20220426_gudbranson

MILAN LUCIC ON FACING THE PREDS TONIGHT:

"We're playing a hungry team tonight"

ERIK GUDBRANSON ON WEEK-BY-WEEK APPROACH:

"It created that playoff mentality for us early in the season. We've done well with it. We've put a lot of pressure on ourselves. Most of these series' and most of the weeks, we've done well with winning at the start of the week and winning at the end, but the few times where we didn't, we felt that pressure - it created that little pressure - to accomplish something really quick and really soon and it's been good for us."

ON FOCUS FOR THE ROAD TRIP:

"Win every game and be emphatic about it. We've got to get our game to... as good as it can be going into a really tough playoff series, no matter who it is. It's that time of year where scoring goals and keeping them out of your net is in the dirty areas - a lot of stuff coming from low to high, tips in front of the net, grabbing sticks on those inches we talk about all year long, that's what it comes down to now. Goals will be a little deflection in front of the net and one small mistake and can turn a game around or a series around, so we have to be on the ball."

"It created that playoff mentality for us"

DARRYL SUTTER ON GOALS FOR FINAL THREE GAMES:

"Just be ready. It's not that complicated. You've got to get away from why they didn't win a series or why they weren't ready in (2018-19). They were a bunch of kids. Noah, Ras, Mang, Matthew, Lindy, Johnny. They're very limited-experienced players, so that's the next step. That was the first time they played on a team that was... that had the defensive commitment or the checking commitment, right? So, the next step, just keep playing your game and go from there."

"If you have a tough shift, don't have two"

ON PLAYERS WITH PLAYOFF EXPERIENCE:

"It's a 'lately' league. The two guys that have had success lately would be Blake (Coleman) and Tyler (Toffoli). Success means Conference Final sand Stanley Cup Finals. That's what it means.
"They're just going to play their game. There's a lot of adversity in a game. It's not always clear sailing. Very seldom it is. You have a tough shift, well, don't have two. We've seen that this year with young guys, right? Goalies. Things like that. Just don't have two. You're not always up one, you're not always up two, you're not always down one, you're not always down two, you're not always getting the call you want, you're not always getting the save you want, you're not always getting the break you want. Playing in a tough rink. All those things come into it. That's one thing about winning. Winning hardens you. If you want to win - and a lot of times you're part of it and don't really get it - but if you're part of it, it hardens you. It doesn't soften you up. It hardens you and allows you to cut through again."