February 2 morning skate quotes: Milan Lucic

On the mindset coming into tonight’s game:
I think both teams are coming into this game knowing how important the two points are. I know from my mindset and the team’s mindset that’s the only thing that matters. The break came at a really good time; our game has kind of been inconsistent over the last 10, so it was a good chance for us to re-energize, get some rest and look forward to the last 33 games we have left. We want to start off coming out of the break with a good effort and I think that is the mindset and that is the most important thing.

On any signs of inconsistency before the team started faltering:
At times, when we had opportunities to put the nail in the coffin, we weren’t capitalizing on those opportunities. Then, when we do get up a couple goals our play started to drop and it took for the other team to get back into it for us to get it going again. We talked about getting the 60-minute game going again and how important that is. Now with it being the final third of the season, it’s a chance for us to really sharpen up and get our game going the way that we want, and I think we are all looking forward to that.

On playing a game after a long break:
Keeping it simple and trying to play in the offensive zone as much as possible. You do that by good, strong, hard passes on the breakout from the neutral zone and getting a good strong fore-check going. When you really simplify it, that’s when things will start working in your favor and that’s what the mindset needs to be right off the get-go, having a good start, keeping it simple and making sure that we are doing things where we can play in the offensive zone and build our confidence from there.

On any concern about being a “marked man” by fans or the opposition:
Nope, I have been in this situation more than a few times. If there is a response, I am ready to respond, but like I said, the most important thing for me and the team is to win the game.