March 3 practice quotes: Darryl Sutter

On Mike Richards’ consistency:
“I think he’s probably gotten better in the last seven or eight games. I think the line struggled last night. I think that his point production thing is fine. I think that he struggled early. He’s been better lately.”

On his son Brett being recalled by Carolina, and separating being a father from being a coach:
“I’ve been a father of his his whole life, and I’ve been a coach his whole life. So you get used to it.”

Whether he’s more of a coach or a father when watching Brett play:
“He’s my son. Do you have a son? So you know what that’s like.”

On the challenges of playing a defensively attuned team like Nashville:
“They make you really work for any offensive production. Their team has not changed…Barry Trotz has been the coach since day one, and if you look at how their team has changed – obviously their personnel over those years – but one thing he doesn’t change is how they play. Hey, they’ve got a great goalie again. As long as they’ve great goaltending, they’re a tough team to play against, because you don’t get much. If you look at what’s going on again, that’s what the best teams are. I’ve said it a hundred times. Not a hundred – every day a hundred times. If you don’t give up much, you have a chance to win every night.”

On whether he’s surprised that Nashville has maintained their standing despite losing Ryan Suter:
“They bring in Scottie Hannan, veteran guy. Gill’s been hurt. He’s a veteran guy. Shea piles on…They’ve got Rinne, who’s probably a top-five right now, right? They’ve moved on in a hurry. I stay on top of them. I cover it every day, right in the summer. So when Ryan Suter signed in Minnesota, the first thing Barry said was, he talked about Roman Josi being the next Ryan Suter, and look at the minutes he’s playing and what he’s doing. Hey, they’re strong down the middle. I’ll tell you what, that’s the best when you’re strong down the middle. They have big guys that are good faceoff guys and that means possession guys. That’s what they are. You’ve got to fight for every inch against them.”

On what he was “specifically” trying to work on in practice before a home back-to-back set:
“[Nothing] specifically. You know what? Some of our guys weren’t at the pace we needed them to be last night, and you just want to make sure you reinforce the pace that they have to play at in terms of moving pucks and getting to pucks and that sort of thing.”