BRUINS POSTGAME QUOTES VS ST. LOUIS BLUES Thursday, February 1, 2018

BOSTON BRUINS HEAD COACH BRUCE CASSIDY POSTGAME On the Bruins start… I thought it was good. I’m not sure the shot clock accurately portrayed kind of the pace of the game and how it was playing out. I thought we were pretty good – a couple of turnovers that kind of came back at us, but other than that, I thought we managed the puck well, we were on our toes, trying to close off space and forecheck hard and get pucks to the net. I thought we saw a lot of that in the second period where we took over. A lot of positives, and I think at the end of the day, we were the better team for the 60 minutes.

On David Krejci’s … You never know on those. I think the directive came out on those that they wanted to speed them up. Unless there is something obvious, don’t go looking for things. So, that’s the way it looked; they took less time than they have in the past. Glad it went our way, I guess that’s all I’ll say. You never know on those. Sometimes they work for you, sometimes against. It was nice to get rewarded because we had a lot of action around their net, and especially that line. It’s a skill line, real effective off the rush, so good to see them get their nose dirty, score goals at the top of the crease.

On David Backes’ goal… I think he wanted to make a statement with his old crew there, and good for him. He was a good leader tonight in every aspect. I thought he was around the puck a lot. Their line did a real good job for us, and a little icing on the cake for him, so good for him.

On the Krejci line… I think their line has been very good. We used him in D-zone faceoffs; Krech [David Krejci] is winning a lot of draws in his own end, so we’re not afraid of any matchup situations. I think a lot of that has obviously been Krech – he talks to those kids – and I think Jake’s [DeBrusk] growth, but Ryan Spooner, I think, is doing a really good job on the wing and handling that responsibility. He even won a key draw for us on a four-on-four situation, so I like the line. I liked them especially tonight. I thought they did a really good job playing every aspect of the game – winning pucks, playing with pace through the neutral zone, attacking the net, got rewarded for a greasy goal as well.

On the confidence that Tuukka Rask instills on the team… Well, I think this team has always been confident in Tuukka, especially lately. Those key saves late in the second period – I thought we did a really good job keeping it clean in front of him for the most part – but those were two big saves, and he wanted to match the other guy, because I thought the other guy – I don’t know if it was right after with Backs [David Backes] and the [Riley] Nash sequence there when there was a scrum – so, it was good goaltending tonight. I think any team will play better when they know their goaltender has their back, and Tuukka certainly had that, as well as Anton [Khudobin]. We talked about it. Anton has been very good for us, and we’ve been fortunate for the last stretch of – I don’t know, since mid whatever it was – November, to have stellar goaltending.

On if he felt that this was a good bounce-back game… We just got sick of losing. I gave that one to Brick [Andy Brickley] and Jack [Edwards]; they said that one. It was. I do believe this – that early in the year we read a bit about it – those heavier teams, could we handle them, and I thought we went out west and got our season turned around in that atmosphere. The other night, some talk about that, so I think our guys did respond well knowing that this is the type of game you’re going to see down the road, and you got to be comfortable in them and be able to win your share. So, I do believe that our guys were prepared to get their noses dirty when need be and still play a speed game when the situation dictated, and I thought in the second period, we saw a lot of that. We spent a lot of time getting the puck up in a hurry and playing behind their D. I think our team has the ability to wear teams out that way, but we still had to have the puck possession in the O-zone and be willing to get to the net and take hits, and I thought we did both very well.

