Quote Roundup: Game 4 (Senators)
ON MAKING THE CHANGE
Sullivan: "Very difficult. That's been a hard decision for this coaching staff all year long. It's a good difficult decision to have because we have two guys that are as capable as they are. And both of these guys have helped this team win all year long. And they're both high-quality people and high-quality goaltenders. So we never take these decisions lightly. These are extremely difficult decisions and this is the choice we made for Game 4.
ON MARC-ANDRE FLEURY'S REACTION
Sullivan: "Marc was a professional, like he always is. Both of the guys handle the decisions we make extremely professional. As we always say to them, these guys are both competitors. They both want to be in the net. We don't always expect them to agree with our decisions. Our hope is that they respect our decisions. And both of them have always been professional but they're competitors. I understand. They want to be in the net. That's what makes them as good as they are. So as I said, these decisions are very difficult and that's the choice we made."
ON THE GOALTENDING SITUATION
Kunitz: "It's not my job to put people out on the ice. We have confidence in 'Flower,' he's played unbelievable for us. We know what Murray has done in the past, he's risen to the occasion. I think it's our job to focus as individuals on what goes on out on the ice and how we play out there. All I worry about is how I play and how I can go out there and how I can affect the game and help our team win. Outside of the stuff the coaches and management have to put on the ice, we go out there and if we focus on something else, we're not going to do very good."
Wilson: "I think having the two great goalies that we do, Muzz and Flower, we're always pretty confident with those guys. They've both shown they can do it in the past, so whoever is shutting the door for us it's not a big deal for us."
Daley: "We need a win tonight. We need to get ourselves back and get going here."
ON HAVING A BETTER START
Daley: "We don't want to let that happen again. We just want to be more prepared and I think we're going to be more prepared this time."
Wilson: "Obviously the start's huge. I think it dictates the whole game. When you're flatfooted and down by a few in the first couple minutes it's not a good feeling and I don't think we're going to let that happen again."
Hainsey: "Four-nothing is certainly not the way to go about it. And this is a very good team. If you're chasing four against anybody, it's going to be tough. But these guys are solid. A much better start will be imperative if we're going to have success."
ON DEPTH SCORING
Wilson: "We want to break through. I know we're getting some chances, but it's not coming up on the scoresheet for us. Just sticking with it, not getting frustrated and continuing to get pucks to the net. I know our line's been trying to play pretty simple and I think that's been beneficial for us."
Kunitz: "I think any scoring would be good. We've been fortunate enough to win a game because we had an unbelievable goaltending performance, but we have to go out there as a team and execute. Push the pace of the game. If we're able to do that we'll be able to execute. We have skill in the room, we have grit in the room, we can play all aspects of the game if we need to but we have to go out there and understand how important it is, how urgent it is to get off to a good start."
Sullivan: "Obviously you'd like to get some contributions throughout your lineup. I think that makes teams more difficult to play against. It certainly increases your chances of winning games when you get production throughout your lineup. And so all we can control is just the process. Trying to play the game the right way, trying to take what the game gives you. We've got to shoot the puck when we have opportunities, we have to go to the net when we have opportunities to go to the net. We've got to compete for rebounds and I think if we do that we'll find ways to score goals. Certainly when you do get production throughout your lineup as opposed to just a handful it makes your team that much more difficult to play against."
ON BEING DOWN IN A SERIES FOR THE FIRST TIME
Kunitz: "I think playoffs run hot and cold, so when you win you feel like you're on top of the world. When you lose, you're always looking to see what went wrong. It's going to be a hard-fought series. It's never going to get easier from winning the very first game of a series or winning the last game. We have to go out there and earn everything. Our team has to do a better job tonight of having that start, but also go out there and play with that urgency we need so that we don't fall down 3-1."
ON BOUNCING BACK
Kunitz: "Our group's done a great job of rebounding after bad efforts or things like that throughout the year. We have a group where we're really confident in our team and our ability to play the right way. Obviously when you don't you get shown those mistakes on video and then we go back out there and try to execute our game plan, and that's getting out there and trying to score some goals for our goalies."
ON THE INJURIES
Daley: "There's no excuses. They have a lot of injuries too, I'm sure. A lot of guys are playing with injuries right now."
