BOSTON BRUINS POSTGAME QUOTES BOSTON BRUINS VS ANAHEIM DUCKS Tuesday, January 30, 2018

BOSTON BRUINS HEAD COACH BRUCE CASSIDY On if he expected a sluggish start following the break… Not necessarily. I thought we had a good practice yesterday. Those afternoon practices sometimes – we went through that in Montreal where we were a little sluggish early, so we had an optional this morning for that reason, so we weren’t on the ice three times in 28 hours or whatever it is. We just didn’t have it early. I don’t know if it’s credit to them, or just our guys, or the break, whatever the case was, wasn’t good enough. We addressed it. I thought we were a lot better after that but, to get back to your question, maybe the break did have something to do with it. It didn’t seem to affect them as much, although I don’t think they were dynamic by any means, but they were better than us.

On the early first-period power play… If you’re ever going to get a power play, where I think it’s tough is early in the game. I think the killers are always fresh, you’re not really into the game. I think those are statistically early in periods are tougher, I’ve found over the years. But, to not generate anything was disappointing. It was kind of like the rest of our first period: not ready, not executing, not fast, they jumped us, and not winning pucks. All of the above. So, we could have helped ourselves; there’s no doubt on that one, but I don’t think that’s the reason why we got behind, but we could have helped ourselves.

On how Anders Bjork’s injury affected the lines… Well, we tried to move a few people around. Then, you get behind, now you’re double shifting maybe guys that are producers or what not. Then, maybe I don’t like a makeup of a certain line, so I tried to balance some heaviness with each line. Eventually, we found our way. I don’t know if that had much to do with I think our guys have a lot of pride, and they knew that they weren’t very good in the first period, and if we continued to play that way, it would be a long night. So, whatever the combinations were, I think they were going to go out and compete harder, and we did.

On the updates on Bjork and David Backes… Bjork is upper body. Backes I have nothing. I went in there – right now, I think he’s fine, but I don’t know. Bjork, definitely upper body, and he’ll miss some time. I don’t know how much.

On the plays that injured Bjork and Backes… The Bjork didn’t seem like much. Very surprised on the other one. It was late. I can’t tell if it was high, but certainly late. The game looked fast at times tonight, and I thought there was a few that could’ve been called, but you know how that works. My guess is they’ll take a look at it. I don’t know if that is automatic or not or we have to submit something, but it’s done now and not much you can do about it.

On if Anton Khudobin looked rusty early on… Yeah, the first goal. He would be the first to tell you, he just kind of whiffed on it. I don’t know if it was a changeup or dropped, and they were hard in front of our net. The other one was a good shot. I think he could have got out, but there was a guy in his face. He was like the rest of our team in the first period – not very good. I can’t sugarcoat it. We got going, and we were the much better team the last 40, but we weren’t good early, and he was certainly included in that mix.

On Khudobin’s response to falling behind… It was the start of the third, it was 2-0. There was a sequence of an odd-man rush; I don’t think we defended it very well, and then a shot and a rebound where he made two really good saves. So, good for him. He battled back. A two-goal night, at the end of the day, is giving your team a chance to win. Ultimately, he did that. It’s just, early on you don’t like to dig yourself a hole, and that’s where we needed one of those saves.

On if Anaheim is a tough matchup for them… It can be, but I thought the last 40 minutes they had a tougher time dealing with us than we did with them. Now, they are protecting a lead, so the natural thing to do is to make sure you don’t get exposed, but I thought we certainly got better. It’s a good test for us. We haven’t seen as many of those as we did early on in the year. I thought we handled it well in LA and San Jose and some of those buildings, so we’ve just got to get re-acclimated with it, and I think we did as the game went on. St. Louis will be more of that, so ask me again Thursday night how we handle it, and I suspect we’ll be better prepared for it.

On the point streak… I didn’t think that much about it. It’s nice to be on it, don’t get me wrong. I take a lot of pride in it. We try to win every night, and it’s a credit to the guys. It’s not going to go on forever; we all know that. It’s too good a league. It certainly put ourselves in a good position in the standings to get on that roll, but we’ll have to start a new one now.