On the strategies he has taken from his time in Providence… I guess you talk to your group as, listen, the hard guys got to be hard all night, and the skaters got to skate, but you’ve got to blend it when necessary. So, I think the message over the years down there was, yeah you can skate and that’s the strength of your game, but you’ve going to have to be comfortable playing against men, bigger men, and find a way to use body position. We’re not going to ask a kid that is not a physical guy by nature to start running around and belting guys, but you are going to have to use your body appropriately when need be – on the wall, in the slot winning pucks. Then, the heavier guys are going to have to learn to make a good first pass in these types of games so that we’re not always pinned, and we can use our speed. The message has been that this year, and the message was that in the past. You’ve got to play the game in front of you; you can’t just say, well this game doesn’t suit me, I’ve got to move along. I think the guys that buy into that quicker will make that 60-mile trip up here a lot quicker and then have the consistency to stay here. We’ve talked about that with DeBrusk, [Anders] Bjork, [Danton] Heinen, now Grizz [Matt Grzelcyk]. That’s a heavy game for Grizz, so he has grown as well – learning to use his feet when necessary and ward off some people and win pucks when he has to use his body.

On the power play goal… Good entry. We talked about them; they like to buzz up ice, so good trap entry, try to get puck possession quickly; we did that. We’re always looking for Bergy in the bumper if it’s there. He has got a hot stick, had a few looks five-on-five earlier, so that was good that they found him and he was able to bury it. He has been dynamite from that area all year, and it was our first option. We were fortunate enough to find it.

On Danton Heinen… Yeah, I thought he was skating very well. I thought he had his legs under him, was able to separate in the neutral zone and get some offensive zone play going, so good for him. Like I said, I liked the Krejci line a lot. I thought Peter [Cehlarik], for his first game, had some issues against their D pinching. That is something we have talked about with Peter. I am getting off topic a bit, but Danton definitely had a bounce-back game where I thought he had his legs. When he is skating, he is smart and uses his body and can make plays, so that’s it with Danton. He has got to find a way to have his legs every night. This is a tough part of the year, so this is the growing pains for him right now.

On Kevan Miller’s injury… Miller has upper body, so he will get looked at, and we’ll have a better idea tomorrow.

BOSTON BRUINS FORWARD PATRICE BERGERON On their start tonight… Yeah, I thought even without the goal, our start was a lot better than the last eight to nine games, so we just had to keep pushing and finding a way, and obviously getting the goal gave us some more momentum to carry over, but, you know, I thought it was a good effort.

On the reviewed goal for goaltender interference… Well, you know, there’s always a little bit a doubt. You never know when the call on the ice is a goal. Sometimes it’s hard to take it back and it could be inconclusive. It’s hard to really have a feel for it sometimes. You know, they [the referees] know the rule better than I do, so we’ve had some taken back this year, but we’ll definitely take it.

On Backes’ effort at the end… Yeah, I think it shows you what he’s all about. He’s a team first player and he’s always there to make the little details on the ice to make the other guys look good, and he definitely deserved that one. He had a lot of looks there tonight that could’ve went in, so I was happy for him.

On scoring first tonight… Yeah, I thought we came out strong, and it’s a good team that we played. They play a physical and fast type of hockey, just like we played against Anaheim, they took it to us last game, and I thought tonight we responded a lot better and we got the result for it.

On how the team responded from last game and what it means… I think we showed character all year and it’s just another example. You know, there’s not many guys in here that need to be told twice. I think they’ve realized what it was last game, what we could’ve done better and right away turned the page and moved on to tonight’s game.

On scoring from the circle… You know, I feel like you can call it a grey area or whatever, where it’s in between the defenseman and the forward, and sometimes there’s miscommunication in that position and I’m trying to find that. I know it’s always a tough area to defend, so I’m trying to get open there. My teammates are doing a great job to find me there, so it’s definitely good to get a lot of looks from that position.

BOSTON BRUINS DEFENSEMAN ZDENO CHARA On the quick start by the team tonight… Mentally I think we were much sharper, better focus, right before we stepped out. We made simple plays, we kept putting pucks deep and established our forecheck.

On if Tuukka’s big save in the third sparked the team… I mean you need a big save during the game and he made those, so obviously that’s a big difference in the game. So he was our best player tonight and for a reason. He made some big saves and that was one of them.

