January 24 postgame quotes: Gaborik, Budaj

Marian Gaborik, on whether his play with Kopitar is improving:
I thought we were working as five and then obviously we had some connection there. Stay close to each other, move some pucks around and had some chances, but overall I think it was a great game. From Buds to defense to the forwards. Important to get up the board, 2-0, 3-0, so that was huge and then kind of controlled the game and then Buds made some huge saves when we needed.

Gaborik, on what it feels like to play with a one-goal lead instead of falling behind early:
Well it gives you boost, obviously. We haven’t had those games when we were up lately and then this was a huge game in that regards, as well. We just have to keep going. I mean, even if you don’t get a lead at times, we just have to work through it but it’s always nice to get that lead and then just go control the game.

Peter Budaj, on the importance of ending the 4-game losing streak and getting a win:
Well every game is important but I think we were pretty close the last couple of games. We lost 3-2 in New York and then the Rangers, you know, it was a tough one because we outshot them but it just showed the good character on this team. We stuck with it, we had a very strong first period. We were able to get up ahead and obviously when you get ahead the game gets a little bit easier. You kind of get a little bit more relaxed and just try to worry about the simple things and I think that it was a strong game from our guys. It was a big two points for us.

Budaj, on a point-blank save he made on Miles Wood’s shot in the first minute of the game:
It was kind of — the play developed from the left side and he kind of drove wide and he put the puck in front of me, I put a little rebound in front of me then Cammalleri I think hit it out of the air and then the puck got behind the net and then Cammalleri made a nice play, he passed it in front. I just tried to get out there, you know, close the angle. I know our D did a good job, took away the short side so he just had the far side. It was a little bit easier for me to push out so I just tried to get out there and when it’s a bang-bang play you just try get out there and hopefully the puck hits you. So thank God the puck hit me, I know it was good that we didn’t get scored on right away ’cause it was the first minute and I think we went down in the next two minutes and we scored a goal. So it was a big goal for us that Kopi scored.

Budaj, on the mindset when facing a 5-on-3 power play for almost two minutes:
You just try to keep the box. Try to stick to the game plan. We know what we’re doing, guys know what we’re doing and we know that we have to give them something. It’s a 5-on-3, they have two extra players, so you try to give them something and you try to give them the least dangerous shot. They have a very good team, they have very good shooters there with a lot of power but our guys did a great job. I think they blocked like 3 or 4 shots right away and then there was like a couple saves that I made and then they cleared the puck right away so there was no secondary chances which was huge for us. That was a huge kill because I think, no offense to the team from Jersey, I think they play really good, but I think we played strong game and our special teams was the difference, definitely. We scored a goal on the power play and we didn’t let one in on a penalty kill so that’s huge.

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