Nov. 15: Postgame Interviews

Nov. 15: Postgame Interviews

Justin, where do you feel like that that got away from you guys tonight? Uh earlier than we wanted to. Probably the start of the second when they came out. Uh got an early goal. Um the life on the on the bench and within the group definitely uh probably to be honest, there wasn’t a ton and it kind of got drained after that and um ultimately kind of played the rest of the game on autopilot. it seems. Justin, the results themselves obviously you want to see change, but what do you feel like needs to change within the group here? Um, I mean, ultimately we got to, it’s cliche and easy to say, just put in the work and keep grinding because besides maybe family and your friends, I don’t think anyone really feels sorry for us in this league uh, as a group individually, it’s the game moves on. It’s not going to wait for us to sit here and find our game. Um, we have to continue to to put the work in and mentally prepare and and kind of I hate to say accept where we’re at, but know where we’re at and and we have to continue to grind to go up. Um, it’s hard. This game is is some people say it’s very fair. It’s uh no one’s going to take a night off and throughout the league um teams are going to come in every night and make it hard and that’s guys jobs. Guys are fighting for their jobs every night and um ultimately you have to just continue to grind and put the work in like I said cuz it’s it’s evolving and it’s going to continue on and um that’s the only way to put a stop to it. Justin, I think you guys went over 18 minutes without a shot on goal. Why has it been so difficult, at least tonight, to generate some offense? Um, we’re not hard enough probably on both ends. Um, not killing plays in the Dzone, uh, first and foremost to probably spend a little too much time letting teams kind of have us in three/ quarter ice. Um, and then at that point, you don’t have anything for for a four check. And, um, on the flip side, when we do have have some juice for a forch check, it seems to be we’re pretty light. um we’re not we’re not heming them in and uh if we are we’re perimeter. Uh we’re not taking chances uh getting shots to the net and crashing the net and making it hard on the inside and um that same style works on both ends of the ice and right now it’s it’s a struggle for us. Um you used a word like autopilot. Yeah. I’m guessing that guys aren’t accepting of what the situation is now. You want to push, but do you feel like that’s creeping in a little bit in terms of the team and the players feeling like Maybe this is who we are. Uh, no. I don’t think I don’t think there’s, like I said, I didn’t want to use the word acceptance. I don’t think um guys are accepting the fact where we’re at and are just going to roll over and say that’s okay. Um, we know it’s not acceptable uh the standards of this organization and um the responsibility we’ve been we’ve been given to to uphold it and um we have to be better. we have to grind and um guys know that and um guys are coming to the rink working every day in practice. It’s not like uh we’re going through the motions there or anything like that. I think guys have had a pretty good attitude with practice and knowing that that’s a time to get better and um you got to you got to do it and you got to show up and and do what’s as h asked of you. Yeah. Justin was just saying you guys got to keep grinding and keep putting the work in. When it comes to the work, do you feel like at times that can get elevated or do you feel like the work has been there and the results just haven’t been there? Um, well, it’s hard to say where we are in the standings to say that. Um, it’s funny. It’s it’s guys care. Guys show up like they’re they’re going to work hard. And um, right now we’re not getting results. And um, you know, obviously confidence is shaking and at the end of the day, we have to find a way to grind through it as a team. And um you know I I I don’t I don’t you know believe at all that we don’t come to the rink not to work hard. Um you know I just think we’re we’re off in a lot of areas which probably makes us look uh slower and or not as connected as we need to be. There’s healthy scratches, line changes, detailed practices. Like what else can be done to get over that? I mean, yeah, we’ve we’ve had lots of line combinations and and um um probably uh a question that I I mean, obviously don’t have the answer for, but um I think what we uh like I said it before, it’s uh it’s a humbling league and you got to show up and and ready to um you know, dig yourselves out of holes and um lots of ups and downs this league and and obviously we’ve been fighting it for uh quite some time here for uh you know the first 19 games and um you said we got to find it to uh within and uh you know play for each other and I don’t really say I don’t really have the answer for for for what you’re looking for there. Justin said even before the the Hannifin goal at the start of the second the the bench was kind of dead like did you feel that on on the bench that there wasn’t a lot of life to it? But is that like the goal a minute into the second period there? Had a fun win. Yeah, I mean um yeah, I mean a minute into the second um you know I just think we just in general we we have to do a better job with life and energy and and and you know come to the rink and uh be excited to be here and and you know play for this team and play for each other and the organization and stuff. And I just think um you know right now like I said obviously confidence is is probably uh a low on a lot of guys and uh at the end of the day you have to find a way to to fight your way through it. Said after the uh after went three nothing the group kind of played on autopilot the rest of the game. Do you you sense that could you feel that how big of an issue that I don’t agree with that? Um I think we got flat and that’s where you know we need to have more from our group. There needs to be a better response. I don’t like the start of our second period, but that’s been most of the season. Um, you know, uh, but I did think that at around the 10-minute mark, we started to play better hockey. We were more connected. We were more physical. Uh, the penalty kill was good at the uh, we killed that off and then we got flat again. It’s, you know, we need to be better to a man. We need to be more have more desperation. Group’s confidence level right now. Yeah, I don’t think it’s it’s it’s high, you know, and it shouldn’t be because we haven’t earned the right to have confidence because we’re not playing with enough desperation, enough urgency, and we need to correct that and we will. You’ve had detailed practices, you’ve had scratches, you’ve had eye changes. What else can you do? Um, all I know in life is you you just work and you work and you watch film and you you talk to your staff, you talk to your managers, you talk to your leaders and you you keep working together and you come up with solutions. There might we might need to change the way we play in certain areas. you know, um, we tried redefining and making sure that our habits and details are really good and after a while definition of insanity is trying to keep doing the same thing and not getting good results. So, we might need to try uh different things. How much is confidence and energy level connected in your mind? Well, I think everybody has energy levels like when they start a game. Um, no one goes into a game thinking they’re beat. Uh, but when things don’t go your the the right way and you’re not confident, you tend to stop working the way you should and that’s when you see like the first 30 minutes of that game. That was ugly. work ethic wise. Do you feel like that’s part of the inconsistency or do you feel like guys are coming in and putting in the work on a regular basis and at times maybe they’re not getting the results or or is the work ethic part of the inconsistency? Well, I think when things don’t go our way, our work ethic suffers, you know, and that’s the inner belief and that’s the confidence that you talk about. the 18 and a half minutes without a shot on goal. Was there anything in particular you were seeing from your guys during that time period? Um, yeah. I thought I thought we were doing a lot of staring and watching and not enough trying to make plays or kill plays.

Hear from Justin Faulk, Brayden Schenn and Jim Montgomery after a 4-1 loss to the Vegas Golden Knights on Nov. 15, 2025.