February 8 postgame quotes: Amadio, Bjorkstrand, Leslie

Mike Amadio, on his goal just 37 seconds in:
Obviously any time you can capitalize on chances early in the game it’s nice and it was a nice shot by Leslie there and fortunately I got a stick on it and it went in.

Amadio, on taking on added responsibility with key players out of the lineup:
Any time you can contribute offensively it’s awesome. So, it was fortunate for me to get that goal there first shift and Champ made a nice tip there on that shot from the point and [Bjorkstrand] put it in the back of the net.

Amadio, on the Reign’s ability to refocus after losing back-to-back games:
I think that game that went to overtime, we lost to San Diego, we should have had that one. Once we let it slip there, those two games, we knew we had to win the next one and we came out tonight hard and did what we wanted to do.

Patrick Bjorkstrand, on the rest of the game after the first period:
I think we stopped skating. They started coming back, of course they’re going to make a push for it. I think we stopped skating a little bit [but] I think we did a good job staying strong in the defensive zone. They didn’t get too many big chances but we should have probably kept going a little bit harder.

Bjorkstrand, on the key to the win tonight:
Just follow the game plan. I think we played strong as a unit, like I said. I think defensively we stood well and so just doing the right things. I think the effort was there but we can be a little stronger the second and third.

Bjorkstrand, on the importance of secondary scoring and his line’s goal:
Secondary scoring is really important especially if you want to be a top team and a winning team, so we understand that. I think we got off to a really good start, our line, and we just tried to build off that and luckily we got that goal, so that was great. We’ve got to build off that and get better and better as a line.

Bjorkstrand, on being in and out of the lineup this season and performing well during his chances:
It’s been tough you know. This is my first time over here so it’s a brand new experience. It’s been hard. I’ve just tried to stay focused on getting better every day in practice and then when game time comes I of course want to do my best. It’s been a little up and down but it’s a learning experience for me and I’m just trying to work hard every day and then I’m sure it will get better as we go on.

Zac Leslie, on the first period and whether he felt it was one of the better ones this season:
We’re coming off two, I guess lackluster games where we really play as well as we wanted to. We lost to a divisional team in San Diego in back-to-back games so obviously that was on our minds for sure coming in. We had a good couple days of practice and it carried over to the game. Obviously Stuttsy’s preaching that we need to have better starts and that was probably one of our better starts of the year. I think that’s something that we look to continue doing and hopefully bring it next game too.

Leslie, on whether he thought the team flattened out after the first:
I wouldn’t say flattened out. You’ve got to expect in a game, a 60-minute game, they’re going to push back at some point. Obviously their push came pretty hard in the second period. I think that’s just how they are. They’ve got a lot of strong, skilled guys on that team, especially that first line that they have is a borderline NHL line. So I think it’s just something that you knew it was going to happen it’s just about weathering that push and then once we weather that push then it’s our turn to push back.

Leslie, on the Reign’s ability to respond after back-to-back losses:
At the end of the day, good teams don’t lose two in a row. So we think we’re a good team and maybe we’re capable of being one of the top teams in the league so to do that and to maintain your first place — obviously we dropped last night to second I think — so lose two games, that’s how tight it is right now. We don’t want lose any games and obviously if we happen to lose one we hope to push back the next one.

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