January 10 postgame quotes: Gaborik, Clifford

Marian Gaborik, on whether the loss was disappointing:
Of course it is. The start wasn’t ideal. We rallied back. It wasn’t, obviously, an ideal game from us. This is not the way we want to play, giving up that many goals. When we’re in a hole, we came back. We rallied back, too bad with the outcome.

Gaborik, on whether the team anticipates a close game at the end when they trail early:
We know how to come back, but we can’t put ourselves in a hole like that. Starts are important and just a 60 minute game, we need to put together and play 60 minutes. This is the second half of the year right now. Every team that is playing us, they know who they’re playing . They’re playing desperate hockey and we have to play 60 minutes no matter what. And we have to put some wins together at home, especially right now.

Gaborik, on the team allowing four goals:
Like I said, we can’t give up that many goals. Everybody has to play the system, play the right way. That’s got to change.

Gaborik, on the loss in the context of how close they are to Winnipeg in the standings:
Obviously every loss stings, but we knew they were coming to play a very physical team. Like I said, we just have to put a 60 minute effort in and try to put some points together, especially at home right now.

Kyle Clifford, on whether it was an emotional game:
I think we obviously need to come out with a better start. After the first period, we kind of got going there. That’s how we need to come out right from the get-go.

Clifford, on Winnipeg’s physical play:
We know they’re a big team and we know they’re desperate and they want to make the playoffs. We knew what we were getting ourselves into. We just have to be ready form the start.

Clifford, on whether the team is feeling desperate:
Absolutely, I think anytime you want to win in this league it isn’t easy. If you’re not desperate, you’re not going to win.

Clifford, on whether the team is frustrated with their record in one-goal games:
Yeah absolutely, I think a lot of the games are right there. And it’s just a matter of finding that other gear to push forward and push through.

Clifford, on whether the mood on the bench changed when Winnipeg tied the game:
I think with our team, we’re pretty levelheaded. We were ready for whatever is thrown at us.

Rules for Blog Commenting

  • No profanity, slurs or other offensive language. Replacing letters with symbols does not turn expletives into non-expletives.
  • Personal attacks against other blog commenters, and/or blatant attempts to antagonize other comments, are not tolerated. Respectful disagreement is encouraged. Posts that continually express the same singular opinion will be deleted.
  • Comments that incite political, religious or similar debates will be deleted.
  • Please do not discuss, or post links to websites that illegally stream NHL games.
  • Posting under multiple user names is not allowed. Do not type in all caps. All violations are subject to comment deletion and/or banning of commenters, per the discretion of the blog administrator.

Repeated violations of the blog rules will result in site bans, commensurate with the nature and number of offenses.

Please flag any comments that violate the site rules for moderation. For immediate problems regarding problematic posts, please email zdooley@lakings.com.