Following their 2-1 win over the visiting LA Kings on Tuesday night, here’s what they were saying back in the Minnesota Wild locker room…
– Goalie Niklas Backstrom on the overall game: “I think it was a solid 60 minutes for us, and it was a very good team we played against. So it was a big challenge for us. I don’t know if you want to call it back to basics, just go out there and play hockey. Do all the details right, play the game right, and respect the game. Usually the result is going to be there.”
– Backstrom on his save on Voynov with 11 seconds left: “I think it hit my right calf. So I don’t know if that’s from a goalie book, maybe a Tim Thomas book, but it’s something you have to battle through and you have to fight. You never give up. Every now and then you can be there.”
– Backstrom on how Brown’s hit on Pominville changed the game: “You know, I think all the things that happened in the second period changed the game in the wrong direction for us. But I think we handled it really well, and that’s something we’ve been focusing on too. Growing that. Nothing rattles us. No matter what happens, there is the next shift, and I think we handled it really great today.”
– Backstrom on making a big save on Carter early setting the tone for him: “For sure, for the guys too. When I need them they’re there for me, and I’m happy I could be there for them today.”
– Mikko Koivu on the overall game: “I thought it was a good effort all 60 minutes. Obviously when you’re up by one goal and getting towards the end, it usually happens that way. Trying to keep it tight, play good defense, and get rid of pucks and all that. I thought it was good effort all 60 minutes by everyone.”
– Koivu on Backstrom making big saves: “Well, yeah. I think that’s obvious. I think everyone in the room and in the stands knows that. He gives us a chance to win each and every night, but I thought we played very good in front of him as well.”
– Koivu on the importance of the team meeting Monday: “Well now it looks pretty good, right? We all know how you need to play the game. Every game we’re trying to do the same things that we’re supposed to do, and a lot of that is mental right now. Getting towards the end of the season. So your mind needs to be in it each and every shift. So it’s not about effort. It’s about making the right plays, and tonight the pucks went the way we wanted. Especially like you said, in the first period, and we were able to keep it.”
– Koivu on if the first period felt like the Columbus and Calgary games: “That’s what I mean. You just have to stick with it. We talked about that before. There’s going to be ups and downs. We know it. Now let’s just enjoy this one a little bit, but big back-to-back nights. We have to prepare for that right away again and put in the same effort.”
– Devin Setoguchi on the emotion of fighting for a playoff spot: “You can’t get too high or too low at this time of year, and the teams that can fight adversity, and battle through it, is going to win games. That’s how you win here, and that’s how you win in the playoffs as well.”
– Setoguchi on if physicality was stressed coming into the game: “I thought our line, we switched it up and put Clutter on our line. So we knew that we needed to create energy and get in there and try to discourage their D from jumping into plays. That’s their game. Doughty’s going to jump. Muzzin’s going to jump. So if you get in there and constantly finish; it kind of takes their will away to jump into play. And it kind of takes the energy with wear and tear on their bodies too.”
– Setoguchi on if there’s a need to answer the Brown hit physically: “I don’t think so. I mean it’s a play in the game. We play this game at such a fast pace that accidents happen, and that’s the way it goes. You don’t get revenge. You just go out there and play. It’s tough to lose a player, but you can’t dwell on it. You move forward, and you keep playing.”
Full comments from Minnesota coach Mike Yeo have been posted in a separate article here.
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