Following the Blue Jackets 2-1 loss to the Kings on Thursday night, here’s what was being said in the Columbus locker room…
– Coach Todd Richards on the overall game : “There’s big plays that happened throughout the game. The biggest play we turn the puck over, we weren’t working back to position hard enough on the play ends up being the second goal for them and the game winning goal. It was a physical game. It was an emotional game; you can see it with all the scrums and scraps that went on. There was a lot on the line. When there’s a lot on the line, these types of things happen.”
“They are a tough team. They are a committed group as to how they play the game; they are big; they skate well. Everyone is committed from their most skilled player to their least skilled player. They dump the puck. They forecheck you. The one thing they all do is defend. They are committed to defending and blocking shots, taking hits through the middle. They make things extremely difficult. Us playing five to seven games in different time zones and different cities it wasn’t a good recipe.
– Richards on Matt Calvert’s injury: “He’s got a broken finger. He’ll probably be out for a while. It was a big blow losing him.”
– Defenseman Dalton Prout on getting his first goal: “It’s always nice. It was overshadowed by the loss. There’s a short memory in hockey. All I am focused on is playing better for this team and against San Jose.”
– Prout on the overall game: “We did fall a little bit short. We can’t use fatigue as an excuse because every team plays through it. We were lacking on the execution. You have to give them credit. They won the game for a reason. They beat us on the forecheck. We’re going to rebound and leave it all on the table for these last three games.”
– Prout on not drawing enough penalties: “It always helps when you get power plays. I think it comes from time in zones. We have to protect the puck better and be little bit more efficient in the neutral zone to spend more time in their end and cause them to chase us more times than not. Keep them out for a longer time so they have to take those penalties.”
– Forward Jared Boll on the overall game: “Obviously you never want to keep trying to come from behind but we’ve done a pretty decent job at it. We just fell a goal short tonight.”
– Boll on the scrums: “You have to expect it. Everyone is fighting for their lives right now. Emotions are running high and you try to keep them in check but this is playoff mode this is playoff hockey and every game from here on out is going to be like that.”
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Thought Lumbus came out hard last night and played well. It was a highly entertaining game and the first period flew by. Hard fought game by both teams with a Vezina caliber goalie making life difficult for both opposing teams