October 30 postgame quotes: Stothers, Flinn, Backman

Mike Stothers, on the victory:
I thought it was another solid effort. I loved the way we played. That’s two games in a row, a full 60 minutes of guys playing hard, playing the right way, doing what’s right for the team, making sure that we do the little details. We did it very well today. I thought the second period was really, really good for us. I think we outshot them maybe 10-4 but really they didn’t have much going and we were the ones affecting that. We had pedal down, throttle pretty good for a team that’s just played three games in two and a half days. Again, very proud of the team’s efforts.

Stothers, on the Reign keeping a strong mental state:
Everybody stayed focused to the job at hand. Maybe we learned after last night you expect the unexpected. Down another goalie, you lose Sutter late or early morning, whatever it may be. He wasn’t able to play and you make some adjustments to the lineup and the guys, they were ready to go. The guys that are stepping in are doing a good job for us. Again, it was just a matter of staying dialed in, focused, and not getting distracted by anything outside of our control.

Stothers, on Jack Flinn earning his first AHL win:
I didn’t realize it was his first win, actually. Somebody mentioned it in the locker room after the game, which, that’s great for Jack. I think we give all our goalies a chance when we work as hard as we do in front of them and I think we kept it to 21 shots against, so that’s good. He was there for us when he needed to make a save and it’s a good confidence boost for him, too. Again, another tough situation for a guy that was just down in Manchester three or four days ago and he ends up playing two and a third games of hockey. So, good for him.

Stothers, on Hensick, Mersch and Backman having a big game:
It’s nice when it’s distributed throughout the lineup. Our veterans made some real good plays for us tonight. They’re the guys that steer the ship in the right direction. They’re good people, they’re good leaders, they’re quality hockey players. I could single out a couple of guys but it wouldn’t be fair because I truly believe in the last two nights that’s fabulous hockey to watch. I could stand there all frigging night and watch that. That’s exciting.

Stothers, on the weekend overall and if the team is progressing:
I sure hope so. We talked about it after the game, the fact that it’s a lot of hard work but it’s fun. There’s a lot of talking and vocalization on the bench and in the dressing room, amongst the opposing players. Our guys, they’re into it and I think that makes a big difference. You’ve got to play with some passion, you’ve got to play with some energy. And sometimes you create that just by chirping and cajoling and making fun of certain situations and not taking it too serious. When it’s time to get the job done that’s when you really push down harder. It’s been good. I realize it’s only two days, I’m not getting too wound up about it. … There’s a lot to be learned yet but I’m very happy with what I’ve seen the last couple days.

Stothers, on what’s next in the goaltending situation:
We’re going to check the want ads in the newspaper and see if we can find someone that’s looking for some goaltending work. [Joey Zakrzewski: Be careful, the Facebook page is blowing up with people wanting to play]. Really? We’ll hold tryouts. We’ll let Biss shoot on them. If they can stop Biss, maybe they’ve got a chance.

Jack Flinn, on his first pro win and the defense in front of him:
That was the biggest thing, just how hard the guys worked in front of me. They helped me out so much. I wasn’t perfect and when I wasn’t perfect they were usually there to bail me out.

Flinn, on his mentality going into the game with the goalie situation:
Even Dusty said the best thing was just to keep it fun. You shouldn’t worry about little things like that, just go out there and play your own game and worry about yourself.

Flinn, on his goals moving forward:
My goal is just to take it one day at a time and try to get better every day and work my hardest every day.

Flinn, on if the team saved the puck for him:
Yeah, they did. [Joey Zakrzewski: Any special plans for it?] No, not yet. I’m not sure what they’ve got in store for me. Maybe they’ll put it on a plaque for me, I’m not sure.

Sean Backman, on his third period goals giving the Reign the win:
Not only for me personally but for the team, that gave us the two points and .500 from the weekend (3 points). We didn’t really start it how we wanted to but we got the point in Texas last night and then to finish it off with a win here in San Antonio’s big.

Backman, on the Reign progressing over the weekend:
We were a little slow and hesitant on Friday night and then we played how we wanted to and how we can play on Saturday and then we just took that momentum into Sunday’s game. Talking to the guys here, three-in-three is tough but most of the guys felt good tonight so it was good.