Game 4 pre-game quotes: Chicago

Joel Quenneville, on whether Andrew Shaw centers the second line:
Well, he’s playing and we’ll see where he’s playing as he goes along.

Quenneville, on the performance of depth players while some prominent scorers have been slumping:
We had challenges all two series going into this series. Every round is tougher and tougher as you go along. We saw it last year, the same type of thing. You find different ways to overcome the tough situations you’re in. We feel our balance can overcome. Our depth can rise as well and our offense and our backend and all four lines can score. We don’t particularly care who scores, but we feel that a lot of nights it can be the difference. So we’re looking at it right now. We’ve had some positives in all three games. Disappointing two periods have ended the last two games. I think that’s the positive we have to take. The importance we have to stress is that every shift is important, critical and as the game progresses they become even more meaningful. That’s what we have to get better at.

Quenneville, if he needs more speed to match up against Jeff Carter’s line:
I don’t know about speed. They’ve had some ones off the rush. To me, that was one race where we should have been there. A couple quick low plays and a couple we were pressing. It didn’t matter who was out there, we got more on the offensive side of things. I think all of their chances happened when we opened it up.

Quenneville, on whether his team is fatigued:
None. No, none at all. I think something like that, we would feel it. You would see it. I’m not giving into that one.

Quenneville, on their success in games later in playoff series:
I think it’s, give the guys credit, they rise to the challenge. The games become more meaningful, bigger stage, bigger challenge and they just seem to rise to that next challenge and occasion. We’ve got some guys who have been in some big stages and some big situations and they find a way, led by our captain and our core group and it seems the group follows.

Quenneville, on whether they need more from Corey Crawford:
No, he’s been excellent for us all playoffs. I think we have some guys who we saw, even in the first game, that can make plays and have some finish. I think that’s the difference in probably the first two rounds. Now they’ve got two lines that are very dangerous offensively and they’ve got a backend that’s pretty active. It’s a good hockey team out there. Let’s make sure that quantity and quality will cut back.

Jonathan Toews, on the role of depth players while some prominent scorers have been slumping:
I think that’s always something easy to measure. It stands out. It’s easy to notice. We’ve done that in the past where maybe certain guys aren’t producing as much as expected from them. It doesn’t necessarily mean they’re not doing other things really well as well. I’m sure that if there are some guys on our team that feel that way, that they can bring more, now is the time to do it. I’m sure they’re going to find a way to bring that. We’ve done that in the past and I think that’s a huge reason why we’ve been successful. It’s another reason why we feel very confident about our chances in this series.

Toews, on whether Game 4 is a ‘must win’ game for them:
I think we go into every game trying to convince ourselves that it’s a must win. But in this situation especially, like I said yesterday it’s pretty obvious the motivation to win this game. It’s right there in front of us. We know it’s a must win. I think when you’re playing a game like this you don’t need anything else. You don’t need any inspiration. Guys will be ready to play.

Toews, on whether he expects Patrick Kane to breakout offensively soon:
Like I was saying yesterday, Kaner is hard on himself when he doesn’t get that production on a day to day basis. He just has to keep playing, keep creating chances the way he does every single game. Eventually it’s going to come and eventually it’s going to make a huge difference for our team.

Toews, on what they are focusing on heading into Game 4:
We want to have that complete effort. It’s just about sustaining that energy, that speed that we can bring. With four lines, making sure we’re changing well. That we’re not overextending our shifts and that we’re not taking unnecessary penalties. When we have that momentum, whether it’s from killing a big penalty or having a good power play where we generate a bunch of chances, we have to keep that going. Everyone has to realize that when there is five guys on the ice playing well and having a good shift, that they have to go out there and follow it up the next shift to keep things going. That’s something that we will definitely focus on tonight.

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