Say What - 'Time To Make Our Plays'

Mikael Backlund on the Flames' five-game homestand:

"We have a good opportunity here to have a really good homestand before Christmas. We’ve been playing well at home all year, so it’s time to get back to that. I thought last game in Nashville, we played really well, so just gotta keep doing that."

On the work the penalty kill did on the road:

"The PK had a really good road trip, we gotta keep doing that, facing a really good powerplay here tonight. I think we just went back to Day 1 of school, pretty much. We went through everything, talked about things, and we know we can be a really good penalty-kill."

On containing a talented Lightning group:

"We gotta be really good in the D zone. First of all, we want to play our game, be connected with a really good fore-check, heavy reloads, keep skating to make them play in their zone. The times they’re in our zone, we’ve got to kill plays early. They’re really good individual players, they can beat you 1-on-1 so we’ve got to be really tight in the D zone, kill plays early and give them no time and space. If you let them hang around, they can make things happen."

Jonathan Huberdeau on being counted on defensively:

"I think since I’ve been here, I’ve learned way more defensively … Husk trusts me to go out there at the end, I think defensively, it’s been good. And it’s nice to see, getting some points lately."

On facing Victor Hedman:

"I’ve played a lot of games against him and he hurt me a lot of games. He plays really well defensively and offensively, he can quarterback that first unit real well. He’s an All-Star, he’s their captain, he’s the type of player that’s tough to play against."

On reuniting and finding chemistry with Nazem Kadri:

"I think I’ve tried with everybody, so I had to go back with the first one. Did the full cycle <laughs>. Nazzy, he’s a talented player. Sometimes, we didn’t get the fit at first, you know, chemistry, but we’ve gotten to know each other real well off the ice, the communication’s better on the ice. I think with Pospy, too, it’s helping. We have more time to make our plays. Let’s hope it continues."

Ryan Huska on the offensive production from Huberdeau, Kadri and Pospisil:

"Really significant, would be my short answer. We haven’t had a first line, if you wanna call it that, for a while. So if we can get them contributing consistently, like the way I feel like they have over the last number of games, that’s a great thing for us."

On what Pospisil brings to that line:

"Marty, with his speed and the way he plays as a winger, he drives people back, so he creates a little bit of space and room for Naz and Huby to do their thing. So, I do think the line is effective because of what he brings to the table."

On the need to shore things up in the defensive zone:

"I think that teams have gotten behind us a little bit more than we would have liked over the last number of games, so that’s an area that we have to clean up."