December 9 postgame quotes: Carolina

Bill Peters, on his impressions of the game:
Well you know we were good throughout the game. We were good early, I thought we had a couple good looks on, they were very similar plays on the back end by McGinn. And you know, they capitalized on a few of our mistakes. We didn’t make many here tonight and the guys did a great job battling and hanging in there. And the power play got a great goal, you know, a big goal at the time. And then obviously the 6-on-5 goal, so specialty teams were really good and then the penalty kill was good. And tough too in that regard.

Peters, on the team’s resilience:
The guys were dialed in right from the drop of the puck. I thought we were real good, I thought we had the puck lots. I thought there was lots of things that we can build on and move forward with.

Peters, on what the key was going against the top penalty kill unit:
Well, you know what, that’s a real good penalty kill unit, coming into the game they were at 90 percent. Our first power play wasn’t as good as we probably would like, but the guys stayed with it and won a few little foot races to keep plays alive and then obviously a good play to find Rasker (Victor Rask) in the seam and you know the 6-on-5 goal was a long shift. I don’t really know much about that, but I thought it was good. I thought the overtime was good too. I thought we had some zone time and we were able to get some changes in the offensive zone. Did some good things there, made a couple saves there again. So lots of things we can build on. I just like the overall effort and the contributions from all 20 guys.

Peters, on whether the loss was particularly unfortunate considering the amount of puck possession in overtime:
No, it was good. We played well. We played good in the overtime, wouldn’t change much about the overtime. Obviously not happy with the result, but you move on.

Peters, on the success of the Kings so far this season:
Oh, they’re a good hockey team. It’s funny, I was talking to some guys on the day off there about who was the best team you’ve seen and this is one of the best teams I’ve seen. I’ve seen not everybody yet, but I’ve seen a lot of teams in the league and this is obviously one of the better ones.

Peters, on whether it’s satisfying to have played well against the Kings considering their position in the standings:
No. We didn’t win the hockey game. There’s no moral victories. We need two points and we need them desperately each and every night so we’ve got three games left on this trip and we’ve got to play the same way and we’ve got to end up with points. We need two points. I liked us. There’s a lot of things to like about our group and moving forward I think we’re in good shape as long as we play the same way.

Jordan Staal, on playing a full 60 minutes:
… I think we’ve been a little mentally soft in the last few games and tonight we could’ve easily folded it and third period was big for us. It was a whole game of working hard which is what we want to do. We play like that every night and we’re going to be a lot better off.

Staal, on what the third period showed about the team’s resilience:
Well it was one of the first times I’ve seen a really good one and tonight was great all the way down the lineup. Just staying with it and staying positive and finding a way to get back in the game.

Staal, on whether Victor Rask’s goal provided a boost to team’s morale:
Yeah, every team knows two-nothing can be a tough lead but we obviously felt the same thing last game in San Jose, but the team gets momentum and you start showing up a bit and we were fortunate to keep getting chances and finding ways and it ended in a big goal for us.

Staal, on getting chances against Quick early on:
I mean, if you look I’m sure at the replays there’s a lot of good chances. He made some big saves. I think you can say you can always get in front of his eyes more, but there was some big saves that he made and I’m glad that we stuck with it all the way through the third to get a couple.

Staal, on the outcome:
Yeah, It’s an unfortunate ending. And I thought we worked hard and it’s a part of the game. Sometimes you work hard and you don’t get the results. Sometimes you work hard and you do. And tonight we didn’t get the final result, but like I said, if we continue to show up like that every game, we’re going to be a lot better than we have been.

Elias Lindholm, on his game-tying goal:
Yeah, we had the puck for awhile there and just tried to make some plays. Take it to the net and finally got the rebound there and just put it in. So yeah. It was nice to tie it up, but ovbiously we wanted to win this game so it’s not good enough.

Lindholm, on if this loss is different from previous losses considering the team’s performance in the third period:
I mean we had the lead in San Jose and here I thought we played pretty well and tried to play the same way every period and then obviously got the reward at the end there. But I thought we were the better team for over 60 minutes, but yeah. It’s kind of a weird feeling. You’re down two-nothing and then you come back and doesn’t get the win. So yeah, we got to get the wins here.

Lindholm, on Rask’s goal:
Yeah, it was big. I don’t know how much was left, but seven, six seven minutes. But it was big. We didn’t get much in the third, they were playing tight there. It was big and it’s nice to tie it up at the end there.

Lindholm, on how tough it is to lose when you feel you’ve played the better game:
It’s tough. Obviously it’s a tough league. I mean, obviously when you play good you want to get the result too as well, but we’ve got to find ways to win here and we’ve got to do it soon enough.

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