Say What - 'The Work Ethic Was There'

Tyson Barrie what he saw from the group in a tough, back-to-back situation:

“I thought we had a good start and a good first period. We knew, obviously, they were going to be fresh and we were travelling in on a back-to-back, so we wanted to have a good start and smother them with our systems. I thought we did that early and obviously in the second period, I think they took it to us a little bit ... and got the momentum.

“I thought we had a good start to the third to try and make a push and then they got one, and we didn't have enough to make the comeback that we've been able to do so many times this year. It was a tough-fought game, but... we just didn't have it.”

Justin Kirkland on how this one got away:

“For the first and the third period, I think we liked our game as a group. We got away from it a little bit in the second there and that ended up costing us the game.”

On having a good start and grabbing a 1-0 lead:

“I think we're playing the right way and the things that we talked about before the game and addressed on how we wanted to play, I thought we executed that in the first. So, it was tough. We couldn't keep that momentum going, but some good things to build off, still.”

On his team’s third-period push:

“They're up a couple goals and we know they're going to lock it down, so try to find a greasy goal, get guys to the net, get pucks through. They did a good job of blocking shots and stuff like that, but unfortunate we fell short.”

Head Coach Ryan Huska on how the game played out:

“I thought the work ethic was there from our guys, but some of the decision-making wasn't the greatest and that's what got us into trouble at certain times. We're coming off a stretch where we've played a lot, and I think in those situations the team's got to learn to simplify, at times, and don't put yourself in a bad position with some of the puck play.

"First period, I thought we did a pretty good job early on. And then the start of the second period, once they scored their powerplay goal, we were on our heels for about 10 minutes because of some of the puck management-type things.”

On turning the tide after a tough second period:

“We started to get back into the game again and I thought the third period, we pushed. Again, a resilient team that pushed. It's just learning from games like this or situations like this, that you still have to find more and a lot of that means just to play a simpler brand of hockey and make sure you're not putting yourself in a position to have to make up for an unforced error.”