On what it says about the character of the team after bouncing back and getting a win tonight… Well we obviously don’t plan to get scored on but there was a reason why we fell behind a few games. I think we wanted to correct those issues and I think we did tonight. So we got to be ready for next game, to get a good start, games have been playing for 60 minutes so we have to be ready to play them for 60 minutes. Guys are obviously very competitive, we want to win every game, there were a lot of battles. You could see the guys were really stepping out of their comfort zone, skill guys making some big plays, determined to win the battles along the wall. Guys were physical, but also making plays so that’s what you need from a team.

On the response to such a physical team like the Blues… Yeah those are heavy teams that are built a certain way so you have to like I said, guys played a little bit out of their comfort zone. We saw that tonight, especially early on and throughout the game. Everybody really chipped in and played a big role in tonight’s win.

On the play of David Backes against his former team… Yeah he played hard, he was motivated, very much he wanted to be a difference maker so he got rewarded with the goal towards the end. He had a lot of shots on net, he was physical. He’s that type of player that he wants to battle, he wants to go to the net and that’s his game.

BOSTON BRUINS GOALTENDER TUUKKA RASK On the Bruins getting the early lead tonight… Yeah I mean how many games has it been that we created the lead? Good to get that, although the first period definitely wasn’t our best, we got the lead which is all that matters and we never looked back after that.

On the response of the team after the loss on Tuesday night … Yeah. Well you know what, I don’t know if you can even call it a response. Obviously we bounced back and got the win but the last game despite the first period we played a hell of a game and then today, I think we got better as the game went on. It as an all-around great game but yeah great to get a win against a good hockey club for sure.

On the save that he made against Jaden Schwartz… Yeah well I saw that the puck went to the point and the guy tried to tee it up and fanned on it and then it was coming at the net very slow and then one guy got a whack at it and the other guy got the rebound and I made a save.

On what tonight’s win says about the character of the team… Well I mean it says a lot. I think it tells you what kind of hockey team we are. We focus on our game and we recognize when we’re good and when we’re not and most nights we are good. The other night definitely, first period we were sluggish and we grew, played better hockey and then today we wanted to make sure that our start is better which it was and then progressively throughout the game it got better. I think we recognize, we know exactly what we’re supposed to do out there and then we respect the game plan we are given, so that’s what it looks like.

On if it’s more enjoyable for him when both goalies are locked in… [Jake] Allen played a great game, a lot of good saves that kept them in it. You just know when it’s a one goal game you know at some point there’s going to be a chance, you try to make that save and you know maybe today came in the third period and then after that we extended the lead and you just try to keep it tight at all times.

On if he’s in a better rhythm compared to years past… A lot of it is team play like how your team plays in front of you. Lately goalies, we haven’t had to stand on our heads and play unbelievable games to keep us in it, our team is playing great hockey offensively, defensively and all around. I think it helps everybody. Everybody feels more confident and everybody is trying to pick each other up all the time and we’re no different. We try to be there when the time comes and we have to make those saves and that’s it.

BOSTON BRUINS FORWARD DAVID BACKES On getting a win against his old team… Yeah the guys really battled it was probably our most complete game where we had to battle and win pucks all over the ice. They make you play that way or else they are down your throat and not letting you out of your own end. For stretches both ways I thought occupied zones and we threw a lot of rubber at the net. Jake [Allen] made a lot of good saves, in the end we get a power play and that’s the difference-maker. Our kill did a good job when they got one with five minutes left or so. Two points against a tough central division team that I know pretty well, hopefully the start of another streak where we put a few together – but one at a time we’ll enjoy these two points then get ready for our next opponent whenever we play on Saturday.

On how important it was to break the cycle of allowing the other team to score first… Certainly and the type of goal that Krech’s [David Krejci] line normally scores – that’s not really indicative of it. You love to see Spoons [Ryan Spooner] going hard to the net, Jake [DeBrusk] going to the net. Another one, you get the goalie out of the crease and find the spot where he’s not and Krech doesn’t make a mistake on that one. That gave us a boost I think, you make them chase it a little more get them leaning on their toes where you can counter punch and get a little more offense going in their zone and I thought our defensemen especially with Kevan Miller out for the third period that they were on their toes and they weren’t letting them get their eyes up ice and able to get something up the rush, credit to our defensemen for doing that. Bergy [Patrice Bergeron] great goal on the power play and then [I was] able to sneak the empty net in their before the time ran out.