On if they missed Brad Marchand and Charlie McAvoy… Yes. Tonight, I thought we had a tough time finding a winger for Bergy [Patrice Bergeron] and Pasta [David Pastrnak]. [Danton] Heinen a little bit early on was feeling it playing against a bigger group. You lose Bjork, so maybe he could have been a fit. Then, we tried Schalls [Tim Schaller] a little later to have a little heavier guy. So, definitely. He’s a point a game guy, so he probably makes a difference. Charlie moving the puck out of our zone early, and [Noel] Acciari – we miss him tonight. It’s the type of game he is going to excel in and be able to push back, but that’s the what if game. You can’t worry about that stuff, but to answer your question, yes, we missed them all, but once we got playing, we were fine.

On the power play to begin the second period… I think it did get us going, to be honest. We had a good minute possession time or something in their zone I think it was. I think it gave us some juice. You don’t always have to score on the power play. Eventually you do, but it gives you some life, and I thought it did for our guys. We didn’t continue with it, but it kind of got us feeling good about ourselves – the skilled guys. Their goalie – I thought he made some timely saves, some good saves. Both of them, even the other guy came in. Heinen late in the slot, Torey Krug down main street. That was a big save down 2- 0, but at the end of the day, they were a little better than us in that area.

On if a recall from Providence will be made… I suspect tomorrow, it’s certainly something – we don’t have an extra forward right now unless Noel is ready to go Thursday. So, that’s something we’ll definitely have to look at in the morning, probably talk a little bit about it tonight if we get any further updates. We do have a healthy D – the seven D route we’ve tried, so that could be an option.

BOSTON BRUINS DEFENSEMAN ZDENO CHARA On what happened in the first Anaheim goal... They flipped the puck and I didn’t know what happened afterwards; I saw the puck in the net. But, obviously, the play was driving to the net and took my feet out and that’s what. So.

On if the puck went in off him and into the net... It did, you know, but I obviously didn’t see it.

On the team’s slow start... Yeah, definitely something we need to be better at and, you know, make sure that we address that part of our game.

On the hit on David Backes... Didn’t see it. From what I heard, the referees had a better look at it. They made a decision and it’s up to the officials and if the league maybe disagrees then they have, obviously, their right to make a call, but that’s up to the officials.

On the team’s 18-game point streak ending tonight... Well, we’ve got to look at the next game. We can’t be looking back; we’ve got to be ahead and that’s very important for us, to make sure that – this part of the season everybody’s really playing desperate hockey; they’re chasing every point for either a better position into the playoffs or trying to get to the playoffs and we’ve got to realize that every team we’re going to play, they’re going to fight for their lives. We’ve got to match that intensity – the emotional part of the game – and make sure that we are ready to play from the first puck drop and not waiting for the other team to set in play and then we respond. We’ve just got to be more engaged right from the start.

On getting into it with Ryan Getzlaf... No, I think it was just probably his initiation of maybe the hit I made a few seconds prior to that play, you know, step up in the neutral zone and probably, maybe something he didn’t like about that. Obviously I responded and that’s kind of what happened. But, yeah.

On if he was sending a message on the hit on Getzlaf... Well nobody wants to see your teammate being carried off the ice. Again, that’s something that officials have to, or the league has to make another look at it. We wanted to have a strong push towards the end – I thought we did – we made it obviously a one-goal game and then they scored the empty-netter, but you know, I thought the second period was better for us, third as well. We had some good scoring chances; the goalie made some big saves for them, but I thought we still can be better.

On taking positives away from the loss... Yeah, yeah, I think that we can. But again, usually you have to look at the things we need to get better at and definitely like I said, we all know that the start of last number of games were not as good as we wanted to have, so that’s probably number one priority right now for us – not to play from behind.

BOSTON BRUINS FORWARD PATRICE BERGERON On if this was the start that the Bruins were looking for tonight… No, not at all. It was disappointing, the way we came out. And we got the result that shows it. You’re not going to be able to get back into games every time. We did that the last eight games, but at some point it’s going to happen and hopefully we realize that we need to be good from the drop of the puck.

On if playing a big and heavy team like the Ducks was an adjustment… Yeah, they play a tough and heavy type of game. I think we weren’t moving our feet in the beginning, we had no forecheck or sustained pressure down there. They were coming out of their zone pretty easily and getting the puck in deep and getting the forecheck that they wanted. They’re a good team, but it was a lot of what we could have done better.

On not being good for the first 20 minutes of the game, but being the better team for the final 40 minutes… Yeah, I agree. A lot of good chances, a lot of good looks. If you bury a few of those, it’s probably a different game and we feel better, more confident. That being said, I think it was a tough start and a good way to come back. Like I said, you have to learn that you have to play 60 minutes in this league.

