March 10 postgame quotes: Clifford, McNabb, Williams

Kyle Clifford, on whether this was a big win for the team:
Yeah, obviously we’re taking it one game at a time and this was an important one. Now we just have to get ready for Vancouver on Thursday.

Clifford, on whether he is playing with more confidence:
I think this time of year we all have to play our best hockey and like I said, it’s one game at a time and points are huge.

Clifford, on whether the team is doing a good job of scoring “greasy” goals:
Yeah, that’s playoff hockey. It’s not always going to be pretty and you just have to go to the net and we did that tonight.

Brayden McNabb, on whether he is comfortable being paired with Andrej Sekera:
Yeah, like I said, it’s not necessarily the line. It’s a group of five that has to be good. If you’re in position all the time, you know we’re a good team. We know we have to carry that on to Vancouver.

McNabb, on whether he is playing with more confidence:
Yeah, I think so. The more that you’re on, the more you get comfortable and Sekera is a great player, he’s a good skater so it’s easy to give him the puck knowing he’s going to do something good with it.

McNabb, on the increased sense of confidence:
Yeah, I think as a group we get a little bit more confident knowing that everyone is on the same page and individually, it just helps that way. It’s something that we’ve got to continue.

McNabb, on whether the team got the start they were looking for:
Yeah, for sure. We wanted to come out with a good effort and take the crowd out of it and take the wind out of their sails. The PK was great and we were able to get one on the power play to get us going.

McNabb, on what the team’s mindset was heading into the game:
I think we’re playing playoff hockey right now. We’re in a dogfight, so every game is a must win and we’ve got to bring it every game. So we’ll enjoy this one and move onto Vancouver.

McNabb, on whether the team is playing desperate or urgent hockey:
I think it’s more urgent. I mean a little bit of both. Other teams are getting points and we need to get points too. So it’s a little playoff series between the eight, nine and 10 spots, so it’s something that we have to continue.

Justin Williams, on whether the shuffling of lines created some energy:
Yeah, it actually kind of did. You didn’t know who you were going out with. It was kind of like the next guys that were up were going and you just go. I think that’s when we’re at our best anyway – less thinking, more on your toes – and we were able to get a good lead from it. [Reporter: It’s such a game of instinct anyways.] Right, and I’m always at my best when you use your instincts and you’re moving your feet and not thinking about where you should be, just getting the puck before asking someone else to get the puck.

Williams, on whether there is a difference between desperate and urgent hockey:
It seems to help this team. It seems to be that we’re at our best when we’re in dire need of a win and we’re in dire need of 16 more wins. But to answer your question, I don’t think there is any difference. You can play on words. I think if you look at the thesaurus it’s probably the same thing. We just have to do what we have to do and start winning on the road because we have a lot of road games left.