On whether he gets nervous any time there is a goal review… Yeah whenever you get that challenge it’s certainly not a good feeling, because you don’t know exactly what’s going to happen. I think from being in the competition committee they’re giving the goalies if it’s in the blue paint they’re giving them a little more benefit of the doubt, if it’s outside of the blue paint they’re giving the player a little more benefit of the doubt. How that all shakes out on that play, I’m not really sure. I’m not complaining about the end result by any means.

On what a game like tonight shows about his team’s resiliency… It says a lot and third game that Marchy’s [Brad Marchand] been out so two more to play without probably our best forward in the lineup, Charlie [McAvoy] seems to be progressing so – guys have done a great job all year. I was out for an extended periods, Krech, Spoons, Bergy – you go down the line we’ve had guys that have been out. We’ve plugged holes we’ve been able to come up with big games against big opponents and get points out of them and that’s kept our heads above water kept us in a good playoff spot and it’s served us well and made us I think stronger when we have everybody in the lineup we know how we can play and we add that element of skill and you finish off a few more plays and the score for us gets to be a crooked number in a hurry when you have that sort of mentality and that skill in the lineup. We’ll take that and implement it as we go forward, but one game at a time we have a very high-skilled team coming in on Saturday and we need to play another good 60 minute game to get two points out of that one.

BOSTON BRUINS DEFENSEMAN TOREY KRUG On the their start tonight… Yeah, it was great. It was exactly what we talked about. No passengers in the first period. Even though we came away with the one-nothing lead, we felt like we still had a little bit more to give and came out in the second. I thought we were dominant in the second and that was what we were trying to do, so good start all around.

On the reviewed goal for goaltender interference… Yeah, you never know which way it’s going to go. Obviously, it went our way and even if it didn’t we were going to put our heads down, go back to work and grind away and get that next one. And so, I’m just glad it counted.

On how the team responded after last game… Yeah, it’s something that we’ve talked about for a little while. And obviously going down eight or nine games in a row with the other team scoring first. It’s something that crept into our game and we wanted to overcome that. It was a good challenge from the coaching staff and the guys were committed to it tonight. It just says that when we put our minds to it and pay attention to detail, we can do anything that they [the coaches] ask of us.

On Backes’ effort at the end… Yeah, we were all excited. Everyone was jumping up on the bench. He’s a guy that brings a lot to the table and it was pretty clear early on in the season without him what our team looked like – didn’t have the depth upfront and the way that he plays, just has so much jam and he never shuts up on the bench, so he’s a great guy to have on your side.

On the dynamic when have only five defensemen… Just keep it simple, take your changes when you can, try to keep them short and sweet to help each other out. If you’re taking long shifts or you get stuck out there and the other guy goes out there for a short one and comes back, you’re gassed. So it’s about helping each other out and hopefully the forwards can realize that. We talked about it and they can help us out in any way they can by getting pucks in deep and taking care of it.

On players getting out of their comfort zone against more physical teams… Yeah, I said it after the Anaheim game. I think we got pushed around a little bit in the first period and not much of a response, but tonight even though we don’t have too many big hitters upfront, guys were using their legs to check. I think Spoons [Ryan Spooner] did a great job of battling along the boards. It’s something that he’s starting to develop in his game and we need guys like that to do their job in order for us to go a long way. So, I think all around guys were definitely stepping out of their comfort zone.

BOSTON BRUINS DEFENSMAN ADAM MCQUAID On Backes’ effort at the end… Yeah, he’s a huge part of our team. A great leader and role model for everybody. He’s been a huge addition to our team. I mean, he always plays hard, but he played really hard tonight. In those areas of the game, you need to be hard on pucks and he was a he got rewarded at the end so it was nice.

