April 18 postgame quotes: Columbus

Head Coach Todd Richards, on the loss to Los Angeles:
“Well, it would have been a big lift, the power play. But there’s big plays that happened throughout the game. Game-breaking, difference maker-type plays. One-nothing, we make a play, we score a goal, it’s one-one. And again, the next biggest play we turn the puck over, we weren’t working back to position hard enough on the play. It ends up being the second goal for them and ends up being the game-winning goal. It was a physical game. It was an emotional game. You can see it with all the scrums and scraps that went on. There was a lot on the line. When there’s a lot on the line, these types of things happen.”

Richards, on whether there’s a “worse” opponent to face than Los Angeles at the end of a five-games-in-seven-nights stretch:
“I don’t know if there’s a worse team, but they are a tough team. They’re a really committed group as how they play the game. They’re big. They skate well. Everyone is committed from their most skilled player to their least skilled player. They dump the puck. They forecheck you. They wait for you to break. The one thing they all do is defend. They are committed to defending, whether it’s blocking shots or taking hits or working back hard through the middle. They make things extremely difficult. Us playing five in seven in three different time zones and five different cities – it wasn’t a good recipe. But I will say this about our group, for the guys were ready to go – because I think the game at the start caught some guys off guard. Some guys couldn’t keep up with the speed of it and the physicality of it. Most guys settled into the game, but some guys still struggled with it.

Flash Quotes:

Richards, on Matt Calvert:
“He’s got a broken finger. He’ll probably be out for a while. It was a big blow losing him.”

Dalton Prout, on the loss to Los Angeles:
“We did fall a little bit short. We can’t use fatigue as an excuse because every team plays through it. We were lacking on the execution. You have to give them credit. They won the game for a reason. They beat us on the forecheck. We’re going to rebound and leave it all on the table for these last three games.”

Prout, on not drawing enough penalties:
“It always helps when you get power plays. I think it comes from time in zones. We have to protect the puck better and be little bit more efficient in the neutral zone to spend more time in their end and cause them to chase us more times than not. Keep them out for a longer time so they have to take those penalties.”

Prout, on his first career goal:
“It’s always nice. It was overshadowed by the loss. There’s a short memory in hockey. All I am focused on is playing better for this team and against San Jose.”

Jared Boll, on the loss to Los Angeles:
“Obviously you never want to keep trying to come from behind but we’ve done a pretty decent job at it. We just fell a goal short tonight.”

Boll, on the scrums after whistles:
“You have to expect it. Everyone is fighting for their lives right now. Emotions are running high and you try to keep them in check but this is playoff mode this is playoff hockey and every game from here on out is going to be like that.”