Say What - 'It Means The World'

Justin Kirkland on scoring his first NHL goal:

“(It feels) like the weight of the world off my shoulders. It means the world, especially on a night like this in the Battle of Alberta, friends and family watching from all over. It's special. Couldn't have drawn it up any better.

“It was an important goal. We were clawing as hard as we could, trying to be relentless. It's a big credit to my linemates, too, and the D that were on the ice. It was a working shift and I thought we played pretty solid all night and it was nice to get rewarded with a goal.”

On having friends in the building tonight:

“I had a bunch of buddies in the stands tonight - family's all glued to their TVs. Everyone must've had a good look at it.”

On making the most of his call-up:

“I want to be up in the NHL and I'm living out my childhood dream right now. It's extra special. This is where I want to be, so it's great.

“You take it day-by-day. Try to do what I can every single day to gain the coaches' trust. Try to be good on faceoffs, try to be responsible. And like I said, I think our line, both games, has done a good job. We've kind of grinded them down, played hard and played the right way. We got rewarded tonight.”

Head Coach Ryan Huska on Kirkland’s big night:

“Loved it. We talked about him a few days back in Calgary where, you're 28 years old now and a lot of people would say, 'OK, I'm content with where I'm at.' Everything he does is about being an NHL player. I'm really proud of him. He was physical tonight, he did a good job against their top line a number of times and he scored a huge goal for us, so really, really happy for him.”

On Video Coach Jamie Pringle coming up big with two clutch challenges:

“Jamie is the best in the league when it comes to that stuff, so initially he wanted more time to see if more views would come in - because that's the hard part with challenges sometimes. ... Sometimes the best picture comes a little bit later, so you try to stall a touch. And then, he saw one that he felt that's goalie interference and Vladdy wasn't able to make the save because of where Perry was and how he impacted his glove and his stick. He was pretty confident when he radioed in and said challenge it. He's the best in the business and that was a huge part of tonight's game.”

Anthony Mantha on how the game played out:

“We started slow in the first as a line, but in the second, we had a lot of o-zone time and it was only a matter of time before we had a really strong offensive shift and we maybe got them at the end of a shift and circled the puck and moved it properly and ended up with a goal.”

On when the tide began to turn:

“Probably the end of the first. We started playing in their zone a little bit more and then came back in between the first and the second and told ourselves to calm down to do the things we have to do and to play fast, to play in their zone, behind their D and wear them down. I think it worked.”

Dan Vladar on the disallowed Corey Perry goal:

“I knew he was standing there, but by the time the shot came, he was kind of out of the crease. I know my blocker got kind of stuck there. ... Then I saw it from up top, the top view, and saw there was a collision. I'm happy it got overturned.”

On a huge win over the Oilers:

“We played an awesome game. Guys were really good in front of me, but you hear that all the time from me, right? Nothing changing there. Guys played a really good game. A couple bounces our way, which I haven't seen in a lot of games, so I'm happy for that. That's the first week only, so we've got to keep going for the same thing and get even better.

“We had a good game. Those games are always fun and we're kings for a couple weeks now.”