On Kevan Miller getting injured… Yeah, everyone has to pick up a little bit tonight. I think everyone ends up playing a little bit more. Maybe at times you play within the same system and structure, but just be smart, try not to over extend yourself at times.

On playing with only five defenseman… You just be aware of it and make sure your forwards are aware of it and that they get pucks deep to give the defense the opportunity to change when they need to. Just within five guys you’re aware that shifts will be a little shorter and you’re ready for that., but also trying to keep it short when you can. But within all that just still going out and playing. BOSTON BRUINS FORWARD DAVID KREJCI On the team getting out to the early lead… Yeah you know the last few games we kind of had slow starts so that was our focus, get the first goal and we wanted to control the game. They are a good team and we are a good team when we have the lead and we proved that tonight.

On his goal tonight… I thought the puck was in but just to make sure I got the rebound and I’ll take it.

On if he thought the goal would stand with the goaltender interference challenge… You know I had no idea. It was kind of 50/50 when I saw it on the replay. It was really close but you know sometimes you need bounces to go your way and it was one of those nights and I’m happy it went in.

On the play of his line tonight… Yeah we were trying to play with lots of speed, that’s our game. We carried the puck through the neutral zone making some plays, we scored one but we easily could have got a few more. We obviously want to build on that and be as good or better next game.

On the team scoring first… Yeah like I said, that was our main focus to have a good start. That’s what happened. We got a goal and we kept going at them. Their goalie played really well, there was over 40 shots, so you have to give him credit but we just kept going at them and that got the job done.

On the response to playing such a physical team… Yeah the last few games we have played against a team like that. They’re big, they’re strong so we were kind of getting the hang of it and it was a good game. Every guy battled hard and nothing is given in this league, especially against teams like that so it was a good all-around game by all four lines. Good defense, Tuukka played great again so great win.

ST. LOUIS BLUES HEAD COACH MIKE YEO POSTGAME On the goal not being called back for goalie interference… Next question.

On not commenting at all… Not today, no.

On Jake Allen’s performance tonight… You know, you come off the ice and initially you’re thinking, you know, I feel bad for Jake [Allen], he played a really good game and it’s too bad we didn’t get the win. But the more I was thinking about it, no, I’m actually happy for Jake. I’m happy that he played that game, I thought he was outstanding tonight and if he continues to play like that then the game will reward him. So, obviously we’ll have a little chat with him and if he has the same mindset then good things are coming for him.

On if he’s glad that he started Jake Allen in net… Absolutely, yeah. I think he absolutely rose to the occasion, he was outstanding tonight. He looked very confident, he looked very athletic, he looked like, you know, Jake Allen – the guy that we would expect him to look like. So, again, sitting here very disappointed and obviously upset that we lost the hockey game, but for me that will be the biggest thing that I will take out of the game – that I’m happy for Jake.

On what happened that allowed the Bruins to get 22 shots in the second period… Yeah, well I thought we stopped – I didn’t think we were on the body, physical like we were in the first period. That’s a team with a lot of speed and if you just let them rev it up then it’s tough to slow them down. And obviously the biggest issue was getting through the neutral zone. I didn’t think our execution or even our decision making at certain points were not strong enough. The first period we spent time in their zone, the second period we didn’t – we turned pucks over and we allowed them to come back at us with speed.

On why the neutral zone play was an issue… I think it was just execution. We just have to be sharper there, you know, too many times, we’re either not bearing down and making the tape to tape pass that’s available, other times we’re making the wrong decisions as far as who to move the puck to. Then there were other times where we had opportunities to move the puck in and we tried to force a play or make a play that was a little high risk and turned the puck over and they came back at us.

On Jaden Schwartz not tying up the game… Yeah, you know, I mean, that’s a good team and obviously a very good goalie and they’ve been on a run for a while. And so, you know, we were there, had a pretty good opportunity at that moment to tie the game up, but still we definitely have to be better than what we showed tonight I think.

