March 31 postgame quotes: Justin Williams

On whether the team was “off”:
I think it simply wasn’t good enough. We’ve had a tendency this last week or so to be giving up leads in the third period, and that’s very, very uncharacteristic of us. We need to rectify that these last five, six games, because we’re a team that shuts it down once we get the lead.

On what Minnesota did well in the win:
They were moving the puck well, and they shut down the neutral zone quite a bit, and we had some trouble getting through it tonight. They’re a team that’s playing well since the [Olympic] break as well…and they found a way to get it done tonight, and we didn’t.

On the level of concern over allowing third period leads to slip away:
I believe that probably comes individually. Individually, we’re a team that’s hard when we get the lead. You want teams to think, ‘Oh boy, it’s going to be a tough one to come back,’ and when youi let leads like that slip, you let belief sink in to the other teams that we play. That needs to stop right now, and we need to address it.

On scoring chances at the end of the game:
Kopi had a look, and Carter hard a look. We got ultimately what we wanted. We got a couple good looks to score a goal, but they blocked ‘em at the right time, and as I said, they did what they had to to win a game, and we were just a little off.

On his line continuing to develop chemistry:
Yeah, that’s coming with time together, absolutely. On my goal, Gabby made an awesome play. You usually think a guy in the high slot is going to shoot it from there. He makes a lot of little plays, and that certainly was one that not many guys can. [Reporter: Does that surprise you a little bit, that he did see you there?] Not really, because he always tells me that he’s open back door when I have it in the high slot. If he says it, then he’s probably got to practice what he preaches, too.

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