On the team’s “road game strategy”:
Well, we’re used to the travel the day before. Obviously being in the west, we do it a lot, going to the Midwest or the east. We moved past all that fatigue part of it a couple days ago. The next part is obviously coming into MSG knowing the atmosphere and the guys that haven’t been in here, make sure they’re clear on it, be ready for that.
On the team’s forecheck:
Played a solid game. No more than that. On the road you have to look at it like it’s not the final game or anything like that. You have to look at it like you have to play a really solid road game.
On Jonathan Quick playing “the best game of the playoffs”:
Our playoff started again. We don’t look at it like playoffs. In the big picture you take it a series at a time. Each series is a season. This playoffs started three games ago, and it was his best game of the series.
On the team’s decisionmaking and puckhandling leaving the zone:
We weren’t as clean as we wanted to be in the first two games. We had a good first period. Justin made a great play on the goal to Jeff. Then we scored the power play goal. Quite honestly, the game was sort of disjointed with all the penalties.
On any concern Jonathan Quick would be able to return to full capacity after his injury and be able to play heavy minutes:
I think that we gave him the full amount of time to make sure that he was 110% healthy, knowing full well that he wanted to represent his country at the Olympics. We had kids that could give us some games.
On whether he draws on 2012, when New Jersey won a pair of elimination games:
I haven’t even thought about that. Really that has nothing to do with this series when you look. I mean, hell, we got thrown under the bus by everybody on earth seven weeks ago, right?
On Willie Mitchell returning from “hardship” to play a key role:
I think our bench on the back end has been really solid. Whichever two have been in there have been outstanding. They’ve all missed time with injury, Willie, Greener and Robyn. Whoever we put in there has shown their leadership and complements the group.
On how it felt playing with the lead:
We’re used to it.
On the key to the perfect penalty kill performance:
I think the key was obviously they didn’t score on any of them. I think the second period was probably the most important part of it. We scored on the power play and they didn’t. That’s a big difference. If you look at the series, if you want to base it on that, coming into this game, we scored a power play goal, they scored a shorthanded goal, we scored power play goal. They’re up on the special teams, so tonight we’re even.
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