On the first extended road trip:
It’s nice to play four of the Canadian teams. Counting Ottawa, Ottawa was one of the original teams, too. That gets overlooked. So to play the historic teams is something I look forward to, always playing in those Canadian cities.
On whether Toronto’s resurgence and youth is good for the NHL:
All those teams have [good players]. At the top end of the draft they’ve added lottery players, so they’re all looked on or should be as good teams because of the skill sets that those kids bring.
On changes to concussion protocol and the league having a central concussion spotter:
I’m all for anything that’s for the safety of the player. [Reporter: Does it add an extra challenge on the bench when all of a sudden a guy gets a tap and he’s told, ‘you’ve got to come out?’] Well, it’s challenging if you don’t think he should have to.
On whether he’s encouraged by the third line’s ability to absorb some scoring:
Yeah, they’ve contributed in that area. I think that Brownie scored a shorthanded goal, Dowd scored a regulation and overtime goal. Devin scores two big goals. That third line right now, it’s not a ‘third line,’ per se. I think Devin can play. We’ve got to get some more out of other guys, otherwise those lines are going to move around. And the big challenge now is on the road. We’re coming off St. Louis-Chicago, where some of our young guys were not ready for that challenge. As a coach you can sort of get guys matched up a little better at home, meaning third line-third line or third line-third pair. It’s a little different on the road. It cost us last trip, so that’s the challenge. It’s not what they did at home. You’ve got to be able to change the jersey and match the performance.
On Peter Budaj’s performance:
He’s given us a chance to win, and that’s what we’re looking for. We’re not asking for Jonathan Quick. It’s like talking about a player coming into the lineup for an injury. That’s exactly what he did. Give him the opportunity, give it back, that’s all. Our first three games, for the lack of a better word, our first three games was awful goaltending. Since then our goaltending’s been good enough to give us a chance to win. The first three games it wasn’t that.
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