May 24 postgame quotes: Chicago

Jonathan Toews, on whether he is frustrated with the loss:
It is what it is. You can’t worry about that. We played well but we didn’t get the result we wanted tonight. So be it. We’ll keep improving and move on to the next one. There is no time for getting discouraged and getting frustrated. We know we have to keep pushing for that next level and that’s what it’s going to take against these guys. Clearly they want it really badly. They’re playing hard. Even when they have leads against us, it seems like they get even better. For us, I think it’s a matter of continuing that effort you start with in the first period. We had our chances on the power play in the second period. We tried to distance ourselves but just couldn’t put one in. In that sense, it’s a little frustrating. But we’ll keep doing the things we’re doing. We’re really close.

Toews, on the power play:
It didn’t start well in the first, but in the second I think both units had some great chances. Just have to find a way to get those second efforts I think. There are pucks laying there. Quick is doing a good job. We’re doing a good job of getting traffic in front of Quick. If we’re going anywhere, we have to find those pucks and gather them back and keep creating chances from the point.

Toews, on how they need to respond to the loss:
We need to be the best we possibly can be. I think we’ve shown we can do that in the past. It’s a tougher situation and we’re going to come to play. The motivation is right there in front of us now. There is nothing left to think about really. You just go out there and play, give everything you’ve got. The next one is going to be a big one.

Toews, on whether they had trouble sustaining their energy level throughout the game:
Yeah, we played a tough road game. I think we worked really hard. We did a lot of little things really well. Especially in this building, this team is a different team in their own building in front of their own fans. They’re certainly not easy to play against in this building. But we played a good first half of the game. Like I said, once they get the lead they seem to get the momentum and we just couldn’t find a way back into the game. So it’s up to us to play better with those leads.

Toews, on whether they played ‘pissed off’:
Yeah, we’re pushing for another level every single game. It wasn’t good enough today, so we’ll keep working on it and, like I said, find that next level.

Duncan Keith, on whether this loss was especially frustrating:
No, it’s the same. A loss is a loss. They’re all frustrating. We need to move on and try to do better next game.

Keith, on the Tanner Pearson, Jeff Carter, and Tyler Toffoli line:
They’ve got some speed. I played with Carter there in the Olympics and he’s a good player. They’ve got a lot of speed and skill and they have good shots. They move the puck. They’re always moving. I think the more we play in their end, the better off we are.

Keith, on whether they struggled to maintain their energy for the whole game:
Well LA is a good team and they’re going to get some turns and chances to have the puck and make plays. I thought overall, five-on-five we were good. We had a lot of pressure. We tried to do a lot of things we wanted to do and it just came down to they scored two power play goals, I’m pretty sure it was two power play goals. That’s the story of the game.

Keith, on whether they feel frustrated with their special teams performance:
Yeah, well what’s getting frustrating is talking about staying out of the box but we have to do it. I know they took penalties too. We have to score one on the power play too, myself included. I have to be better on the power play. We have to get a big goal from the power play.

Keith, on whether it helps having experience coming back in playoff series:
I think so. I think we realize that they have to win four. They’ve won two. We’ll try our best to come out better next game and try and find a way to win.

Joel Quenneville, on whether he thought his team lacked a sense of urgency:
No. I think it’s very comparable to getting behind in last game to this game. We looked to open it up and they had power plays before they made their fourth goal. After that, we had to loosen the coverage. The other 40 minutes were pretty comparable to last game.

Quenneville, on the Tanner Pearson, Jeff Carter, and Tyler Toffoli line:
They scored a big goal. The second goal was a tough bounce and it’s in our net. We had been playing well at that point. They got some momentum off it. They’ve got some quickness.

Quenneville, on whether he thinks his team needs to be more disciplined:
Well we took three [penalties]. You have to look at each one individually. If we take two or three a game I think we should get through it. Scoring a shorthanded goal certainly helped right off the bat. It would’ve been nice to get through that one.

Quenneville, on if he feels he has to make a lineup change:
We’ll look at our lines. We’ll look at basically nine periods and seven were really good. They were effective as far as what we’ve been doing and as far as chances and generating what we’re looking to do. They’ve had two big third periods on us and that’s the difference in being down 2-1 to me. We can look at the lines, but I don’t know if we’re going to shake them up too much.

Quenneville, on whether the rest of the team matched Jonathan Toews’ intensity:
He’s a special player. He’s one of a few players in the league who can do what he does. I think his work ethic is contagious. We have to make sure we look to play as hard as he does.

Quenneville, on the power play:
Our power play tonight really didn’t help us. I thought that was the difference in the game, losing some momentum. We had generated enough in that second period to put ourselves in a good spot and I don’t know if we generated much, but we lost momentum off of those power plays.

Quenneville, on allowing two goals on four shots in the second period:
Both chances went in. I think both plays were so innocent that it was kind of exactly like what happened last game. I think they have to know the importance of every shift. They’ve got some guys that can make plays. They don’t need much of an opportunity to score on and we have to make sure we give them nothing.

Quenneville, on Jonathan Quick:
We had some chances. You take two on the road, the third one was kind of late, but it’s not like we’re not scoring on him. I think we have to make sure we’re keeping the puck out of our net.