Postgame Quotes Nashville Predators vs. St. Louis Blues

Predators Quotes Head Coach Peter Laviolette On Pekka Rinne reaching the record for wins by a Finnish-born goaltender… That was awesome. He’s been so important, not only this year, but all of the years here. It was really nice to see him reach that milestone. He’s just done a lot of good things for our franchise and I think over time you win enough games you start to knock down some records. He’s awesome.

On what he’s seen from Frederick Gaudreau… Lately I think Freddie’s been terrific - to me, it seems like he’s gaining confidence in being here and inside of his game. He’s been really good in the face-off circle. I think he’s a student of the game. I think he puts a lot of thought into the game on how it should be played. The opportunities that he’s gotten lately, both defensively and offensively, have been very good. His line offensively no matter who is on there has been terrific. They’re not playing much in the defensive zone, they’re generating chances, they’re being smart and they’re being difficult to play against – for me that’s a real positive when you can throw a line out on the ice like that and have them take down some minuets and know that they’re going to be positive minuets.

On seeing a difference on the current homestand… I thought we did some good things on the road. We lost some games and that’s a good way to reset, but I felt like we could’ve won all those games too. We were up in San Jose. We had those chances in the end in Anaheim and I really like the way we played in Phoenix. It didn’t happen, but it’s about winning hockey games and I thought our guys just stayed with it. The leaders took over, we got back home, started picking up from the way we played in Arizona and started putting our foot down at home. It was good to get back on track and get some wins back in our building.

Forward Frederick Gaudreau On scoring his first goal tonight… It feels good for sure… I just tried to keep my game simple (the) past three years and believe the offense would come. It feels good for sure to get that one. I’m just trying to focus on doing the right things. I’m not trying to think too far in those goals… It feels good for sure to get that one.

On the Blues having a new coach and trying to match their energy… That was a huge win for us. When you have a new coach like that, everyone’s fired up. We had to match that intensity and that energy and see that and I think we did.

Forward Austin Watson On if it makes that much of a difference to get that first goal… The first one is always the toughest to come across. You can sigh with the monkey off the back there. It’s tough when you start going five, or 10 games, but it’s nice to be able to contribute tonight and put one in the back of the net. It was a good feeling.

On finishing this home stand with a clean sweep… I’m sure we’ve talked about the coaching change a few times. We knew they were going to come in and play hard. They did, and they competed. Credit to our group who came out and matched that and got on the attack. We were able to get a couple of pucks to go in and played good defense. It was one of those typical division games.

On Frederick Gaudreau getting his first goal tonight as well… It’s awesome. It’s always cool to be a part of those things with the guys. Freddie works so hard and he’s so skilled. It’s tough when those games start to pile up a little bit and you might grip the stick a little bit, but kudos to him for just playing with confidence and being able to pull through.

Goaltender Pekka Rinne On being the winningest goaltender… A long time ago, it wasn’t even close to being on my mind. It was well ahead of us and of me playing in a high level. When I was just trying to battle my way into the League, these are the things you are going to wish for. It’s pretty cool. When you’re fortunate and stay in the League for a long time, you know you’re going to face some milestones. This one, for sure, is a cool one.

On what impresses him most about the way the Predators are playing right now… It’s huge. I think we’re really focused. Right at the start of the season, our road record was unbelievable. At home, we won one and lost one, then won two and lost one. We really feel like this building, this place, is where we love to play. We feel like it’s a tough place for other teams to play. The last three games were really solid three wins. We’ve had to battle. They’ve all been tough games. Tonight was a big division game, too. On Friday in St. Louis, we face them again. You could see that it was starting to get more physical out there, and we’re expecting that same kind of game out there.

Blues Quotes Interim Head Coach Craig Berube On the game overall… I thought it was a hard game; we competed for 60 minutes, but we just couldn’t get the result. We have to do a better job of screening goalies and getting some players around the net.

On tonight being a physical game… I thought it was a physical game, and we matched it all night.

On Robert Thomas… He’s a heck of a player; got some really good skill and vision.

Right Wing Robert Thomas On scoring his first NHL goal tonight…. It was definitely nice to get it out of the way. I thought it just helped me keep building my game... I wish it would have been in a win, however.

On making the most out of the opportunities given to him… I think every game I keep getting more comfortable and building my game, but, I have to start contributing more and we have to start winning.

On if tonight felt like a rivalry game… It felt more like playoff hockey; everything matters a lot and it was a really intense high-paced game. I thought we did a lot of good things.