On if he saw what happened on the shot that injured John Gibson… No, I didn’t see. I was trying to get it quick on net, I had a good one on it. But I did have a defender on me, so I was just trying to get it through him and get it on net, like I said. I’m not sure where it hit him.

On appreciating the point streak that the Bruins put together… It was something special. I think it’s been a lot of fun and we got to keep that going. It’s one game and we got to realize the one of the things we did in that streak was to stay focused and keep pushing each other and be our best every night, and go back to that.

On the hits that injured Anders Bjork and David Backes… I didn’t see what happened with Bjorkie [Anders Bjork]. And Backs [David Backes], it probably is shoulder-to-shoulder. That being said, I think it’s late and blindside. That’s my take on it.

BOSTON BRUINS GOALTENDER ANTON KHUDOBIN On the first goal Anaheim scored… Yeah it hit somewhere in my glove. It was a weird bounce and after I just lost the puck and it went in. A weird bounce.

On how he would describe the team’s play during their 18 game point streak… You know, like, all the stretches we played really well. Maybe some starts we didn’t get exactly like we wanted and maybe that’s what cost us the game tonight but at the same time, it’s a lot of games. Eighteen games in a row, it's pretty good. Unfortunately it ended but we still have a lot of games in front of us and we just have to play moving forward.

On how he thinks he’s played this season… I think it’s better than last year, right? And the more you play the better you feel and we got more wins as a team this year and it feels great.

On the first goal being weird… Yeah, it hit my glove. I just kind of like – like a parachute. It was coming to me, it hit the glove, I didn’t feel it inside of the glove and I started searching for it and it hit something in front and just went in.

On the first goal looking like the puck hit Zdeno Chara before it went in… I don’t know, it hit somebody there. I can’t tell much, because I just lost track. I was searching and as soon as I saw the puck it was behind me.

On if he felt rusty from not playing for a couple weeks… No, I think I was – I felt pretty good. You know, this stuff – bounces, it happens sometimes and there’s some of the games when the bounces don’t go your way and especially, I don’t know why, against Anaheim. I don’t know, it just happened and we got to keep moving forward.

On if Anaheim played the same when he was there in 2015… There’s a different coach. I don’t know what they’re playing right now, but there always was a weird – not weird, but it was always tough to play against them. So it’s kind of like they play a heavy game but at the same time it’s kind of like, I think we took control of the next couple periods but unfortunately we just didn’t get the right results.

BOSTON BRUINS FORWARD RYAN SPOONER On the team starting slow… Yeah I think seven or eight games in a row where we gave up the first goal so that’s not good. Second and third period that was good for us but the start wasn’t.

On whether teams are coming for them based on their success… It appears that way but it’s kind of on us, it’s not an excuse we still have to go out there, we still have to play well.

On whether it’s an adjustment playing a physical team like Anaheim… It’s a little bit different yeah. Again it’s not really an excuse that we can make. There’s teams in the league that play like that, you got the Ducks and the Kings, teams like that. If we want to be a team that plays in the playoffs we have to play against the teams like that.

On losing Anders Bjork to injury early and shuffling up the lines and if it was a big factor in losing… I don’t think so. We just have to go out there and we just have to play. It’s not really a huge thing for us. We played with 11 forwards before.

On what it felt like for his team not to record a point for the first time in six weeks… It feels different yeah, but obviously 18 games in a row we’re not going to win them all. I think the most important thing is that we ended the game on a strong note. After the second and third period I thought we played well, sucks in the first period that we didn’t. That’s on us.

On whether he took issue with the hits on Bjork and David Backes… I’m not going to comment on that, I saw the replay but I don’t have any real comment on that.

On there being no excuse that his team was missing key players… Yeah at the beginning of the year I think we were missing what four or five guys and we did fine. I think as a group we’ll need to rally and work hard and for the most part we’ve done that. It’s been good to see.

BOSTON BRUINS DEFENSEMAN TOREY KRUG On the ability of the team to come back after letting up the first goal… That’s something that is imbedded our DNA and you know we’re very proud of that. That being said, you go nine games in a row starting behind and you’re going to start losing some games. You can’t do it every single night and this time it caught up to us. We worked hard, we battled the second and third period, I thought we played really well, we just couldn’t get over the hump. Their goaltender played great and we just couldn’t get that first one early to get us some momentum later.

