Richards postgame quotes (Oct. 15)

Mike Richards’ postgame thoughts…

(on his return to Philadelphia…)
RICHARDS: “It was easy once we touched the ice, I think. Getting through warmups and getting ready for the game, I was maybe a little nervous or something, but it is what it is. I got on the ice and you feel comfortable after that. You just play hockey. It’s nice to see us get the win.’’

(on ending the road trip with a win…)
RICHARDS: “We had a lot of excuses, but as I start being with the club more and more, you see what kind of character we have in here. There were a lot of excuses we could have used here tonight, but they came out hard and we got a big goal on the power play to give us a little jump. In the third period, we dug down and found a way to win, and that’s what we need to do.’’

(on the defense stepping up without Doughty…)
RICHARDS: “And Quickie in net. He made a bunch of big saves when we needed them. The defense played a lot of minutes and played them well. We kept it simple. We didn’t try to do too much with it, and we kept a good team off the board.’’

(on his reaction after the overtime goal…)
RICHARDS: “It took me a second to realize it was in. Just kind of a broken play. I was just looking for a lane to shoot. I’m not sure what D it was, but he was kind of stepping up there and I was looking for a way to get through him. I saw JJ at the last minute and just kind of threw it to him.’’

(on who he was exchanging words with on the Flyers’ bench…)
RICHARDS: “The guy that didn’t play very much in the middle there, the guy that hit Doughty. It’s tough. There’s a puck on the ice and he just goes out there to try to run around. It’s tough to play against those players, but at the same time, we did a good job, as a defensive core, to play well in spite of missing him. It was a good job, by us and Quickie, to step up.’’

(on getting the trip to Philadelphia over with…)
RICHARDS: “It wasn’t a big deal to me. From a media standpoint, you try to blow things up a little more than it is. For me, it was just another game in a road arena. I’ve been booed everywhere. I’ve been cheered. You just go out there and play once the puck is dropped. That’s the easiest thing to do, is go out there and play hockey.’’