Quotes

Coach Jeff Blashill

Thoughts on the game:

“ Given that we haven't been practicing much, yesterday was our first official practice, I thought the goal of the game was to value the puck. We wanted to be relentless. I thought we did a good job of being relentless. For the most part, we were committed to winning and blocking shots. Valuing the puck is going to have to get better, but that's what practice is for.”

On OIT:

“They played last night, we didn't. They had a quick turn around. I think they just got a little bit tired as the game went on.”

On scoring:

“Again, all I can judge is the game. I liked what I saw in those areas we talked about. We know we need to go to the net hard, we know we have to keep scoring, and we know we're going to have to score some ugly goals.”

Thoughts on the goalies: 

“I thought they did fine, they didn't get tested a whole lot. They looked in control. I thought overall we did fine. We'll continue to evaluate all three goalies in practice this week. I don't play mind games with goalies, but I do think there is an evaluation process, and we'll continue to monitor them”

On things to work on:

“Again, I just think keeping the puck on the stick, not taking ugly penalties like we did keeping our back checking stable so we don't put ourselves in position to get penalties. I thought given what we worked on, we did well.”

On penalties:

“I thought our guys did a good job of moving their feet to put them in a position to take penalties. I think we could have done more with our power plays. The refs did a great job, but I do think there were times where we were controlling the game. OIT played last night, so I'm sure they were tired as the game went on.”

On 5 vs. 3:

“The 5 vs. 3, we haven't practiced it once, so that's my first thought. It's that time of year where you kind of have to choose what you work on. We drew it up three minutes before we went on the ice, so we'll work on that this week.”