On if knowing other teams are going to come out hard changes the way they play early in games… No, at the end of the day we just need to focus on ourselves and get the start that we want. I thought they did a good job of coming out and punching us in the mouth metaphorically speaking. There were times that it seemed like they were hitting us and we weren’t hitting back and we got to focus on ourselves and make sure that we’re using our legs. It’s pretty clear that they are a bigger team and that’s the style of play they want to be but if we come out, use our legs to check, then we can be more effective. So I thought that was how the first period went.

On having to adjust to a big, heavy team like Anaheim… Well it’s something that we talked about and there are going to be different styles of teams throughout the league and we have a group that leadership wise we are aware of what everyone brings and we have to let the younger guys know going into a game what to expect and what to bring and that being said we have to lead by example. So there are just different types of teams and you got to be ready to go every night.

On the streak coming to an end… I haven’t thought about it really. It’s just been showing up every day and it’s been a lot of fun winning games and getting points every single night. That’s going to be our mentality going forward and we had a chance tonight to come back and tie it up and like I said before, their goaltender played great and we just couldn’t get that one to go sooner to give us more time to come back.

On if Anton Khudobin got his legs in the 2nd and 3rd periods… I don’t know. That’s a question you’ll have to ask him. I thought he did a great job of shutting the door. We knew that in the second and third he would close the door and give us a chance to come back in the game and he definitely did that.

ANAHEIM DUCKS HEAD COACH RANDY CARLYLE POSTGAME On coming out strong in the first period… Well, again, it’s not easy to come off of a break like this and travel. You know, we had a tough day of travel, left yesterday morning at 6:30 from Honda Center, and then, you know, on a flight, and get here and come to practice right away, didn't get back to the hotel till after 7. Again, you know, it was about our players getting themselves in the right frame of mind and to move their feet early, and we did a good job in the first period. We had some jump going, and we put pucks in, and we scored a couple goals. One was kind of a flukey goal, but, you know [Jakob] Silfverberg did go to the net, the puck went there, and they battle and you get a bounce that went our way, and then, you know, we scored a power play goal to give us a two-nothing game, and, you know, we kind of rode that the rest of the way, and our goaltender [John Gibson] did a pretty good job. He kept us in it and wasn’t able to finish the game, but our reliever [Ryan Miller] went in and did a seven-minute mop-up again, so we’ll take it.

On the Ducks’ second period performance… I think, again, that we were guilty of probably trying to play too cute in the second. We had opportunities to direct pucks towards the net that we decided to pass off, and then we got a little sloppy in the neutral ice with turnovers, so we can’t do that, but, again, it takes 60 minutes, and we found a way to grind it out. They score a goal with, you know, I guess, 48 seconds left or something, you know, on the clock. We had an opportunity to clear the puck, and we missed it and consequently it went in the net, but then [Adam] Henrique scores a big goal to, you know, give us a 3-1 hockey game, and that was it.

On John Gibson’s injury… Well, I haven’t really talked to him, but I don’t think anybody really wants to come out of the game, I know that. Competitive people have those competitive juices going that they want to stay in as long as possible, but, again, it’s a wise thing to do to make sure you’re 100 percent before you go back in, and he felt he wasn’t that way, so we’ve got Ryan Miller, and Ryan Miller’s done the job.

On Ryan Miller’s performance… Well, again, it gives us confidence in the abilities of both of our goaltenders. You know, we’ve said it all along, we have 1A and 1B, and that was the plan at the beginning of the year and through the summer months, to acquire that level of goaltender in Ryan Miller. We felt that we were lucky he wanted to come play with us, and he was a match there, and it’s just proving his worth.

ANAHEIM DUCKS FORWARD JAKOB SILFVERBERG On scoring the goal after a stretch without scoring… You kind of get in a slump, and you feel like you don’t get the bounces. We always talk about going to the net, and hopefully it bounces off you, and that was definitely one of those. I mean, Cam [Fowler] just kind of threw it in there, and I spun around, and it went off my skate, so obviously not the prettiest one I’ve scored, but, for sure, it felt good.

On how he was able to score… I think it’s just timing, but any time we talk, we talk about getting inside the blue paint, and you’ll find pucks, but it’s not going to bounce off you every time, so it’s obviously a timing thing too, so it was a fortunate break, and it was a big goal to get us going.

