Round 2 Game 1 Postgame Quotes Nashville Predators vs. Winnipeg Jets Predators Quotes Head Coach Peter Laviolette On if he would have liked to see anything different tonight, other than the final score… I think there’s always things we can do better, but we’ll look at it and try to get better for next game. On whether they have created more traffic, in his opinion… All coaches at this time of the year will scream for traffic. At the end of the day it was probably over 25 quality chances and we just didn’t find the back of the net. So, you give them credit and move on and look for another day, it’s okay. On the difficulty playing against Connor Hellebuyck, who is on a hot streak… That’s up to us. Our job is to get to it, shot selection and just offensive-zone play. We had a couple of opportunities in the power play, so better execution. There’s things that we’ll look at and try to get better at but you’ve got to give it to their team. On whether he agrees that this was their best performance so far in the playoffs… Yes, but we’ve got to win hockey games. I think you can hang your hat on that sometimes in the regular season when you’re talking about a process and a long haul and a big picture. But right now, if you give me two choices on where to be, our game or their win, I’d take the win. It’s about winning hockey games right now. On the first two goals from Winnipeg… For me we need to do a little bit better job of picking up in front of the net. It seemed like we had some players available, the shots came in, there were second opportunities. It’s difficult in that situation too, I felt like we were pressing, pressing, pressing, doing all the right things and it comes down to it’s in the back of the net. But I do think that they came off of rebound opportunities, so for me that’s always a chance to do a better job right in front of your goaltender. On the goalie change from Pekka Rinne to Juuse Saros… The goals, they were really tough for Peks [Rinne]. We need to do a better job, especially on those first two that you’re talking about. It was just to change it up, to go in a different direction, to send the game in a different direction. Center Ryan Johansen On Winnipeg Goalie Connor Hellebuyck’s performance... He definitely played well. A tip of the cap to him. He played a very strong game; obviously we just have to find a way to score more goals. I’m sure there are a few things we can do [to disrupt him]. It’ll be good to go over some video tomorrow and break some things down so that we can look at and improve on to increase our odds scoring some goals. On increasing traffic at the net... You can always have more traffic. Goaltenders are unbelievable, especially this time of year in the playoffs so we have to do everything we can to score. On believing this was one of their best games... I would agree. We played very strongly. It’s too bad that doesn’t matter, though; you have to win a hockey game. If they’re up 1-0 that’s all that matters. For us though, there are some good things we can look at for sure, and some things we can improve on. On believing in this team in seven games... Of course, what am I supposed to say, I don’t believe we can? We feel like we were the better team tonight, so we keep taking steps forward as a team and we’ll find a way to win some games. On losing Austin Watson... He’s been driving our team. I’d say in the first series he was arguably our best player. Watson’s really had his coming-out party this year, he’s been showing what he’s made of, and I still believe he has another level and I believe he was getting there. It sucks to see him go down, but I haven’t talked to him or seen him yet, so hopefully he’ll be alright for next game. On the mental battle of not getting the results tonight... You can’t let frustration creep in and you just have to focus on your next shift. There are a lot of things that go on in a best-of-seven series. We’ll look at the positives and looks at the things we can do better and move on from there. On remaining even keel and not dwelling on the loss... It’s very important. We have a smart group and they know how to handle situations, especially this one. So for us, we’ll take tomorrow and I’m looking forward to hanging out with my dogs on the nice day – maybe take them to the park – and then get back to work. Defenseman P.K. Subban On if he is worried about the series after tonight’s game… We’re okay. We will all sleep well tonight. We’ll be ready to go back at it on Sunday. There’s no question how well we played tonight. Like I said, the bounces didn’t go our way. I’d like to hear what they (Winnipeg) say about that game. On Connor Hellebuyck’s performance in goal tonight… We threw a lot of pucks to the net. He made some really good saves, but like I said, I think that’s the best game we’ve played in the playoffs so far. We’re fine in here. I think that’s probably the best I’ve felt. I’ll take it and get ready for Sunday. On his confidence in being opportunistic in the series… It’s not even about being opportunistic. I don’t think that’s how you win championships in professional sports. You play the right way, and I think we played the right way tonight. We were fast, we were strong, we cycled the puck and we got pucks to the net. We did a lot of things. We hit, (and) we hit early. I think we were first on a lot of pucks. For us, right now, there’s a few things we need to clean up. A couple mistakes cost us, but bounces are going to happen in a hockey game. That’s just the way it is. Defenseman Ryan Ellis On his thoughts about tonight’s game… I thought we played a good game. (It was) probably our best in a long time, to be honest. Give them credit. They found a way to win that game, but overall, I liked our effort and I liked our performance. We have to clean up a few things and we’ll come back on Sunday. On how the team is making all of their chances count on the scoreboard… I mean you get a bounce, maybe. That’d be nice. I think we can do a bunch of different things in their end. Overall, we got a lot of shots and a lot of great efforts from the guys in here. It sucks to lose that first one, but I think we can take the fact that we played a really good game. On being clipped by a skate… Yeah, my face kind of felt like it burnt where I got cut. Then, I saw the blood. It is what it is. Defenseman Roman Josi On the team’s performance… I was hoping for some more chances, but I thought we did a pretty good job of shooting the puck. We had a lot of zone time and tried to take chances. On if he is encouraged by the team’s play despite the loss… I thought we played well. I thought we started well. We had a good first period and we followed it up…we had a lot of shots, a lot of zone time and a lot of pucks our way. On the positives the team can take from tonight… I think there’s always something positive you can take (from the game), even when you lose a game. I thought we did a lot of good things tonight. I think there’s a lot of things we can do better, too. We can work on those things and come back. On Connor Hellebuyck’s performance in goal tonight… He was good. We knew he’s a great goalie. He played well tonight. We just have to bear down on the opportunities and keep shooting. On trailing in the series… It’s a big game. You’re playing at home the first two games, and after this first one we definitely want to win the second one. We’ve been in this situation and I think, even in the first round, you can’t get too low. After a loss, you have to look at some things and do things better and just get ready for Game 2. Center Kyle Turris On liking the way the Preds played tonight... You’re always trying to improve and find things to do better and improve on. We’re just looking forward to Game 2. I think we created opportunities and we were buzzing in the offensive zone at times, we just couldn’t bury them.