December 23 postgame quotes: Dallas

Lindy Ruff, on getting a win on the road:
Yeah, we feel real good about it. We did a lot of good things tonight. We knew with the defense we had, young defense, we were maybe going to have to weather a little bit of a storm, but I thought after we got through the first period we really played good hockey.

Ruff, on beating Los Angeles:
We’re trying to gain points in a really tough conference and the only way we’re going to do that is to beat good teams. We lost a tough point in San Jose in a game that we thought we played real well and we knew that to move up the standings, before we go back home, the only way was to get a real good effort tonight. We thought, maybe, we were going to get out played by maybe a greater margin with the young defense, but I thought our young defense responded well to the challenge. It was a big two points for us.

Ruff, on the Benn- Seguin-Nichushkin line:
First of all, they’re good players. Tyler’s an elite player. So is Jamie Benn. They had a little bit of a rough game in San Jose, probably were our worst line in the game up there. Then they responded by coming back with being our- the reason we won tonight, which is good to see. Tyler’s got elite speed, Jamie’s got elite puck handling skills and shot, so does Tyler and I think the young 18-year-old is going to be something special. He hangs on to the puck and even in the second period when he got inside tonight off the wall, great backhand opportunity. They’ve got a lot of good things. They’ve got size and speed. That’s tough to handle.

Jamie Benn, on what led to the win for Dallas:
I think we played hard as a group. I thought our back end played really well. We don’t have too much experience back there, but I thought they handled themselves well against one of the best teams in the league, and once again Kari was great.

Benn, on getting an early 2-1 lead:
It was huge. We know they’re a pretty tight team. They play a great team defensive game and they have a hot goalie. I think it was just a good way, to put pucks on net and find a way to get a good start.

Tyler Seguin, on getting a win in Los Angeles:
Yeah, tough building, tough team, it was quite the grind, quite the battle. But it was great to see the guys step up and really show some character. We’ve got a lot of guys down, like a lot of teams in the league right now, but it was nice to come out with the win.

Seguin, on when he began to develop chemistry with Jamie Benn:
Right when I landed in Dallas I went right to his place without knowing him. We’d just been texting and it was obviously evident that we had to find chemistry to get going and it just kind of clicked. We have similar personalities and we both love to win, both are competitive. We found ways on the ice and off the ice to gel and we want to stay consistent as a tandem, I guess. Don’t forget Val Nichushkin though. He’s playing well for us, unbelievable for an 18-year-old.