November 7 postgame quotes: John Stevens

On the overtime win:
It was a lot of emotion in that game, a lot of twists and turns as the game unfolded. A long list of things that happened. Losing a defenseman early was tough. Off-side goal called back, helmet called off, called back, their goalie leaves. There are certainly a lot of elements to the game. Penalty kill was really taxed with the five-minute major and the four minutes, but at the end of the day I thought our PK did a really good job and I thought our power play scored a huge goal. It’s certainly gratifying that the guys just stuck with it. I mean, there were lots of times where we could’ve just thought that it wasn’t our night, and I thought the guys kept digging in and finding different ways to get back in the hockey game, and it was great to see.

On whether the win was emblematic of the team’s resilience and will:
Yeah, I thought it was terrific. I mean, jeez, you get some big efforts by a lot of people. Quicker shut the door in the third period, PK really dug in in their four-minute penalty. Goals called back. There was a lot of emotion in the game, and I think that’s a good thing. We had guys step up and kind of picked up the pieces with the short bench there. .We had a big goal from the Kempe line late in the period. I thought that was huge for us. Kopi got a goal late in the period, I thought that was huge for us, and then obviously the power play goal. Just a lot of contributions. I thought Andreoff had a great game for us tonight. Really played hard and stood up for his team. I think if you’re going to win on the road in your division, you’re going to need contributions from different parts of your locker room, and I thought we had that tonight.

On whether he was surprised that Rickard Rakell’s goal wasn’t overturned for interference:
I was. It’s the reason we called it. The one we tried before, where Jonny was outside of the blue paint, the explanation – I’m trying to remember what game. It was St. Louis where his stick got hooked, but they said it was incidental contact in the white. This one was in the blue. Jonny tried to push off, Perry, whether he did it intentionally or not, he kicked his pad so he couldn’t push across, so I thought we had a real good chance of winning that, but obviously they saw it otherwise.

On Nick Shore’s game-winner:
Yeah, Shoresy, he and Brownie have connected in overtime before. We had Kemps going next, but Shoresy had been better in the faceoff circle, so we tried to get possession of the puck. It was just a good defensive play that led to an offensive attack there, and it was great for Shoresy. We think Shoresy has got some offensive ability. To his credit, he’s been a really sound defensive player to get established in the National Hockey League, but we think he can score, and I think he proved that tonight.

On the team’s ability to come back in games:
I don’t think there’s a quit in this team. I think our leaders lead the way. Drew Doughty was great emotion tonight. Kopi, Brownie, they dig in hard. Muzz, Marty, Quicker – I think we have really good leadership, and I think they’ve done a really good job through the early part of the season in just creating a bond with their teammate, so when stuff happens out there, emotions rise, I think guys dig in for each other, and I think that’s got a lot to do with it.

On Kurtis MacDermid’s interference major and game misconduct:
Yeah, you know, I looked at it, and it’s unfortunate the kid got hurt, but Dermie basically stopped and waited for him as he got rid of the puck, so he didn’t lunge, he didn’t come forward. He basically was stepping up to make aplay and waited for him to hit him. Two things – I hope the kid’s OK, and I hope the league sees it the way we did.

-Lead photo via Debora Robinson/NHLI