Round 1 Game 1 Postgame Quotes vs.

Predators Quotes On what he thought of the progression of the performance of the team… We got better in every period, so that was good. [During] the first period, it’s not that we started poorly, we came out and tried to do the right things. They scored a off the screen and off the rush and it lets a little bit of the air out of the building. You have to work from there. We ended up tying it up, and before we even got back to it, it was their lead again. Things happen pretty quick. I give our guys a lot of credit for staying with it and fighting back. Colorado is a fast team. They’re looking to generate as well, so we have to watch what we do defensively. But I thought that were able to get going a little bit offensively.

On this game being an example of when the Predators’ star players step up and make big plays… The answer is yes, but I thought that Bonino’s line was excellent tonight. I thought that Hartman was excellent tonight – Salomaki, Fisher, Matty Irwin – [all were excellent tonight] so the answer is yes. Pekks (Rinne) made big saves in the third period. When you’re trying to push forward for offense, there’s always going to be something coming back the other way and that’s when you need big saves. I thought he did that for us. And certainly, Filip – his line really cranked it up in the third period and got going.

On Filip Forsberg’s goal tonight… What I really liked about it is it was a power move. It was not just a standing still move. He really picked up speed and did his best to drive. I always feel like he’s at his best when he’s a power forward first and then he brings his skill element into it, and that’s exactly what he did on that goal.

On what it says that the Predators didn’t have the best game for 30 minutes, but got the win in the fashion that they did… I don’t think any team is going to walk through the playoffs and say, “You know what? We played every minute just the way we wanted to.” The objective is to play more good minutes than the opposition and try to get out of a round and try to do it again in the next round. Tonight was Game 1. We know we can do better at some things and we’ll work on that. But again, I thought the guys hung in there for having to fight back a couple of times and push forward. I thought they did that. We’ll get ready for Game Two now. We’ll get the guys some rest and we’ll do some work tomorrow. Colorado is not going anywhere – they’re a good hockey club we’re going to have to be ready to play.

On how he feels the team handled the MacKinnon line tonight… It’s hard to have them walk away with nothing. They’re a dangerous line. They’re one of the best lines in the league, so we’ll continue to try to work to get better at them.

On the shift with Watson, Turris and Fiala getting momentum going for the team… I think we were getting going the whole game. Once it got to 1-0, I thought that we were a bit slow and we needed to fight back and then fight back again. The second period was quicker than the first. The third I thought was quick as well. There were some big shifts in there – that was one of them.

Goaltender Pekka Rinne On when the Predators regained control of the game… I don’t know, (the Avalanche) is a fast team and a good team. I thought the first period they came hard. I thought that in the second we got it going and obviously the third period was really good for us. It is a good team and I’m expecting that (there will be) similar types of games. I think both teams are going to get better moving on and moving forward. It was probably the third period, I was really happy the way we played.

On his save against Mikko Rantanen’s partial breakaway… I knew that it was just lying there and I was able to keep it to myself and cover it up. It happened quick. He’s a fast guy. Good thing I made the save. I saw the puck the whole time and I was fortunate enough that nobody was able to poke it in.

On if he had any nerves coming into the first game... Of course, in a good way. We had some days off after the last game of the regular season and had some time to think about it and get ready for this series, so absolutely you do get a little bit nervous and anxious to get on the ice.

On Colorado’s performance… Like I said, it’s a good team. They played a fast game. I’m expecting that both teams are going to improve and get better moving on. It’s a team that can play quick and also physical. I feel like we have a team to respond to.

On the Predators sticking with it to win… I think that’s playoffs. I felt that guys played with a lot of detail and a lot of purpose. The beginning of the game didn’t have a lot going on, but we still were able to play with purpose and detail and execute until we got it going. It showed a lot of guts coming from behind first to 1-1, and then in a 2-1 game coming from behind to tie the game up. I thought that was awesome.

On Forsberg’s second goal… I see that kind of stuff in practice all the time. I am just pulling pucks out of my net. (It was a) beautiful goal. You think about the first game in the playoffs and he’s able to pull those moves off and finish the play. It was a great individual effort and obviously, to me, that was the goal that sealed the deal tonight.

Left Wing Austin Watson On his initial thoughts on Nashville's victory... It's the playoffs. You need to win hockey games. Toward the middle of the second period we started to get our legs under us a little bit. They play fast. They've got a good group up front. Maybe we didn't like our game so much the first period and a half, but we got better as the game went on. We're fortunate to have had Peks (Rinne) there to bail us out when we needed him.

