On the third period comeback:
Great third period. [Reporter: What was the difference?] We scored some goals. [Reporter: How’d you do that?] Shot the puck. Got some traffic in front. Got a couple power plays. Things started to turn around for us.
On whether he was more happy with the ending or unhappy with the start:
That’s a tough one because you think, ‘oh, you’re so close.’ But again, you spot a team too many goals, you can mount a comeback but you usually fall a little bit short and we did tonight. Fell short by one.
On success in the second period followed by turnovers resulting in Stockton goals:
We had some good, offensive grind time and some chances. Had the misfortune of a goal against. I think it made it 4-1 at the time. That was tough. But, again, I like the reserve, I like the resolve, guys stuck with it. Pretty easy to say you played last night, we’re whatever, it’s not working. Could roll over. They didn’t. They played right through the final buzzer. I think [we] maybe put a little scare into Stockton. That’s a darn good team. They’re really good.
On sitting out players late (it was noticeable that Kempe was benched):
Sometimes you’ve got to shake things up. Sometimes you get tired of watching the same stuff over and over again. So, sometimes it’s good for you to watch.
On injuries to Andrew Crescenzi and Paul Bissonnette:
Well, two tough guys to lose out of your lineup. We were talking about the veteran problem, think we might have jinxed ourselves there. We thought we were going to have a problem trying to balance this six of them, and I told you the value of Biss. Then you lose a guy like Cres who, he’s come so far. He’s a great penalty killer. He’s a great fourth-line guy. He’s a great faceoff guy. So you’re missing his presence out there. He’s a quiet leader. Part of our core group of six that comes in. He’s a big part of our team even though he doesn’t get much accolades, he doesn’t say much. He’s kind of like Schultzy last year. They don’t say anything. They just come in every day and do their job and they do it well. So, now it’s a chance for others to step up and assume some of the responsibilities. We need another guy that we can count on to take draws. We need another guy that we can count on to kill some penalties for us. Both of them will be out, you’re not going to see either one of them before Christmas. I guess the break itself might help us in the fact that it’s a week off and you’ve got a chance to get better, heal up. But even saying that I’m not sure that they’re even going to be ready on the other side of the Christmas break. [Reporter: Is it upper or lower body for them?] Cres is lower, Biss is lower.
On Mike Amadio’s goal that got the Reign on the board in the second:
Amadio just makes plays. The puck follows him around, he makes plays. Makes players around him better. The other team has the puck, he finds a way to strip them of the puck. He has the puck a lot. Some of our other guys should have the puck that much.
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