November 19 postgame quotes: New Jersey

John Hynes, on the first period:
Well I thought early in the game we didn’t have a lot of territory plays so we weren’t in situations where we could get a lot of shots on net. We spent a lot of time in the neutral zone and we spent too much time in the D-zone.

Hynes, on playing against Los Angeles:
Yeah I mean, I thought tonight they played well. I thought they were well structured, they competed hard on the puck. I think either way whether we come from behind or even they’re a difficult team to play against. We weren’t ready at certain times in the game to be able to have the right type of intensity that we needed to be able to control the territory we wanted to.

Hynes, on whether the team relies more heavily on their structure with Taylor Hall’s injury:
Yeah, the structure and the system are one point but there’s a couple guys in the line-up that we count on to be prouctive and help us win games. We need more performances more then we do to rely on structure. Our structure’s in place, we need to get some guys that want to step up and play.

Hynes, on his assessment of Cory Schneider’s game:
He was fine.

Hynes, on the loss to Anaheim and then Los Angeles:
Yeah two different situations. Anaheim game we played well and we controlled the game. We had a couple let-downs and it ended up in the back of the net. Tonight, I’d say the team that played better tonight won.

Cory Schneider, on the Devils late push:
I thought we stuck with them in the third. We pressed and got it within one and we had the chance to tie it so yeah, I think we know it wasn’t a full 60-minute effort from us but you have to give some credit to the Kings. I thought we responded the way we were suppoed to but it’s just against that team it’s hard to get down and come back.

Schneider, on what’s different now that they’ve lost two after a five-game win streak:
I mean, sometimes that’s just the way it goes. Sometimes you play well and win, sometimes you play well and you lose, and other times you don’t play well and you win, and sometimes you get what you deserve. I thought during the winning streak we were doing a lot of things right, last game we did a lot of things right and tonight, like I said, wasn’t quite there for the full 60. But again, I thought we finished strong and made it close. For me, again, I think it’s tough giving up three these last two games. Right now I think we’re a team that needs to have one or two allowed and that’s on me just to be one goal better. That’s been the difference the last two games, one goal, so you know I can look at myself and just find a way to make one more save.

Schneider, on whether there’s more pressure on him with Taylor Hall injured:
Not at all, no. I mean, again, he’s obviously a big part of our team but we have enough pieces and guys to step up to replace some of what he does and for me it never changes. Just because he’s in the lineup I don’t think I can give up more goals. Regardless if he’s out there I’m looking to play the best I can and give my team the best chance to win so again, the last two games I haven’t felt bad. I don’t think there’s really been bad goals but just ones that have trickled in or tonight the rebound on the third one just sits there for him and just some bad breaks. For me you know, you make your breaks so just work a little bit harder and like I said, just be one save better.

Schneider, on Jeff Carter’s third period goal:
Yeah I got a good piece of it and I just couldn’t find it for a split second. I didn’t realize it just dropped right in front of me and obviously he’s still coming to the net, he’s a goal scorer, he’s not gonna peel off. He literally got there just a split second before I kind of could recover and get my pad down. So you make the save on him and the puck just lies there for him. Would I play it differently? I’m not really sure, just one of those ones where it kind of happened to go right back to him.

Schneider, on how he keeps himself from getting “road weary”:
We haven’t had too bad of a road schedule so far. It’s part of the league, you have to get used to it, you have to find a way to play through a tough schedule and that’s what we’re learning right now. You know, we could’ve gotten points both nights here so far these last two games. We didn’t and we have to make sure we finish strong Monday night and try to come away with a split of the road trip here.

Blake Pietila, on the Devils performance against LA:
I was happy with the way, personally, my game started. Obviously you get scored on a few times there which is never a good thing but overall I was pleased with how we played. One of those nights I guess. They got a few shots through from the point and that’s what happens.

Pietila, on what changed after they took the early 1-0 lead:

Yeah obviously they weren’t playing a back-and-forth line rush kind of game, they were chipping behind our D and trying to get in and get their forecheck going. So I think they were throwing pucks on net early and then as the game went on we kind of adjusted our game and made a few adjustments and used the space behind their D and started funneling pucks to the net.

Pietila, on whether they felt like they were “in business” after the goal to make it 3-2:
Yeah I mean the first one was big. You can’t tie the game up without getting the first one so certainly he gave us a chance and we just didn’t have enough at the end.