November 17 postgame quotes: Darryl Sutter

On what was impressive about the team’s start:
We scored the first goal. We’re trying to do that. We’ve had trouble doing it. We were able to get a two-goal lead, and then obviously as the game went on, to get a two-goal lead again. It’s critical. I’ve said it lots. It’s the way it works.

On how to gain consistency:
We are consistent. [Reporter: Under .500 this month.] It’s based on a season. I didn’t know there were months really involved in it. We’ve got one of the best home records in the National Hockey League. [Reporter: Consistent at home?] We’ve been really good. I don’t want to talk about it because – you know, we’re not the same team that we were. We’re in a fight for the division. This is the first time tonight we were able to beat a team that’s ahead of us in the division. The teams that are behind us, we’ve beat them. There’s one we haven’t played yet, so it’s a division thing. There are 29 games in our division, so figure it out.

On scoring four goals, generating scoring chances and establishing an “attack”:
I think both teams had a lot of scoring chances. I think we had a good first period. I think they didn’t skate yesterday, they were probably a little bit flat. I think it wasn’t much about the ‘attack.’ I’m sure we’re going to hear about that we didn’t get 30 shots or whatever.

On whether he was happy with the team’s ability to finish:
I thought Jeff Carter’s line was dominant in that. I think when they scored the [second goal], and then Jeff and Ty scored shorthanded, finish was about their line, for the most part. They had, I would bet, the majority of our scoring chances and probably the least time spent in the defensive zone, for sure. [Reporter: He won that faceoff there, too, before the shorty.] I think he was pretty dominant. Wish we had a left-handed centerman, obviously. So we had four righties out there, and three of them were having a hard time with it, so Jeff was out there for a lot of important faceoffs.

On the best aspect of the win, apart from the two points:
Besides the two points? [Reporter: That’s all that matters.] Isn’t it? [Reporter: From a team standpoint, though, what did you see that really stood out to you?] We’ll continue to work hard and give a great effort and compete hard and try and win our share of games to make all you who don’t watch us play on the road happy.

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