Category: NHL

HEAD COACH SHELDON KEEFE

On tonight’s win:

I thought we stayed with it. We knew it was going to be a really hard game and it was. They played hard, credit to them. Credit to the plan to the plan they put in place, credit to how they stuck with it and how hard they competed here on a back-to-back game for them. It was clear that this game was important to that group in how they played. It was important to us as well. I thought we stayed with it. It wasn’t an easy day for us. Ultimately found a way to make sure we got the one point and then in overtime, being what it is, a bit of an adventure, but I thought that our special teams — both in regulation and in overtime, obviously — were very good. So hats off to them. Hats off to [assistant coaches] Dave Hakstol and Paul McFarland for what they did in our timeouts to get our team set. Really good in that sense that we were able to get two points we really needed.

On why Kapanen was scratched tonight:

Internal accountability is really what it is. You guys will get a chance to talk to him when we get together again on Monday.

On if the scratch was a one-time event:

One-time thing.

On how they came to a decision to scratch him:

We had chatted about it yesterday a little bit and then made our decision. I wanted to sleep on it, we talked with Kappy this morning and made a decision and went from there.

On if Kapanen was late for a meeting:

You guys will get a chance to talk with Kappy on Monday.

On how Kapanen took the news:

I think you guys will get a chance to talk about it. We’ll work our way through it. We’ll try to keep the focus on the game tonight.

On Spezza’s play tonight:

I thought he was excellent. He probably had a little extra jump here today; it was a big time goal that he scored. He got an opportunity there; it was clear he wasn’t going to miss on that one. So that was really good to see, and he had some other chances, he had a lot of jump, I was really happy with how he responded to that opportunity.

On tonight’s win as a step in Hutchinson’s progression:

Yeah, I would say that, absolutely. Sharp, confident, we had breakdowns today and he was there even sometimes when they had a couple looks — whether it was getting behind us on a  breakaway or 2-on-1 and they didn’t quite get a shot off — but he was out, he was at the top of his crease, he was confident, he was aggressive. He just looked like he was out there to win the game for us and that’s what you want to see.

On the importance of tonight’s win coupled with a Florida loss:

There is a lot of hockey to be played so I think it’s a little early for us to be focusing much of what’s happening outside of our building, but they’re going to be coming in here on Monday and we certainly know we didn’t like the way that we played and the result we got when we were out there. We know we have to be a whole lot better here Monday and we’re excited for a chance to play for us a really important game.

On Marner’s awareness to take the shot in overtime:

Yeah it says a lot. It was also part of the plan that [McFarland] put in place to be honest. We knew they were going to make things pretty hard on our shooters, on Willy and Matty on the sides so we thought there might be a lane there for Mitch to shoot or to look for John at the bottom. He had the lane and made good on it so probably caught them off guard a little bit.

MICHAEL HUTCHINSON (24 SAVES)

On playing in the Battle of Ontario:

It was cool, it was a little extra added atmosphere. It’s also cool having Spezza on our side of Ontario now. I grew up watching him on the other side of it, so he always has some pretty funny stories about the Battle of Ontario back then. To be a part of it was pretty cool.

On having his confidence back:

It’s one of those things where I feel like I’ve been positive all year even at the start of the year when things weren’t going well. Just kept working hard and now that bounces are going our way a little bit and the team is playing great, we have a lot of confidence and our whole team has that swagger back. Especially after the break or the last three games we’ve played really solid games and really good games so hopefully we can keep it going.

MITCH MARNER (OVERTIME WINNER)

On Hutchinson’s play tonight:

Hutch has been huge for us the last couple times he’s been in that net. A couple of those saves were huge for us and kept us in that game. It’s a big win.

On his overtime winner:

I don’t think anyone really thinks I’m going to shoot that. So first two I got I looked at the net and saw a little bit of a lane and the third one came back and decided to try and get it to the net with [Tavares] crossing in front and luckily it went in.

JASON SPEZZA (1 GOAL)

On his game tonight:

I felt good and it was a tight game, so it was good to make some plays and I thought our line had some good chances. We could have given ourselves the lead there a few times but good to contribute.

On his end-to-end rush in the first period:

Yeah it opened up and got a good look at the net but then I muffed the rebound. I was kind of upset because if I get it up it’s in the net. The seas parted for me a little bit and would have liked to put that it.

On trying to use his shot more and his goal tonight:

I shot it more than I’ve shot it in weeks so maybe we should talk about it more. My whole life I’ve been told I’ve got to shoot the puck more. You know you take what’s there and they shaded off me there and got a good look and Sandin did a good job getting it over to me quick.

JOHN TAVARES (17:52 TOI)

On winning a tightly contested game against Ottawa:

Yeah, I think we had a good idea of what they were going to throw at us. They do a pretty good job in the neutral zone. I think we knew that prescouting coming in. They force a lot of dumps and challenge teams at their own line. They get good transition either way, obviously some guys that can hurt you in those opportunities, so we just tried to stay patient. Obviously we’d love to have gotten a few more but you’ve just got to stay with it. We earned our opportunities and a couple big power play goals.

On the importance of winning one-goal games:

Yeah, I think we obviously just want to continue to build on the way we responded after the break. Just the attention to detail consistently over 60 minutes without the puck and especially being smart at the right times in the right areas. Still wanting to obviously be dynamic, control possession and create opportunity. There’s going to be nights where it’s tighter and there’s not as much going on or pucks just aren’t sliding or they’re bouncing at times and playing a team that’s really trying to frustrate you and slow you down. Just good to stay composed and stay with it and whatever’s thrown our way, I think we want to find a way to handle it, especially with 30 games left.