Say What - 'Their Powerplay Was Better Than Ours'

Backlund on the loss to the Rangers:

"Tough second period. We came out and played well in the first, especially the first half of the first. We let them come into the game and they took over and carried it a bit in the second. 5-on-5, I thought we were the better team most of the night, their powerplay was better than ours. We can’t fault the effort in the third, we were spending most of the third in their zone. It’s a really tough loss."

On how to get back on track:

We’ve got to stick together. You find out a lot about your group when things are tough, about individuals too when things aren’t going your way. We’ve got to roll up our sleeves here, the next game is the biggest game of the year. We’ve got to come out of this and start winning some games and start shooting next game.

Weegar on the work required to get back in the win column:

Your preparation is the same. My preparation won’t change. I think my main focus, for me, is just going to be working hard, creating energy. When I get an opportunity I’ve got to bear down and bury it. I think I can say that for lots of guys in the room, we can bear down and score goals. Marky’s kicking for us, he’s making big saves at the right time. Maybe a bit of puck luck, whatever it may be. We’ve got to bear down, get gritty, grind it out, show some character and get out of this.

Coach Huska on where he sees his team after the setback versus the Rangers:

Trying to find its way, I guess is the best way to put it. Tonight, 5-on-5 there was a stretch in the first period, the last probably six minutes where we were on our heels a lot but 5-on-5, we were better than we had been the past game for sure. Tonight, when you’re playing against a team that doesn’t give you much, oftentimes it comes to special teams and they scored twice and we didn’t capitalize on our opportunities.

Huska on special teams being the difference in tonight's game:

You think of the first goal that they scored on the powerplay, we didn’t get a shot block to start with, that’s something when their d-men are wristing pucks from the point, you have to trust your forwards to get into lanes. The second one, I think we missed a clear to start with, and then they made a good skill play on that goal that Kreider’s kind of known for. For us, I don’t think it’s aggressive enough with regards to pass-pass-shot, a little more of an attack mindset. We had the one powerplay where they moved it around really well, it looked like things were going to start to come but after that, it was pretty quiet.