On if there's a collective sigh of relief now that Game 1 is finished... I don't know if there's so much a sigh, but they're a good hockey team. We knew that coming in. We knew they were going to play with speed. We knew they were going to be desperate and they showed that. They played a good hockey game and we were fortunate to come out with the win. That's one of four that we need.

On if there was an emphasis on playing more physical... I think that's just the playoffs. The intensity ramps up. The physicality ramps up. You need to play physical on their skilled players. They've got a good group up front and a couple D-men that are really mobile. We like to think we can play a physical brand of hockey as well as that speed and skill game.

On his reaction to Filip Forsberg's second goal... That was unbelievable. I don't know if you guys panned over to the bench, but all of our jaws dropped. He thinks of doing things out there that wouldn't even happen in my dreams.

Left Wing Filip Forsberg On if there's first-game jitters in the playoffs... It's always a little nervous going into the first game. You wouldn't be in your right mind if you didn't feel nervous going into the first big playoff game. We got going in the third.

On if there's a different feel to the playoffs as a No. 1 seed... No, I don't think so too much. We're all here to play for the Cup, all 16 teams here qualified for the playoffs to play for the Cup and every goal is the same for all the teams. It's going to be real tough. Colorado has been playing well all year and they played a good game tonight too. Game 1 is ours, but we'll keep working hard.

On what it says that Nashville won 5-2 without playing its best game... It obviously proves that we're a good team, but at the same time it's going to take more to pull this series our way.

On the keys to victory in this series for Nashville... I think we just play our game. They obviously have some skill and we've just got to keep on them.

Right Wing Craig Smith On if there's a different mindset for Nashville as the hunted team... Last year we kind of just snuck in. They were hungry, having fun and we want to bring that every night.

On the team's adjustments after the second period... Little small tweaks here and there, but you do that every game. That's not unusual for us. You make the corrections and execute.

On Filip Forsberg's second goal... It was outstanding. It's a good goal, really nice. He's fun to watch. He's a guy that's talented and can make those plays. It's not unusual when he does. It's great.

On if he expected so much speed from Colorado... Yeah, totally every time we play them. They've got guys that can scoot and so do we. It's going to be fun.

Avalanche Quotes Head Coach Jared Bednar On what this game said about the Avalanche… It told me something I already knew. We have a lot of heart and I think that we played hard tonight. We played really hard. I think that we had a really good start coming in here. They had a couple plays and times in the game when they pushed and I felt like we pushed back. We missed on a couple of our really good opportunities and they found a way to score on a couple; got a lucky bounce on the one by the net.

On missed opportunities in the game… We had Mikko [Rantanen] on the breakaway. We had MacKinnon and then the two-on-one. We had a few guys that had some good looks and we missed on those chances. Then you have a face off in the d-zone before they score and to me, the guy swipes the puck back with the hand, it’s an easy call. Next thing you know it’s down coming the other way but it is what it is. We played hard and we’ll make some corrections to the game. We’ll look through some of it and we’ll be better for it.

On facing off against an experienced team… I’m happy with the way we played. I felt like we did enough to almost earn a better result but now we’re going to have to go and dig in even harder to make sure we do earn a better result. We’re capable. We played hard. It was a good game from our group. It could’ve went the other way but it didn’t so we have to find a way to break this cycle and make sure that we get the win here in game two.

Defenseman Tyson Barrie On the nature of the game… I think we played really well in parts of that game. We had a couple plays that didn’t go our way and then we played a good 40 minutes and they kind of took it to us there in the third (period). We had a chance to kind of get back to it with the power play but we didn’t come through there.

On what the game shows them that they can do for the rest of the series… It shows us we’re right with them. I think the first two periods we outplayed them for big parts of it. We’ve got a big one here on Saturday; we’re going to try to steal that one and get them back to the Pepsi Center where we’re really good.

Defenseman Mark Barberio On the play he made where the puck slipped free… That’s hockey sometimes. It was a play I’ve done a thousand times and it was going to clear and it just rolled off my blade, unfortunately right to their guy. They made a quick play and it was a good to finish it off, but at that it’s my job to bear down and make sure that puck gets down the ice. It’s a tough break, at that point it was still 2-2 in the game and we still had a lot to play for in the third.

On the rest of the series and how it will be serious… It’s going to be (serious). It’s one game, they didn’t win the series tonight. We get a chance to regroup tomorrow, we’ll get some video, [see] where we can improve, things that we can continue to work on and it’ll be a huge game on Saturday.