December 15 postgame quotes: John Stevens

On the loss:
I thought we played well. I thought we had a really good start to the hockey game. We had good jump. The forecheck was effective for us. We gave up a goal on a wrister from the point on a PK goal, gave up a goal on a faceoff coverage in the offensive zone, and gave up a turnover there late in the game. We should be in a position to get points. We played a lot better, but some of I guess what we’d call unforced errors that end up costing you points.

On Marian Gaborik rising to the occasion in his milestone game:
I thought it was a big goal to get us back in the game there, and obviously the second goal is a big goal to get us back in the game. That kind of production, he’s been a big game player, so it’s not surprising, but I thought he had good jump tonight.

On whether New York limited rebounds and boxed out well:
We sure thought there were quite a few rebounds there. We were trying to get a little better presence there, maybe layer ourselves a little better. They blocked a lot of shots tonight. They had a lot of pucks trajected towards the net that kind of shrank their coverage, and he plays deep in the net, so I think there are going to be rebounds. I would like to see us come up with a few more rebounds, but they were a committed defensive team tonight, and it showed.

On Rick Nash’s game-winning goal:

It’s a good defensive play. We still need to make the play. I think right at the end of a line change, trying to get the puck up and in, and I think the intention to do the right thing is there, but he’s really become a really good 200-foot player. He was known earlier in his career as a great offensive player, but he really deserves a lot of credit. He plays hard at both ends of the rink, and it showed there.

On the challenge of playing a fast, up-tempo team like New York:
I think there are challenges every night. Their left side is big left wingers with lots of speed. They got quality centermen that are really responsible, and they’ve got a lot of what seems like skill and playmakers on the right side. But certainly the speed they pose with some size – Kreider’s a big guy that can skate, Nash, a big guy that can skate and Grabner’s one of the faster guys in the league. They have good speed, but their team game is sound and it prevailed tonight.

-Lead photo via Abbie Parr/Getty Images

Rules for Blog Commenting

  • No profanity, slurs or other offensive language. Replacing letters with symbols does not turn expletives into non-expletives.
  • Personal attacks against other blog commenters, and/or blatant attempts to antagonize other comments, are not tolerated. Respectful disagreement is encouraged. Posts that continually express the same singular opinion will be deleted.
  • Comments that incite political, religious or similar debates will be deleted.
  • Please do not discuss, or post links to websites that illegally stream NHL games.
  • Posting under multiple user names is not allowed. Do not type in all caps. All violations are subject to comment deletion and/or banning of commenters, per the discretion of the blog administrator.

Repeated violations of the blog rules will result in site bans, commensurate with the nature and number of offenses.

Please flag any comments that violate the site rules for moderation. For immediate problems regarding problematic posts, please email zdooley@lakings.com.