March 4 postgame quotes: Auger and Sutter

Justin Auger, on failed late chances in the first and why the game changed in the second:
I think it’s just putting together a full sixty. We just had some lapses in the defensive coverage out there. That’s really what it is, just being more consistent and bringing it all night, night in, night out. [Reporter: Seems to be something you guys are struggling with lately, what do you think has to change to fix it?] I’m not sure, you know. I think it’s just a mindset, you know. You just have to show up ready to play every night. It’s not acceptable to take nights off. It’s not acceptable to show up one night and not show up the next night. It’s something we really have to look at ourselves and work on.

Auger, on what Tucson does that makes games difficult:
They like to play a quick game, quick transition and they were getting in on the forecheck hard. They’re a good team and if we don’t forecheck them hard and stuff then their skill can take over pretty easily. Like I said, we kind of dug ourselves a hole there. It was things that we were doing not they were doing to lose that game.

Auger, on the push in the third period and whether if loses like this are more frustrating than others:
Yeah, I mean, I thought we played a pretty good period. I think we held them to five shots or so. The thing is it all comes back to playing sixty minutes. It’s easy to say that you played a good third, a good twenty minutes, but it really doesn’t matter if you don’t put the first forty in front of you first.

Brett Sutter, on the game overall and the power play:
The first two periods I didn’t think we were that great on the power play. We weren’t moving the puck as well as we should of. Maybe a little bit perimeter. Third period I think just in general we started getting pucks to the net, backed them off a little bit and we got a goal. A little too little, too late though.

Sutter, on whether it hurt that chances late in the first period didn’t carry over:
Yeah. We hit a couple posts in the first. Their goalie played well, but, like I said, I think just that consistency, execution, just wasn’t quite there. We turned it on late, but can’t win with twenty minutes in this league.

Sutter, on how the Reign can solve Tucson having to face them in two of the next three:
They’re a high skill, hard-working team. They’re pretty good up the middle, good on draws, so we’ve just got to play our game. Defense first, worry about that end and that’s going to lead to chances and getting dirty in the other end.

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