Opening statement:
In general, I thought it was a great college hockey game, an exciting college hockey game to watch. I thought we were as thorough as we’ve been in a while on the defensive end. This is a real tough rink to play in. We usually give up a lot of shots here. They’re a terrific team. They can come at you pretty quickly and they can get the puck to the net real quick. The fact that we only gave up two shots in the third period is a testament to how focused we were and how competitive we were. Getting two shorthanded goals is unbelievable.
I thought the biggest goal of the game was Gaudet’s. We hadn’t won a game all year in which we had given up the first goal. They get a goal, and less than a minute later, we get a goal. When they got the goal, I said to a few guys on the bench, ‘Hey, we got a long time to win this game.’ We give up a goal 22 seconds in, but then we get one right off the bat to even it up.
We come out of the first up 3-1. We’re doing pretty good, and then I thought they played pretty well in the second period. They got some good opportunities. We took some penalties, and they did a good job on their power play. They got the one goal on the power play, and I thought it was a terrific play. They confused us in the coverage and made a great play. Kieran didn’t have a chance. And now it’s 3-2 going into the third, and it’s, ‘Wow, what’s gonna happen?’ To defend as well as we did, and to still get shots… We got 11 shots in the third. They only got two.
A couple things that were great for us… We get back to .500 overall. We wind up that much closer to .500 in the league. We’re one game down now. We wind up tied with UMass-Lowell. UMass-Amherst lost tonight, which is good for us. We’re coming. And other people know we’re coming. That’s good for us and, like they say in Bad News Bears, that’s bad news for the other club. I was really, really pleased with my team tonight –– their poise, their playmaking, their effort and their team defense. Warsofsky and Shattenkirk were great. Gryba was great. I thought the freshman defensemen played real well. Pretty nice effort.
On if he thinks the turnaround is complete now:
I think I alluded to it the last time we talked, too –– attitude-wise, there’s no question we’re a different team. No question. And that’s a credit to the captains. But there’s no question we’re a different team now than we were, and it shows.
On the pressure his team brought on the penalty kill:
This is a tough rink on the power-play rush because there’s not much center ice. You can get after them pretty good. We took away some of the stuff that we wanted to take away. But then when you get it in the zone, it’s an advantage to the power play because you have the extra four feet at the blue line. And they know how to play that better than we do. I don’t know what their percentage is, but threat-wise, I think that’s one of the best power plays in the nation. And they went 1-for-7. That’s pretty good for us.
On if he’s seen the kind of nimbleness and quickness Zach Cohen displayed on his breakaway goal:
I think he’s always gotten more confident year-to-year, no question about that. He’s a goal-scorer now, and he knows it. I thought the pass from Shattenkirk was unbelievable. He threaded that needle to send him in without breaking stride. I couldn’t believe he made the pass, or even tried it.
On faceoffs in the first two periods:
Pathetic. I said, ‘You guys wanna hear what your faceoff numbers are?’ ‘No, we don’t wanna hear it. We know how bad we are.’ I said, ‘Well, just put it this way –– whatever you’re doing, change it for the third period.’
On winning 14 of 17 in the third period:
They changed it. Whatever they were doing wasn’t working. If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it, but the opposite is true –– if it’s not working, you better change it. I knew we did much better. I didn’t know it was that well. It was unbelievable in the first period. It was like the ref was throwing back to the point.
On what kind of things he does strategically when the team’s struggling on faceoffs:
I think it’s guys not being focused on it. They know how to negate guys. And I’ll tell you another thing –– the referees squared them off a lot better in the third period. They didn’t let them chop down on the puck. I think sometimes there’s some sloppy faceoffs being run, and that’s to the advantage of the team that’s trying to make it sloppy.
On struggling to get the puck out of the zone in the second period:
I think they’re a good team. I thought we had much more trouble. This is a tough building to get the puck out of the zone because they come at you hard and the puck whips around here quickly. And there’s more distance behind the net. There’s 11 feet behind the net and there’s not much room in the corners, so it’s a hard rink to do that. Overall, I thought we came out of the zone real well.
On if there was any change in strategy that helped the defense:
Nope. The five regulars got a little bit more ice time. Because Colby wasn’t out there, everyone else got a little more ice time, and I think they liked that.
On Colby Cohen’s injury:
Lower body injury. NFL.
On his status for Monday night:
No idea. I know he’s not skating [Saturday].
On the play of the fourth line:
I thought they played well. I thought they did a good job of getting the puck out of the zone. Popko’s such an experienced defensive guy anyway. They created some offensive chances. I thought Justin had a couple real good chances tonight. I thought he was gonna get one. Sooner or later, he’ll pop one in. But they know their job is to go up and make sure things get physical and make sure things don’t go bad in our end, and they’ve done that real well.
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