Quote Roundup: Game 4 (Predators)
ON RESPONDING THE RIGHT WAY
Murray: "We're focused on moving forward here. We took what we needed to from that last game and then we put it behind us. We're going to move past it and look to be better here moving forward."
Cullen: "I think we have a lot of competitors in here, honestly. We've got a lot of guys who know how to rise to the occasion when the stakes are high. It's something that served us well last season in the playoffs and it's something that has served us well up to this point, so I think we all have a lot of confidence that we're going to respond the right way tonight."
Hornqvist: "We didn't play our best. We want to go out and play a good game. We can't control what the result is going to be. We can control our work ethic, our emotions and stay with it. It doesn't matter what the score of the game is going to be. We have to stay with it and play more focused."
Hagelin: "Every single guy on this team wants to play at their best every night. It's not going to happen, so when you have a night like that, you know everyone's going to refocus and we're mentally strong, so we know we're going to play better."
ON THE BIGGEST TAKEAWAY FROM GAME 3
Murray: "I think just that it's about what we do, not what they do. I think we want to dictate the terms out there and I thought they have been most of the series. So I think if we're able to do that, we're going to give ourselves the best chance to win."
Hagelin: "That we didn't play hard enough. I think overall we had some good shifts, did some good things, but I think they were the better team last game. That's in the past now. We know we've got to play better to have a chance."
ON THE MESSAGE GOING INTO GAME 4
Sullivan: "To learn what we can from the previous experience, then move by it, get ready to play. I think that's the nature of a seven-game series, is your ability to respond and put things behind you, making sure that your focus is on the task at hand, just staying in the moment. I know our guys are excited to play tonight. We're in a good position. We know that. We know that we're capable of bringing our game to another level, which I think our guys are excited to do."
ON MATT MURRAY BOUNCING BACK
Sullivan: "I just think he has the ability to move by adversities. He's a mentally tough kid. He's a real resilient kid. He doesn't let any of the outside noise, or if he thought he should have had one of the goals, he doesn't let that stuff affect him. He has the ability to move by that stuff. Usually that's a certain maturity in a player's game, regardless of the position. It might be most difficult at the goaltending position for obvious reasons. That's a maturity in someone's game that usually takes time to acquire. Matt has that instinctively. I think that's one of the things that makes him as good a goaltender as he is. He has the ability to move by that stuff. He puts his best foot forward. He controls what he can. He has a consistent approach to his game. He doesn't let any of the outside noise have an impact on his ability to perform."
Cullen: "He's a competitor. You see it, he battles on every shot. At every practice he's (angry) if you score on him during practice and you love that. You love that competitiveness and he's got a confidence about him. But I just love that he's a battler, he's a competitor and you know you're going to get a good game out of him."
ON CREATING MORE OFFENSE
Hornqvist: "We have to win more puck battles down low. That will be a key this whole series. Last game we didn't win enough. That's why we didn't create enough. They won more 50-50. That's a big part of these games. We have to make sure we're hungrier around the puck. IF we can do that, I like our chances. "
Cullen: "You'd always like to get more chances, for sure. And that's something we're continuing to work on, is trying to generate more offense. I think that our offense right now, it's going to come from our entire team game improving. And I think that at all ends of the ice, we need to be better. We talked a lot about it here and so I expect that we'll be better tonight."
ON CROSBY AND MALKIN GENERATING MORE
Crosby: "We had chances. We just have to hit the net. They blocked some. I think it's just a matter of winning those battles and finding ways to get to the net. But we've got to hit the net, so let's start there."
Sullivan: "Obviously we would like them to put more pucks on the net. I think they had opportunities to shoot that they passed up. I don't think that's always reflective in the statistics that you guys look at. We certainly drill down a whole lot closer to the game than that. There are opportunities where these guys had, in pretty good areas, to put the puck on the net, and they chose not to. As a coach, it's always a fine line because you don't want to interfere with their instincts. If they see plays that they think are there to be made, then they're going to try to make them. I think what we try to do with them is just try to get them to think in terms of having that shot-first mindset. I think when they do that, everything else will open up for them. We thought there were opportunities in the game for both of those guys to put pucks on the net. They chose not to because that's what their instincts were telling them. I just think moving forward, if they can have a little bit more heightened awareness of trying to put pucks on the net, these guys are going to produce for us. Their numbers speak for themselves. They've produced consistently for this team all year long and throughout the course of these playoffs. There's no doubt that we believe they will continue that, you know, through the course of this series. They're such great players. It's hard hockey out there. You got to fight for every inch of ice. They command a lot of attention. So they're always playing through our opponents' top players. But that's what makes them as good as they are."
ON IMPROVING THE PP
Crosby: "It just comes down to execution. The way that they pressure, against other penalty kills sometimes you can feel pretty good but maybe not get a lot accomplished, but you're still working the puck around and you feel pretty good about it. It's probably not going to be the case with these guys. We've got to make sure when we see an opening, that we execute. And we'll get a chance, but it's not going to be the type of one you're able to spend a minute kind of throwing the puck around and waiting to pick them apart. It's not the style they play, so we've got to adjust and make sure that we execute."
Hornqvist: "We just have take what they give us. We can't have set plays. We have to work it around a little bit, make them tired and go from there.
ON IMPROVING THE PK
Murray: "I think they look for a lot of one-timers and they get pucks to the net. (Saturday) they got a couple good bounces and that was the difference. So not huge adjustments we need to make, but just need to be a little bit more on our toes and a little bit more proactive, I think."
Cullen: "I think for us, it's about taking away time and space. Probably doing a little bit better job of blocking shots. You know, there's a lot that we like about it. Obviously (giving up) the two last game are not ideal, but it's just something that we all have to focus on."
