Canucks postgame quotes

Quotes from the Canucks’ locker room…

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RYAN KESLER

(on the game…)
KESLER: “You have to give it to a lot of guys. Bieksa played great tonight, Danny was clutch as usual and Lou was real clutch, too. He made that big save in the second for us and we never looked back after that.”

(on coming back in the series after being down 2-1…)
KESLER: “We have a lot of character in this room. Especially being down 2-1 and having all the pressure to steal a game in here (Staples Center). … Even tonight, we were down going into the third, we found a way collectively to find our game. Because we didn’t have our game the first two periods. We strung it together and finished it off in the third.”

(on Sedins/Samuelsson line…)
KESLER: “We need that from them and they’ve been pulling through for us.”

(on the Kings, looking forward…)
KESLER: “That’s a very good hockey club. They’re coached well. They have a lot of young talent. They had a good team. For a lot of guys in that room, at least the core, it was their first time. It’s a learning lesson for them. They’re going to be a good team for a lot of years.”

ROBERTO LUONGO

(on his series…)
LUONGO: “I felt good the whole series, to be honest with you. I don’t really care about the stats. Tonight it was a bit tighter and I got a few more shots and I was able to make a few extra saves than the other games.”

(on the Kings tonight…)
“We knew they were going to come out strong, obviously their backs were against the wall. We were aware of their desperation level. We wanted to counter-attack that. They were playing really well for 40 minutes. But we’ve done that many times this year where we head into the third period down and we’re still confident we can get the win and we got it done again tonight.”

(on his save on Smyth…)
LUONGO: “I was scrambling to get back to my post and as I did I don’t know if it was Simmonds who passed it out to Smythy, I was just laying down pretty much and I saw Smythy winding up. Luckily, he doesn’t have a Howitzer. So I was able to snare it.”

(on the tough series…)
LUONGO: “That’s the way it’s been this year. Not only us but look at the other series, it’s just hard fought, there’s a lot of parity in the league. Obviously the Kings are a great team. We know it wasn’t going to be easy and we found a way to get it done.”

DANIEL SEDIN

(on how him and his brother keep coming through late in games…)
SEDIN: “In the Dallas and Anaheim series a few years ago, we got easily rattled and changed our game. I think this time around we stuck with it. Like tonight we played really bad for 40 minutes but we kept playing the same way and we know it worked for 82 games in the regular season and it’ll work in the playoffs, too. We’ve been able to come through in the third periods and that feels good.”

(on growing in confidence with these big goals…)
SEDIN: “Yeah for sure. And knowing you can play bad for 40 minutes and come back and score. It’s a good feeling. But we really need to play for 60 minutes.”

MIKAEL SAMUELSSON

(on Luongo in this series…)
SAMUELSSON: “A lot of guys expect a lot from that guy. Almost too much sometimes. He handles things like that good. All I know is that it’s hard to score on him in practice anyway. He’s a good goalie. When he gets everything together, he’s hard to beat.”

COACH ALAIN VIGNEAULT

(on this version of the Canucks…)
VIGNEAULT: “I think this one might have a little bit more offensive capabilities. It’s a new time. There’s a lot of different players and also a lot of the same players that have matured and gotten much more experience. I think they’re looking forward to the next opportunity.”

(on putting Samuelsson with twins during the series…)
VIGNEAULT: “Every time we made that subtle change, Samuelsson for Burrows, the twins seem to click. So it gives us two options, two looks, and obviously it worked out for us in this series.”

(on the turning point in this series…)
VIGNEAULT: “I think the second game here in this building, like tonight we were behind after two, we just got to work and won that game. I think that was a big moment as far as our confidence and our play. I don’t know if it hurt them (the Kings) mentally but obviously we won three in a row.”