On John Gibson’s injury… I mean, it’s tough to see him in pain, but, I mean, I think we have two good goalies, and I think [Ryan] Miller, today, he made some big saves. He got one there on the power play. I think [Patrice] Bergeron snapped it, and he made it look easy and stopped it with his glove, so I think the whole group is very confident in him, too, but obviously you feel bad for Gibby [Gibson] too. You know he wants to play, and he’s a fighter, but at the end of the day, if worse comes to worst, I mean Mills [Miller] has been great for us throughout the year.

ANAHEIM DUCKS FORWARD ADAM HENRIQUE On if the first period was an ideal start to the game… Yeah it was. You know, I think our starts are something that we’ve talked about over, you know, the last month, especially coming out of the break, too. The way we were playing going into the break, you know, you want to find a way to continue that after a few days off, so I thought we did a good job of that, controlling the play and obviously coming out with the lead, so especially against this team at home with the way they’ve been playing for a really long time, so it was a big start for us.

On what the win means against the Bruins… Yeah, they’ve got a great team. You know, even, obviously with [Brad] Marchand out, so we knew it was going to be a battle, it was going to be a big test for us, and I thought we did a good job tonight.

On the team’s second period… Yeah, we had a few turnovers, obviously, neutral zone, kind of, offense and blue line, we weren’t kind of controlling the puck like we were in the first, where they seemed to gain some momentum. I think there was maybe a penalty kill and then a power play, too, where they gained some momentum, so, you know, those are just areas of the game where we just have to be able to control. I think we’ve been doing a much better job of that the last few weeks, too, so that’s an area we’ve talked about improving on, and I thought we’ve done a good job.

On riding the momentum of scoring… Yeah, I mean, I felt good all over the ice. It’s, you know, not my focus. I just try to go out there and play and continue to play well, try and take advantage of opportunities, and the puck’s going in the net right now. So, I feel good, just got to keep shooting, keep things simple, you know, not overthink too many things, and just keep playing.

ANAHEIM DUCKS HEAD COACH RANDY CARLYLE PREGAME On Adam Henrique… He has kind of fit in seamlessly. We were in dire need of what he brought and the position that he played. Obviously, we had some key personnel out with [Ryan] Kesler and [Ryan] Getzlaf not in our lineup. They play center ice, and Henrique came in and filled that void for us for an extended period of time and kind of has got shuffled down the lineup a little bit but still been able to make a strong contribution to the offensive side of it and the defensive side of it. He has been a good all-around player for our hockey club.

On Henrique’s ability to transition to a new team… I think it’s more a tribute to the player. It’s more about what he brought to the table and his approach to what was expected of him. I think you’d have to ask him how difficult it was. I would say it has been pretty seamless for him. He’s been able to come in, and what usually happens when players feel good and they’re having success, then their overall attitude is positive. We needed that attitude, and we needed that type of person to come in. He’s been a real good fit for our group. He accepts the responsibility that he’s given. He plays both ends of the rink, and he’s been able to make key offensive contributions for us.

On Henrique’s immediate production with the Ducks… I think it’s good for anybody. It’s a win-win. When that happens, usually your team feels good about the acquisition of the player, and the player feels good about the place he is put into and the position he has played into and the role he gets. Usually, if you’re having success personally, that usually bodes well for your team because you’re making a strong contribution in your team’s success also.

On the Ducks’ recent schedule… I think if you look at the breaks that we’ve had – the five-day break, the all-star break – I think we’ve had nine days off this month. That’s very unusual for a hockey player, usually you’re probably four days off a month – one a week. We’ve had nine days, so there shouldn’t be any excuses about people not being fresh. It’s given some people a little bit of a breather. We think that we were hurt for extended periods of time and then didn’t get to practice that much, and it shouldn’t tax them, but it’s a taxing game, and they get to play huge minutes in pressure situations. Hopefully, they’re refreshed and ready to take on this next stretch of games. We look at it to get through the month of January and then reset ourselves for February.

On Ryan Getzlaf’s past success following breaks… That’s the individual, and that’s what we ask of our players, but he’s a veteran guy, too. It’s not like it’s his first day at the dance. He’s been in this situation before, and our expectation is for him to continue to grow. I don’t think his last segment of games that he’s real happy with. There’s some issues that were in those games, and he addresses them, and he knows them, and we’ve talked about it. Our expectation is that he will be a stronger player here down the stretch than he has been at any other time in the year.

#01/30/18#