On Boston’s defense being good… Yeah they are, no question. Again, but I don’t want to sit here and say - our goal is to be one of the best teams in the league. So for us to take too many positives out of this game, I don’t think that’s what we want to do here. There were some things that were good, we hung in there for a little while, gave ourselves a chance. But at the end of the night we had to be better.

On Vladimir Tarasenko changing lines… Yeah, not much was happening, so yeah tried to get something going.

On if he has a comment on the no interference call… Not today, no.

ST. LOUIS BLUES DEFENSEMAN On the no-call goalie interference… I thought it was, but that’s not my call, right? That’s why we pay the refs, whatever.

On how he saw the no-call goalie interference play out in front of him… Well, I was just wondering where the puck was. They pushed Jake [Allen] out of the crease, I don’t know it’s not their call, there’s nothing we can do about it now.

On if those calls are as grey as it’s ever been… It seems like it, yeah. There was a lot of chatter about it at the All-Star Game and, I don’t know. I don’t know what they’re going to do, how to figure out what’s what.

On what he thought about Jake Allen’s performance tonight… It was great. His second period was phenomenal, he made some big saves. Yeah he was outstanding.

On why he felt it was tough to get through the neutral zone… I think it was more we kind of played into them – we knew they were going to stand up and we just kind of played into them. It was a good, hard game all around. I’m sure they’ll say that we played them hard. It was a good battle – I thought we fought hard but we still need more.

On if this game was a good sign for Jake Allen… Yeah, he made some – that second period especially, he made some unbelievable saves. So, it was a great performance.

On the Bruins having 22 shots in the second period… Yeah, we just turned the puck over and played into their hands. But, again, when Jake’s [Allen] playing that well, he’s controlling rebounds, he’s finding the puck like that, it’s impressive.

On if he felt like they played well in the first period… Yeah, listen, teams are going to score goals. You’re not going to get a shut-out every single game, we’d like to but I thought we did a lot of good things throughout the game. We kept it one nothing there until the end, until the power play. So, it was a close game all around, I think we can still do better in our system but both teams fought hard.

On if this game forced them to play differently… No, more so when you get to the third, the end of the third. We feel like if we play our game, we’ll have the opportunity to score. So I don’t think it’s necessarily us forcing the issue at all.

On if he assumed this game would be a low scoring game… Yeah, I think, if you look at a lot of the chances from both ends, there’s a lot of shots and rebounds and second opportunities. I think it was tough for both teams to, unless there was a turnover, to really get an opportunity to make a play. So both teams defended hard and their goalie played well.

ST. LOUIS BLUES GOALTENDER JAKE ALLEN On how he felt tonight… Great. I felt like myself, I was ready to go. Just waiting for my chance, you know. I thought I gave the boys a chance, it just wasn’t enough tonight.

On if he felt coming in he was going to have a good performance… I was just looking forward to any start. You know, it’s tough to get in there right now and I need to win my job back, you know what I mean? So I thought I played an honest hard win tonight, but we didn’t come out with a good enough effort tonight.

On how he coped with not starting for three weeks… I worked my ass off in practice every single day, honestly. Some days were frustrating not getting in the net, but Hutts [Carter Hutton] is the best goalie in the league this year and he’s more deserving than anyone to be in the net, so I’m very appreciative of that. But you know, at the same time, I have to get back in there and get things going again.

On if he was glad that he got the start against the Bruins instead of the Buffalo Sabres… I don’t think it really mattered to me. I didn’t really care when I was going to get it, it was just going to be when and I knew during the break that I was going to play this game so I was just preparing myself for it.

On if he’s working on anything in particular when he goes out 25 minutes before practice starts… Just making sure I was ready. You know, I never knew when my chance was going to be, whether I was thrown in a period or a surefire shock start. It’s all about points right now, and Hutts [Carter Hutton] was getting us points so that’s why he was in the net.

On if it’s a relief to have this start behind him… It’s still not good enough, we need to find wins. It doesn’t matter if I have 50 saves or seven saves, I got to find a way to win games.

