Say What - 'Last Game Wasn't Acceptable'

Mikael Backlund on bouncing back tonight:

“For us, about the performance, we know we have to play a lot better than last game. Last game wasn't acceptable. Not even close to our standards. That's our biggest focus point, to come out tonight and play a really solid game - come out and play really hard and competing and then we'll see where it takes us.”

On what’s made the Flames successful against Winnipeg this year:

“I think we made it hard on them. Really good forecheck, pressuring them hard in the D zone, not giving them time and space. They haven't got much off the rush - they're a really good rush team - and I think we've done a really good job with our track from the forwards and our gap from the D. Again, that's going to be key tonight.”

On facing former Flames Sean Monahan and Tyler Toffoli tonight:

“It's always exciting. The first time you do it, it's a little weird. Now I'm used to it. Spent a lot of time with Mony in Calgary and a couple years with Toff. They're great teammates and players and it will be fun to play against them.”

Martin Pospisil on the keys to victory tonight:

“Especially the first period, it's huge. I think we have to dictate the game and I think we've got to be way sharper than we were last game. Especially the young guys, we've got to bring energy and play as a team.”

On what he’s hoping to take from the last eight games:

“Win every game. It's fun to win the games. It sucks to lose, especially the way we lost the last game. We're better prepared … for tonight.”

On facing the high-powered Jets:

“We can win against any team. We just have to play more connected as a team and then be hard to play against. Especially in the D zone, we've got to be way harder and once we're harder in the D zone, we can play more time in the O zone. The O zone is way more fun and I think we have really good offensive players that can make plays and score. So, just don't want to spend much time in the D zone and play in the O zone.”

Head Coach Ryan Huska on the challenges presented by the Jets:

“A lot. They're one of the elite teams in the league. Powerplay is very good (and) that's one thing we've always got to make sure we're aware of when we play against them. And then we have to make sure we're really good with the puck. That's another thing, where we don't want to give them opportunities off the rush. They're going to get some, because they have some really good players that have a lot of skill. But the part that I like about this game more than anything is we have to stick with our game against a team that's very consistent in how they play. So, we want to make sure that we're matching that standard tonight.”

On avoiding being eliminated from postseason contention tonight:

“We don't talk about it. Players are more aware of things than we are half the time, I find. We've been aware that we're in a real uphill battle for a significant period of time. For us, it has been all year, about the way we have to play and the way we have to prepare for our games, making sure we play to the style we're comfortable with. And we weren't that way in our last game against Anaheim, so we want to have a better night tonight.”

On what he’s learned about his team this season:

“For us - for our staff and our players - we're not there yet for that type of debrief, I wouldn't say. But the one area that has kind of hurt our team and had been good for our team at times this year, has been the consistency. We've been able to string some wins together, but we also haven't been able to stop the bleeding at certain times. That's from game to game, it's from shift to shift - and that's something that, when you're in close games, you have to count on our guys to do things the right way at the right time to end up with the two points instead of losing games by one goal. That's one thing we're focused on and we have to do a better job with, and that includes tonight.”