On what the team learned from the Dallas game after meeting and watching video:
“We didn’t come prepared to play. Our top players weren’t our best players, which we need every night. Right from our top forwards to our top D to our top goalie, we needed to be a lot better. So I think all of us need to kind of look in the mirror, and we need to have our best game tonight in order to win.”
On what he notices in particular about Colorado’s speed:
“They’re fast. They have a lot of skilled, fast guys. We need to make sure that we’re taking away their speed in the neutral zone. That’s where they can gain that speed off their breakouts throughout the neutral zone. So if we’re hard on our neutral zone forechecks, too, we’re going to take away that speed. I think down low, if they’re in on the cycle or in on the forecheck, we’ll be able to handle that.”
On Matt Duchesne, who was named the game’s first star in Wednesday’s win at Anaheim:
“He’s a good player. He’s quick. He’s got good hands, got a good shot, good vision. He’s pretty much got all the offensive abilities you need to be a successful player in the NHL. So he’s definitely one of their key players and someone we’ll need to pay attention to. If I get him for a pairing, I’m going to try and take care of that.”
On whether he watched the Avalanche and Ducks on an off-night:
“I didn’t last night. Usually I’ll throw on a game if we know the other team’s coming into town the next day…but last night I didn’t watch it. But we watch enough video here that we don’t need to watch the game. We’re going to sit down and watch 20 minutes of video of them anyway, so we’ll learn all the tendencies.”
On whether he regularly watches hockey on a night off:
“Sometimes. Not too often. It’s rare that I’ll watch a whole game. I’ll watch a period here or there, or if a game’s going into a shootout or overtime, I’ll flick that on. For the most part throughout the season, I don’t watch too much hockey, but when the playoffs come around, that’s when it’s a lot of fun to watch.”
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