March 5 postgame quotes: Gaborik, Muzzin

Marian Gaborik, on the win:
We had a good start, we were all over them in the first half of the game, and then we let it get away from us a little bit. It was a battle for 65-plus minutes, and the shootout was the difference.

Gaborik, on the playoff race:
We don’t have a lot of home games left to take advantage of and get points but tonight we did. We have another game in a couple of days so we have to regroup and keep our foot on the pedal the whole 60 minutes.

Gaborik, on whether the type of win could provide a confidence boost:
Yeah, but we need to play like we did the first half of the game. That’s just the bottom line. Like I said, it got away from us a little bit there. They felt it, they had some self-confidence, they tied the game and scored the go-ahead goal, but we didn’t give up, so we battled back.

Jake Muzzin, team’s poise on the power play:
I think we came out with the right mindset, we came out shooting. We got some good recoveries off shots and threw it back at the net, and that was big. We ended up getting an early one to start us off, so to get the ball rolling, it was nice.

Muzzin, on the what he’s trying to do on late power plays in a one-goal game:
Give the puck to Kopitar, really, is what I thought there. You want the puck in the hands of your best guy, and you want to take your time. You don’t want to force plays. You get hyped up, emotions are going, you want to score but you’ve got to calm your nerves and make the smart, simple play and not force too many plays.

Muzzin, on Marian Gaborik coming through when the team needs big goals:
And that’s that poise late in the game, not forcing a play. He had room to take, and he took advantage of it and took it to the net and made a nice play. It’s coming down to the crunch where we need all our big guys and everyone to chip in and make plays, and we got those key moments tonight.

Muzzin, on how Montreal got back into the game:
I think we had some opportunities early in the second to put the game away, and we didn’t capitalize on our chances, and that gave them a little bit of life. They won some battles down low in our zone and ended up with some goals. I think if we bear down on our opportunities like that, and we pop one, pop two more in there, then we don’t need to have the heroics late in the game.

Muzzin, on whether every game at this point of the season is a “must-win game”:
We’re going into every game like it’s a must-win game.

Muzzin, on whether this comeback could catalyze the team’s efforts:
Well, yeah. Every game, you’re going to win different ways. Some games are going to be blowouts and tight ones, and you’re going to come back in some and you’re going to win some in penalty shots. You build momentum off the positives that you do throughout the night, and you correct the negatives and try to get better for the next game.

On winning an emotional game in a shootout:
Especially with our shootout record this year, it was nice to win one.