Murray postgame quotes

Terry Murray’s postgame thoughts…

(on Kopitar’s hat trick…)
MURRAY: “Kopi had a very strong game, to follow up a real good game at Detroit. I really liked his strength with the puck, carrying the puck behind the net on that goal. Under pressure, he gets it back up top and drives to the net, looking for good things to happen. Overall, very strong, a very, very good game.”

(on the third goal, the breakaway after a penalty kill…)
MURRAY: “It’s funny how that happens sometimes, when he’s just coming out of the penalty box. We’re kind of sitting on our pants in front of our net, and take a swipe at the puck and it ends up in the right spot at the right time. He makes a great move on it.”

(on Williams’ goal…)
MURRAY: “There was real strong play happening down deep in our end with a couple defensemen, and the puck comes around the board to Williams. It’s desperation time for them, trying to keep pucks alive and get it back down deep again, and we get a bounce on it. Then they make two good passes, on the 2-on-1, to finish it off. Two skilled players that are capable of making those plays.”

(on the message to the team on this road trip…)
MURRAY: “It’s just to keep following up with a good effort. We’ve put some games together that are real good, over the last dozen or so, and we just have to keep that pace, keep that attitude and execute the right way, knowing that things are important at this time of year. I think that guys are working hard to push each other in the locker room. There’s a great leadership group in there that get each other ready for these kinds of games. This was a difficult game here tonight. You’ve got a Columbus team that is gasping for their last breath, and this was a huge game for them, so for us to come in and match the intensity and play as well as we did in the first period, I liked it.”