On what he saw on the no-call goalie interference… Well I was almost in the corner, right? I think you guys got a pretty good look at it, probably should have been goalie interference, but you know, that’s the way it is. You get some calls, you don’t. Everyone’s got a different opinion on it and some go your way and some don’t and it’s unfortunate because you lose a time out as well. So I don’t know, both sides of the coin there. So it’s a tough one for me tonight.

On if he got any explanation about the no-call… No.

On if he said anything to the referee… I don’t think you can really say anything, you know? If you saw it, you don’t really need – I think if you complain sometimes I think it goes the other way. So everyone’s on the ice, we made the decision to challenge and I thought it was the right challenge and sometimes you get them and sometimes you don’t.

ST. LOUIS BLUES HEAD COACH MIKE YEO PREGAME On the decision to start Jake Allen… It was part of the plan. I think we were excited to get him back in, and what a better chance, what a better test, than this.

On if there is something to be said about Allen starting a big game… I think so. When I told him coming out of the break that he was going to have the Boston game, he was excited. That’s what you’re hoping to hear.

On if Allen has put in the work to get himself ready… No question he does. To me, it’s not a big story right now. I can understand sort of why we want him to be the story – really, in a lot of ways, a bit about Hutts [Carter Hutton] and his play and his performance and, obviously, the playing time that he has gotten because of that, but obviously we know what Jake is capable of, what he has done for us, and what we continue to believe that he will do for us. So, good chance to get him in here.

On getting Allen comfortable this season... That’s on him a little bit, but that’s also on us a little bit, too. Getting him the net and getting him some opportunities, some reps. Obviously he hasn’t played a whole lot here in a long while, so I expect him to come out and be really competitive in the game, and I expect us to be competitive in front of him.

On needing two dependable goalies… This is a league where you need two goalies, and you need two goalies to get wins for you. I think Boston is a good example of that, the success they’ve had this year. Obviously, [Tuukka] Rask has been playing lights out, but [Anton] Khudobin has stepped in and done a nice job for them when needed. That’s life in the NHL right now. You just can’t afford to not get wins on certain nights, and obviously in order to make that happen, you need two goalies.

On the Bruins… I would say that they’re the best team in the . Clearly, they’re the best team in the National Hockey League certainly the last two months – 28-3-4 is their record over that time, so pretty impressive. They had some injuries early in the season. I think that gave them an opportunity to get some of their young players some good experience, some good ice time to really get acclimated to the league. All of a sudden, you start to insert some of their veteran players, and they’ve got a real nice mix right now. When you think about veteran players that have won Stanley Cups and the leadership they provide, the play they provide, and sort of the model that they give to these young players as far as how to play the game and how to prepare night after night. Certainly, they’re providing a good challenge for us tonight.

On Oskar Sundqvist… He needs some ice time; he needs to play. It’s unfair to ask him to come in right now and perform at the best of his abilities when he just hasn’t played games. I think he is putting the work in off the ice; he is spending his time in the gym; he is spending his time doing the extra skating and the skill work, but nothing is the same as playing the games. So, we’re going to get him a chance to go down, get some confidence, really work on the offensive part of his game. There’s a lot of parts of Sunny’s game that I really like. He’s a guy where his worst games are never bad games. What we want to do is make sure we get more good games in there for him. In order to do that, he needs to find a way to create a little bit more offense and be more involved in the offensive zone.

On Zach Sanford traveling with the team… He’s part of the team. We want him to be part of the dad’s trip. He has been putting lots of work in. He’s from the area, so we wanted to make sure that he was a part of it. I would say that he is not close to playing right now.

On if the players with local ties will have more of a jump… I expect a jump from all of us. If you’re coming into this building and not being ready to play against a team like we’re playing tonight, obviously that’s not going to serve you very well, so I think that our guys will be ready tonight. There is some excitement from the dad’s trip, but I think, as much as anything, it’s the respect that we’ll have for our opponent tonight.

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