Murray postgame quotes

Terry Murary’s postgame thoughts…

(on his second-intermission message…)
MURRAY: “Play better. Just manage the puck better. I thought, in the second period, we had big problems getting through the neutral zone. A lot of turnovers, soft plays, not getting it in deep to continue with what we were doing in the first period. But sometimes players have to be reminded of that.”

(on building, for the future, off that third period…)
MURRAY: “Well, it was an excellent third period. We did all the right things, with managing the puck and getting the forecheck. Our support was much better than what it was at any other time in the game. I think, on the forecheck especially, when it was getting stopped, our second and third people were right there to help get possession, and they made plays. Then you have a strong attitude, feeding off the goal at the end of the second period, with Ryan Smyth’s goal. That, to me, was huge. It gives us a good feeling coming in, and then scoring with Williams off the faceoff, and just taking pucks to the net. That shot mentality paid off for us.”

(on changing line combinations in the third period…)
MURRAY: “It probably does (have an impact), but it’s hard to know how much. You’re just not satisfied with what’s going on in the second period, with the puck management. Change is good. Change is necessary, sometimes, and the players responded tonight.”

(on the players winning in front of their dads…)
MURRAY: “Sometimes you have a little extra incentive, and you try to do a little too much sometimes. Tonight, I think, in the third period they probably talked about it. `Let’s do something special here. This is a special trip for the whole team, and our parents are here, so let’s dig in and get the job done.’ It was a real character third period. There was a lot of strong play, hard, taking it to the net, battle mentality. That’s what we have to show.”

(on Kopitar’s play…)
MURRAY: “Yeah, Kopi has had a great start to the year for us. He’s starting to have a breakout career, in his play. Pucks are going in, he’s making plays, he’s strong on the puck and carrying the puck with a lot of authority, looking to make plays. To me, that’s the sign of a first-line center iceman, a guy who is starting to make a decision that, `This is my team, and I can shoulder the responsibility and take it on, and let’s go get them.”

(on Williams’ first game back…)
MURRAY: “I liked Justin’s play tonight. I thought he was ready. He was close the other night, the last game that we played. He really wanted to play, but I think the two days of practice was the right decision for him. He was strong, he was on the puck, he brought a lot of chatter on the bench and the line looked like it had some good chemistry. It never missed anything, from the time he got injured. Not knocking Simmer, I think Simmer did a great job on that line, but it was nice to see them be able to get that flow back to their game right away.”