Murray postgame quotes

Terry Murray’s postgame thoughts…

(on the start of the game…)
MURRAY: “Going into the game, the whole conversation, all the conversation that we had with our team was about the checking part of the game. There’s no question they were going to come out with a lot of energy, a lot of emotion, to try to close this series out here tonight. We knew that. We were prepared for that kind of attitude. I thought we were OK at the start of the game. Quick was, of course, good there at the start, as he was all game long. And you do settle it out. You do get your opportunities. Whenever you get a team that’s pressing a lot, if you can show the defensive part of the game and recover some pucks, you’re going to get your opportunity to attack. A lot of the time, it ends up being an odd rush going the other way. So you weather the storm in the early going and you come back and you get your opportunity and you cash in.”

(on Jonathan Quick’s game…)
MURRAY: “Jonathan Quick has always had the ability to come back with a real solid game. He has bounced back after goals that he wishes he could do over again, or even a game. He’s always had that, from the first time that I had him as a player in the NHL. We needed him here tonight. There’s no question. They were going to come out with emotion, with energy. They were going to put a lot of pucks to the net, to close this series out, and at the end of the day, he’s the difference. He’s the reason why we’re still alive in this series.”

(on the Clifford-Richardson-Simmonds line…)
MURRAY: “They’ve been good. They’re young, they’re energized, they’re enthusiastic. They really like to play with each other. When i first put that line together and it had a couple games under their belt, that was a meeting I had with them. That was the topic of conversation, of how much they enjoyed to play the speed, the tempo game, to play hard for each other. It’s been a good series for them so far. I feel confident. They have my trust. I put them out there against the big line. They’re pretty responsible on the checking part of it, but really high-energy on the offensive side, recovering pucks, moving, creating opportunities for everybody. So it was a solid game by them, and it’s great to see your young guys step up in a pressure situation like this.”

(on the philosophy going into the game…)
MURRAY: “It was time to get back to the basics. We had been very disappointed as a coaching staff — even our players — we were all disappointed in how we played in the two games back at the Staples Center. Totally out of character. We end up chasing the puck. We’re leaving the front of the net wide open for tap-in goals, for great scoring chances. Even tonight, we had one in the third period. But overall, I thought the attitude was good here tonight. We take pride in the red line, back into our D-zone. Guys worked hard, checked hard. Jonathan Quick was very good. Our penalty killing came up very big in the third period, with two big kills. That’s just all tied in to that attitude we had to have.”

(on holding the big early lead…)
MURRAY: “Still showed a little bit of a composure issue. They come in waves at you. They’re very powerful. They’ve got three lines, again, that really can move the puck and get after you. There were opportunities for us to really calm things, settle it down. It will be something we have to talk about tomorrow, in our practice, working hard for each other whenever you do recover the puck is what it’s all about. Communication goes a long way. Just yelling and shouting at each other, to give everybody a heads-up, would go a long way with a young hockey club right now. Bottom line, we got the job done, in not a very friendly environment, and against a team that was ready to close this thing down. They did not want to come back to our building. We’re going to be ready to play. We’re going to be a better team back home.”