November 26 postgame quotes: Budaj, Forbort

Peter Budaj, on the team’s attitude:
I think they always had very good personnel here. We have a great group of guys, we stick together. It’s a long season, up and downs. You’ve got to even it out, stay even keel. The boys are playing really well in front of me and doing everything right, and we’re getting the wins, so it’s very good. We’ve just got to keep going, stay positive, don’t get too high and just get ready for the next game.

Budaj, on support from the team during challenging moments in the game:
They have a great power play, they have lots of talent. Even though they’re missing Toews, they still have probably one of the most skilled power plays in the league. Our guys tried to limit them to the outside, they blocked the shots, they tried to make me see the puck and I was able to make saves. The guys were playing really well in front of me, so it’s a great job on the penalty kill because this team, Chicago, they try to score and they try to win the games on power plays and special teams.

Budaj, on how confident he is when Jeff Carter has the puck:
I think I’m confident with every guy on our team, but definitely Carts. Carts is playing really well right now. He’s working hard, he’s a veteran player. He’s done it for many years. He knows what to do, he doesn’t get too high, he doesn’t get too low. We’ve just got to stick to the system and wait for his opportunity, and he’s playing really well for us. But it’s not just him. It’s just a combination of everybody. The power play in OT, they were moving the puck really well, they were recovering the puck after the blocks and everything. It goes hand-in-hand. Carts is playing great, but it’s a team effort. We need everybody on this team to play well to get a chance to win every night, so that’s what we’re trying to do.

Budaj, on his two-on-one save on Dennis Rasmussen:
I think Motte, he was skating, and I actually thought he was going to shoot because he was a lefty, but he made a nice play. I think he sauced it very nicely, it was a nice play. I was just trying to get out there, get my depth, and tried to push hard to the side. Thank God it worked out. I was there at the right time and had a good push, so I was able to read it. It feels good to make a save like that to help the team stay in the game.

Budaj, on playing in 20 straight games:
I feel really good. Thank God I’m healthy. I tried to work hard, I tried to stay positive, tried to do the little things right, take care of my body over this part of my career. I understand my body more. I know what I need, how much stuff I need and how much sleep I need, so thank God I’ve been fortunate that I’m healthy. That’s what matters – I feel really good. Just don’t try to think too much ahead, just try to go one game at a time, one practice at a time and don’t think too much ahead.

Budaj, on defending odd-man rushes:
I felt good today. I felt good. I was seeing the puck even though it was a tough first period. I think we outshot them 15-1 at one point and they had a 1-0 lead, so it was pretty tough because they’re a team, they don’t like to shoot too much. They try to make the nice plays, the lateral plays, and our team helped me out with that. I was able to see the puck well tonight. We’ve got a good chemistry with the team. I kind of try to understand getting more on board with the team. Obviously this is Jonathan Quick’s team, and I’m playing a little different than him, so it was an adjustment for the D and everything else. Now I’m trying to understand a little more, so it helps. We work hard in practice with Billy and everybody with the guys. We try to stay on top of the game and don’t try to get too high, too low, just work on little things and be confident and try to play our game. That’s it – there’s no recipe or something like that.

Derek Forbort, on the team’s performance:
I think we just kind of stuck to it. We didn’t get off to the start [we wanted], but we just stayed the course and stayed within our game. The older guys pulled through for us in the end.

Forbort, on the lack of “flow” in the third period:
Yeah, I don’t know. It was kind of a weird game in the third there. Just a lot of whistles and stuff. It was tough to get flow going, but we stuck to it.

Forbort, on Jeff Carter:
He’s one of the big leaders on the team and he’s such a good player. That play he made to Marty was unbelievable, and obviously he came through for us in overtime. He’s a big time player.