BOSTON BRUINS POSTGAME QUOTES BOSTON BRUINS VS ANAHEIM DUCKS Thursday, December 15, 2016 BOSTON BRUINS HEAD COACH CLAUDE JULIEN POSTGAME PRESS CONFERENCE On it being not easy to win when you give up four goals… Never is. It’s our third game in four nights, and it showed in some of the kind of goals we gave up, mistakes and giving the lead. So, I thought we had a decent start, and I thought our third period, we at least gave it a good push. We couldn’t get that goal, but I think the guys tried for three tough games in four nights. I appreciated the effort that the guys gave in third period to try and get ourselves back into it. So, it’s not easy when you come back home and you have to face a team that’s been well-rested. It’s two weeks in a row, so it’s disappointing for everybody. We know our fans want to see us win, and we’re certainly disappointed with that, but at the same time, it’s a tough schedule this year, and we have to learn to persevere through it, and try and find ways to win hockey games. On not capitalizing on the power play late in the second period… I don’t think it was a deflator, because we came out in the third and played pretty well, but we could’ve certainly used that goal, and that’s what we talked about before the power play, to see if we could get ourselves back into a tie game here before the end of the period, and we didn’t score. But as you all know, I think it’s pretty obvious right now, our power play is hurting us more than it’s helping us, and that’s got to get better. On Colin Miller having one of the better games he’s had… Played well tonight. I thought he was assertive, moved the puck well. He shot pucks at the net there. I liked his game tonight. On if this game was a glimpse of the upside Colin Miller can bring… Well that’s what we’ve been looking at for a long time, and those young players have their ups and downs as far as consistency, but tonight was a good game. BOSTON BRUINS DEFENSEMAN ZDENO CHARA On how to overcome the tight schedule and back-to-back games… Yeah, scheduling is tough on everybody. These back to backs are not easy. But, at the same time, we have to find a way to play them better. Not that we didn’t have the effort or the push to get at least a point out of it. But, sometimes, the games are decided earlier than the second half of that game. On why they couldn’t hold on to their two-goal lead… Yeah. Little things, managing the puck, being a little stronger on the breakouts, on the entries; you lose speed and momentum and position, and usually, the other team is on the go because it’s a long change and they start out changing you and putting pucks deep. Then, you’re getting caught in your own zone and it makes it hard for the guys on the ice to get going again and it slows that pace of the game. BOSTON BRUINS DEFENSEMAN MATT GRZELCYK On how he managed his nerves tonight… I think just to treat it like any other hockey game. You see the game plan before and you’re just trying to go out there and execute with the rest of the guys. So, I was just excited for puck drop. On if he was nervous… I think I was more comfortable today. I got to play in this building a couple of times in college. So, I think just playing in those big game scenarios kind of helped me. On if it was different wearing a Bruins jersey… Yeah, for sure. Especially when you look at the other side of the ice and see all those great players they have on their side. Obviously, it’s still a challenge. It’s a huge challenge every night. But, I think I was able to shake the nerves a bit to start. On if he could see his father in the crowd… No. I didn’t see him up there. On what it was like playing in front of his family and friends… Yeah. It was really cool. Obviously, got a chance to do it in college. But, now with the Bruins sweater, it means a little bit more. I just tried to keep it in the back of my mind. Not tonight. Maybe I’ll think about it when I get home. On the chance he got towards the end of the game… Yeah, it was pretty cool. We were searching for a goal there at the end. The D-core, we were having trouble getting pucks through from the start. So, we were just trying to throw everything at them and, obviously, they defended it pretty well at the end there. On what happened on the breakaway goal when the scorer came out of the penalty box… Yeah, I think I wasn’t expecting it to take as crazy a hop as it did. But, that’s something that is kind of a teaching point to me. I have to recognize the guy is coming out of the box there. At that point in the game, you can’t be too risky. I try to make plays all the time and I’ve just got to stay back there and man in there. BOSTON BRUINS FORWARD DAVID BACKES On the style of tonight’s game and the back and forth chances... Yeah, a little more back and forth and you know, we get a two-nothing lead and I think that was a promising sign for me at least, knowing that we’re able to get the lead and come right back the next shift and score another one. The downside is that we end that period tied again two-two and you’ve got a two-nothing lead on the back-to-back coming home and you maybe, you know, you need to clamp down and make sure that you’re not necessarily playing on your heels and playing prevent but you’re being smart with the puck, making sure it’s in every time and make them come 200 feet to score. And, you know, they’re able to get one where they throw it from the corner and they’ve got a guy – Johnny-on-the-spot putting it in the empty net – and we’ve just got to be better when we’ve got the lead there and find that killer instinct that every team needs. You get a team where you’ve got a little momentum, you’ve got the ebb and flow and you’re feeling it, that you bury a couple more and put them to sleep rather than give them a little life and let them roar back and it’s three-two and then we’re fighting to try to chase the game again. On if exchanging chances wasn’t the type of game they wanted to play... Well once you have a two-nothing lead – even so, I think we’re a team that trading chances isn’t – you know, we’ve got a few guys that can fly and score on the rush, but our goals have mostly been ugly, banging around the net screens, you know, like with Bergy [Patrice Bergeron] has a great screen on Zee’s [Zdeno Chara] goal, you know, rebound goal on the power play, and Czarny [Austin Czarnik] is able to find a nice little feed there from Spoons [Ryan Spooner] I believe. But, they’re all in tight or somebody is standing on the top of the crease taking the goalie’s eyes away and we’re just – trading chances is a coin flip and we’re getting the wrong side of the coin flip. We’ve got to play our game where we like the percentages and how we’re going to win games – pucks deep, taking care of it, and eliminating the opponent’s chances is certainly a good portion of that. On why the team sometimes gets away from playing their game and if it’s a mental thing... I think so. It’s time and score and realizing what’s required to get back on the page. It’s not going to be a perfect 60 minutes. I don’t think anyone ever believes that you’re going to play a perfect 60 minutes; it’s a game of mistakes, but limit the quality of mistakes, pick each other up when mistakes are made and know that there’s times when it’s not going the right way and it’s not necessarily go out there and score a goal, but there’s shifts where it’s just – let’s get the puck, get it in their zone, forecheck it, get it stopped, and spend some time in their end and take some pressure off of our goalie and our defensemen that have been spending too much time in our zone. Anaheim’s got a few very good, very big boys that it’s tough to knock them off the puck and steal it from them and get going the other way, but when we get that opportunity we need to do it, get out of there and make them play in their zone and defend where they’re not just setting up camp in our end.