June 6 postgame quotes: Chicago

Patrick Kane, on whether he was feeling “more like himself”:
“Yeah. I think the biggest thing was just trying to get the puck any way I could, skate with it, feel into the game, no matter how that was. I thought I did a good job of that. Got a lot of support from whether it’s coaches or teammates that want you to have the puck, that want you to start skating with it and moving it. It’s a big part of our game. If we play as a five-man unit and come up the ice with speed, you see how successful we can be.”

Kane, on the importance of the Game 4 win:
“It was huge, especially the way they’re playing at home. I think they won 15 in a row here at the Staples Center. It was nice to come in and steal one for sure. We put ourselves in a good spot. By no means do we feel the series is over. You know they’re going to come out with their best game in Game 5. We have a great opportunity to close it out at home. It’s a huge opportunity for us.”

Kane, on “paying the price” to score his goal:
“Yeah, I told Bicksy I was kind of sorry I stole it from him. It might have went in. Kind of instinctive when you see the puck there, to stick your stick in and touch it. A big goal to tie it up at 2 in the last couple minutes of the period there. Handzus and Hossa made a great play to make it 3-2.”

Kane, on what changed when he joined the top line:
“To be honest with you, I thought myself, Handzus and Sharp were playing good at the time. Had a couple good forechecks, a couple good chances. I don’t know if at that time they wanted to switch it up. For whatever reason it kind of worked both ways. I thought Handzus’ line played great, and then myself and Bickell and Toews had some good shifts, too. Sometimes you switch it up, play with different players, it works out.”

Kane, on whether he liked the pace of the game, even when Chicago trailed 1-0:
“Yeah, we wanted to have a better start obviously. It’s tough giving up that first one. I think it was kind of a fluke play the way it happened. Looked like Crow had it, then it squeaked out to the middle. Voynov has been hot, like Seabs said. At the same time it didn’t feel like we were down. Felt like we had a good start to the game, a good period, a couple good shifts. Really had the momentum in our favor. Sometimes those things are going to happen, like Seabs said. They’re going to score goals. You can’t get too down about it.

Kane, on Jonathan Quick’s glove save on him and the ensuing “stare-down”:
“It was a great play. Seabs chipped it up to Toews and Toews dropped it to me at the blueline. I know Bicks was going to do that, so was Johnny. Just kind of held onto it. Was patient. Thought I made the right play shooting high. He made a great glove save. You have to give him credit. I remember being on the Olympic team with him. He worked hard in practice, was a fun guy to shoot on. From whatever you saw in the stare-down, wasn’t anything. Just kind of looking how he made that save, I guess.”

Brent Seabrook, on playing without Duncan Keith and the team’s third period effort:
“Dunks is a big part of our team. It was a big hole losing him. I thought Brooksy did a good job coming in. The D did a good job. We talked about it all season, especially in the playoffs. But our team game, our team D, is really what’s been doing such a great job. Crow in the net has been making some big saves. When the forwards are coming back like they are, it’s making it easy for us. We’re just trying to get back there quick and get outlet passes for our forwards to play with the puck.”

Seabrook, on the team-wide effort:
“It was big by us. I thought everybody stepped up and played really well. We weren’t happy with our Game 3. I thought we came out right from the first couple shifts, we were moving our feet, playing with speed, we were getting in on the forecheck and making good plays. It was big for our group to come back with a good effort tonight.”

Seabrook, on the team’s ability to “regroup” after Los Angeles’ goals:
“Yeah, they’re going to score goals. They’re a good team. I don’t know, Voynov has been pretty hot lately. He’s got a great shot. I thought our team did a good job of forgetting about that, continuing to work. Bicksy has been hot, too. It was nice to see that one go in. After the second one, we didn’t get down on ourselves. We just kept working. It was a big goal by Kaner and obviously by Hoss.”

Seabrook, on Bryan Bickell’s performance in the postseason:
“He’s been great. He’s been unbelievable in the playoffs all season for us. He’s a big body. Being a defenseman, it’s tough when those big bodies are coming down on you. With his speed, momentum, it hurts. It’s nice to see him playing physical. By doing that, gives himself some room. He’s got a great shot. He’s really finding the soft spots and getting the shot through. Probably the biggest thing, Kaner would probably agree, he’s hitting the net now. That’s been huge for us. I think it’s paid off dividends for Bicksy.”

Joel Quenneville, on the team’s defense with Duncan Keith out of the lineup:
“I think our whole team game was where we were hoping to be last game. But I thought we got contributions across the board, especially the guys that logged a lot of minutes down there, did a real good job of having a good gap, getting some clears, strong in front of the net. The defense in front of Crow combined to do an outstanding job. Tough team to shut down in the third. They deserve a lot of credit.”

Quenneville, on whether he received the results he had hoped for after tweaking lines late:
“When you score like that, it helps. Sometimes you’re doing it just to change things. We were behind, I still didn’t mind the way we were playing at that point of the game. Maybe you get one, and we did. But scoring early in the third really helped us.”

Quenneville, on whether the loss of Duncan Keith motivated the Blackhawks:
“Well, I know that we took a big effort, you miss a guy that plays the most minutes, meaningful minutes, shift in, shift out. It was good to see Brooksy (Brookbank) come into the lineup. He’s one of those teammates that guys love to see out on the ice, and we haven’t been able to use him the whole playoffs. Commend him on coming into a tough situation. Him coming in helped as well. Certainly there’s a big void without Dunks. I thought we got a good response after the way we played in Game 3.”

Quenneville, on how Chicago has limited Los Angeles’ power play:
“I think our penalty killing has been the strength of our team. It starts with our goaltender out to our defense, led by Krugs and Fro. They’re relentless. Commend them on their work ethic. I think it helps that our top guys are not out there in those minutes, as well.”

Quenneville, on Bickell’s performance and the path to where he is now:
“I think he’s one of those guys that you really appreciate all year long. He’s one of those guys that maybe flies under the radar. He’s got all the assets that could make him a top forward power-wise. He can hit, skate, shoot, he sees plays and is big at the net, physical. All the ingredients you want put together. That process, he’d like to see it come together game in, game out. Probably this playoff round, it seems like he’s really progressed.”

Quenneville, on the importance of the win:
“Well, it’s important that we came in here and played a good game. Look at our first two games. We play the way we want to. We’re disappointed with the last game. But playing the right way, playing the way we have to to be successful is what we’re looking for. We want to keep trying to sustain that. We’re chasing it twice from behind in a tough building to come back in. But the guys hung in there.”

Quenneville, on the 3-1 series lead:
“We got one game at a time. We’re going home. We’ll be excited. I’m sure the building will be as loud as it’s ever been. We’re looking forward to it.”

Quenneville, on the opportunity to close out the series on Saturday:
“It’s the playoffs and we’re deep. It’s an exciting situation to be in. I think it’s a great opportunity. We were very frustrated, disappointed with the way we competed or played last game. Talk about your leadership, talk about everybody, the contribution we got across the board is what we were looking for.”

Quenneville, on Patrick Kane’s game:
“He had the puck early and a lot. He’s dangerous off the rush. Took some shots through the screens. Nice to see him score, as well.”

Quenneville, on what it will take to win Game 5:
“We want to make sure we’re playing like we have in 1, 2 and 4. Speed, everybody contributing. Try to keep the pace, try to make them play defense.”

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