On if this was Brandon Bussi’s best game: Yeah, just based on a couple of the saves he made. Again, for a couple periods, it wasn’t like there was a ton of opportunities, but they were all saves that made a difference. Obviously the one on the penalty kill where we pressed up and it turned into a 2-on-0 in front and he bails us out is very special. The other guys was playing good too. Their goalie made some pretty good saves too, so it was kind of a battle in net. Obviously our goalie came out on top.
On Eric Robinson’s injury: I don’t know the extent. I mean, he’s going to be out, for sure, for a little while. I think he’s gotta get checked out tomorrow, but obviously he couldn’t return. That’s not good. And Stanks got hurt, but he was able to come back, so that’s good. I guess we’ll know more tomorrow on him too.
On Brandon Bussi becoming a fixture on this team: Number one, any pro, really, you never get comfortable if you’re good. That means you’re always going to be trying to prove your worth every day that you are in this league and certainly in our locker room. So I think that’s what he’s referring to and that’s what we want. Obviously your play has to back up your attitude, but he’s got a great one and we’re thrilled to have him.
On Andrei Svechnikov: If he’s on the top line, he’s got to score. I mean, at the end of the day, that’s what has to happen. Those guys have to connect. I didn’t love the penalty at the end, it wasn’t much of a penalty, but certainly it put us in a jammer there, but we need him to be impactful and he was certainly tonight.
On if he thought Tage Thompson had scored on Bussi: Which one? Because I counted three times Thompson should have scored. But yeah, unfortunately when you’ve been around hockey enough and you know exactly what’s happening… we almost get a turnover and everyone’s going the other way because we’re going to get a 3-on-1 and then they’ve got two guys hanging out and you see the play develop, you know it’s going to go right back there. And he dove across and made a huge save. Save of the game, for sure, and maybe of the year. Tough to see a better save than that.
On the game: I thought we had a good first period. It was probably our best period. We gave them one, but it really wasn’t a gimme. They made good plays. Their D are maybe the best D in the league as a whole group. They way they skate and get up the ice and that’s what happened. They beat up up the ice and ripped a shot in the net. But other than that, I thought we did a pretty good job in the first period. It was a hard fought game. Both teams played well.
On the power play: We’ve kind of been in a little bit of a spell where we’re not getting a ton of chances here the last couple of games, but it doesn’t matter. Everyone always looks at the percentages and this and that, but every game starts 0-for-0. It has to count now. I don’t care what you’ve done in the past, good or bad. Tonight, the first one was eh, we got a couple opportunities and then obviously we get our set, you win the draw clean, which is the biggest part of any power play, for me, because now you can run the play that you want, and we were able to connect. We needed it tonight.
On having players ready to go every night: I know I have the best staff in the league in terms of preparing guys. That’s never really been a question in any game we’ve ever played. So I appreciate that. With our group, I think we have great leadership that helps to drag us in. The Groundhog Days that are going on here, you just have to find a way to perform at your best every night. That’s what good players, good teams, elite teams do and that’s what we’re trying to be.