On Sunday’s win:
“It was just a fast-paced game. People wouldn’t call it playoff hockey because there were too many goals, but I’d tell you, there were two teams that were giving it everything they had and they didn’t leave anything on the ice.”
On the importance of Sunday’s win:
“It puts us two points closer. Every time we play and we can gain points that means it’s harder for both San Jose and L.A. to catch us. It’s an important issue to try to get as high as you can and set the bar high for future years, and to have home ice advantage for the playoffs.”
On whether there’s an extra burden on Corey Perry with Ryan Getzlaf out of the lineup:
“I mean, he’s counted on to lead us when Getzy’s here or Getzy’s not here. We had a lot of guys that stepped up. But I think everybody, quite frankly, stepped up a little bit today and knew that we didn’t play a very good game against Dallas the other night and wanted to prove that we were capable of playing without Ryan Getzlaf, I mean, for tonight, anyway. We’ll see how tomorrow goes.”
On the importance of Viktor Fasth:
“He stopped 40 shots, so I’d say pretty important.”
On the challenges presented by Los Angeles, and how Anaheim responded:
“Well, they’re big. They can skate. They’re skilled. They’re strong. What else can you say? And they’re Stanley Cup champions. When they get down, they know how to push harder. I mean, every time we scored a goal, they came back harder. I mean, they have no quit in them, which is what happens when you become a Stanley Cup champion. That’s one of the reasons that everybody loves those guys when they’re free agents, because when they’ve won, they know how to win. That’s a big test for our group, because I knew they wanted to come in here and win today. Whether they p;layed yesterday or not, they showed no ill effects of fatigue, that’s for sure.”
On whether it felt like a playoff game with both teams “throwing their weight around”:
“Very much so. I mean, it wasn’t one-nothing or two to one, but it was a playoff game in every sense of the word. If we can play like that or can play against teams like that…at least we know we can compete against teams like that.”
-First two quotes courtesy of Anaheim Ducks PR.
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