New Hampshire

Transcript: Senior assistant captain Evan Rodrigues after loss to UNH

Did you guys think that you had a chance to come back entering the third? 

“Yeah, definitely. We’ve never given up all year long. I think the goalie was making a few good saves and we knew that If we got one, that more would come. I think that’s what happened, we just knew that we had to stick to the game plan and things would turn our way. Just too little, too late.”

How good was it to get back on the score sheet?

“Obviously, it’s nice. I mean, I’d rather take a win than points, but I’m not going to complain.”

Matt Grzelcyk has been on a pretty good streak the last couple games. What do you think has been different about his play, at least offensively?

“I think he’s just getting the bounces now. He’s been great for us all year, he’s been a great captain for us. I just think that at the beginning of the year, some of his shots were getting blocked, they were off the post — this and that — and I think things are just starting to go his way and it’s good to see.”

How much do you think last night’s game contributed to the slow start today?

“I think we were ready, we just didn’t execute. We had a good first couple shifts, they got the first one and then we kind of got away from our gameplan and didn’t work as hard as we wanted to and the results obviously showed. We took way too many penalties and I think they had two or three power play goals. It’s been a trend as of late and it’s something that we need to stop doing.”

Down 3-0, [Quinn] called a timeout and pulled [junior goaltender Matt O’Connor.] What was the message in that timeout?

“I think just to get back. We knew we were not playing the way we wanted to. It wasn’t O’Connor’s fault at all. I think it was one of those things where we needed to figure it out, get back to our gameplan and we just needed a fresh start. We obviously weren’t playing the way that we’re capable of and we just tried to shake things up.”

Transcript: Coach Quinn after loss to UNH

General comments
First of all, a great effort by our guys in the third period, but I’d like to congratulate UNH. I thought they played real well early, I thought they played real well for the weekend. Like I said last night, their record’s real deceiving. We just obviously came up here, and I thought we got off to a decent start. Great chances early, and then just irresponsible play defensively. A lot of puck watching in our end. But they can do that to you. As a coach you’re always trying to wrestle with, are you the cause of not playing well or are they playing well and it’s causing you to be on your heels a bit? I thought it was a little bit of both. But you can’t get down 4-0 to anybody in this league, and give yourself a chance. But we did. I thought when we made it 4-3, I really felt we had the momentum, and they did a good job holding the fort. Just a tough way to start the game, being down 4-0 at the beginning of the third period is just something that — the chances of coming back are minimal. And we almost did it, but didn’t get done.

Final icing call?
One guy thought that the guy gained the line, the other guy thought they tipped it. So I didn’t like either answer.

After post shot at the end of the 2nd, did you think you’d come back out with energy?
Well, based on what we’ve done all year, I did think that. One of the things we talked about was hey, I don’t know if we can come back, let’s just play better. Let’s play better. Let’s feel good getting on the bus. At least we put forth a consistent effort for 20 minutes. And then we get the two quick ones, and all of a sudden the complexion of the game changes in the third. Although I thought we gave up some unnecessary chances after we made it 4-3. We only needed one, and we were playing like it was 4-0. We gave up some great chances to make it 5-3. Our goalie played well, and gave us a chance to tie it. But based on what we’ve done all year, I was anticipating a lot of pushback. I thought we started doing it a lot toward the end of the second, too. But we just couldn’t buy a goal.

Decision to pull O’Connor?
Just momentum. Had nothing to do with his play. He’s played a lot of hockey and I just thought what the heck. They’re not listening to me up to this point so maybe if I pull the goalie they might actually get a little rattled and pay attention. They scored a goal a minute later, so that didn’t really work.

Grzelcyk
It’s nice because we’re gonna need him to be productive offensively. I really couldn’t believe he only had one goal going into the weekend, so it’s nice to see him score some goals and get rewarded. He’s had a heck of a year.

How did UNH stop top 2 BU lines?
I haven’t criticized our top line too much, but they didn’t have to do too much to defend our line. They were doing a good job defending themselves with their soft play.

What goes into third-period comebacks?
I can’t tell you that. There is a secret formula that we continue to use that we’ve bottled it and we can’t reveal it. (laughter) I have no idea. I wish I could tell you. I have no idea.