who can get them. Obviously, you know, the proverbial four-point game, but we’re going to play these teams so many times during the year. It’s just you’re up one- nothing in the series. um if you if you win all your season series or you come close to winning most of them, um you’ll usually end up where you you’d like to be at the end of the season. Now, we’ve got a team that coming in on Sunday that went to the Stanley Cup finals the last two years and um they’ll be a big test for us, too. Todd, you talked about the two games in in one, but that was probably a little bit difficult mostly for Gibson who goes 10 minutes without facing a shot and then as the game wore on, all of a sudden, you know, he’s uh in the thick of it all. Were you concerned early on when he got no shots that even get him into the game? No, I I you know, sure I I was happy that we didn’t, you know, Gibby got 10 minutes of of free time. Um, you know, the shots on clock, shots on goal thing can be a little deceiving because there were some attacks they had towards the net. Maybe the shot didn’t quite get there, but he he had to stay alert. He was in the game. Um, you know, it wasn’t all played at at one end of the ring, so there was enough action around him. Um, even the penalty kill, the early penalty kill, there was enough action around him to uh to keep him sharp. And he’s an experienced goalender. He’s been through that before, so he should be able to handle those situations. And he obviously did. Good. Good night.

John Gibson, Axel Sandin-Pellikka, and Todd McLellan speak with the media following Detroit’s game against the Tampa Bay Lightning on Friday October 17, 2025 at Little Caesars Arena.