MTL@WPG: Postgame media ops — FULL PRESS CONFERENCES

[0:11] It was so cool to be out there and experience that, so yeah, it was a lot of fun. [0:15] Two games in a row, what a goal for you, and especially on that kind of stage, [0:19] the whole experience must be even sweeter for you. [0:23] Yeah, no, it was cool to score. [0:25] Never go into a game expecting to score, really, and yeah, I don't know when the last time I scored two games in a row was, [0:31] so it was cool to have that. [0:34] It feels a lot better to have two points, celebrate it with the boys and all of our families, [0:38] so it was a dream come true for sure. [0:42] To do that and winning, it just makes it so much better. [0:44] What can an event like this, because, you know, it's different, families are there, [0:48] you put some stuff under your eyes, like everyone, I'm pretty sure, before the game here was pumped, [0:53] in this dressing room, what do you think that can do? [0:57] Yeah, I think it just kind of boosts us. [0:59] I think it's a good start to this road trip. [1:02] I think after the game against San Jose, obviously, we kind of had some things to clean up [1:08] and maybe a little extra pressure on us, and I think we responded well. [1:11] Obviously, tonight, I think it was a little bit sloppy and some things to clean up, [1:14] but the fouls did a great job, and sometimes you need your goalie to steal the game for you [1:18] in certain times of the year, so I found a way to win that one. [1:22] It feels good. [1:22] At what point is, to what extent is he reinforcing confidence for the whole group? [1:26] Yeah, don't let you know what's going on. [1:27] Yeah, don't let you know what's going on. [16:46] What's going on? [16:49] Good job. [16:51] What's going on? [16:54] What's going on? [16:55] What's going on? [16:56] What's going on? [16:58] What's going on in this strategy? [17:00] It's nothing new for us. [17:02] It's recognizing the opportunities and staying in balance. [17:08] And if you look at the game, there's a nice balance. [17:12] Even if we don't connect, there's a rebound, we can recover the rounds because of this balance. [17:18] When you execute, it gives you opportunities. [17:21] It's what we've done, but it's new for us. [17:23] We want to be active in the offensive zone, but not just move to move. [17:28] We want to move strategically, and that's what we've done. [17:31] Derek, we know about how he affirmed this to himself and to you guys this early in this [17:48] group. [17:49] What do you think that can do for his confidence and the team's confidence in him? [17:53] Yeah, I mean, it's, you know, I feel that position, it's a very important position. [17:59] He's playing it really well for a young guy. [18:02] You know, it's all positive what he's doing. [18:06] I think he's done that at every level. [18:08] You know, now it's a level that he's, you know, that he wanted to get to and he wants to prove it. [18:14] It's an everyday thing. [18:15] I think he takes care of every day. [18:17] We're on the right side, Arvin. [18:21] Are you ready? [18:23] Are you reading right now? [18:24] My what? [18:26] You're reading? [18:28] No, I was actually looking at your ice time earlier. [18:31] I didn't blame that. [18:33] Yeah, I know. [18:34] How you gave it out. [18:35] And so if you look at it, and you look at the last half of the third period, Phil was on the ice a lot. [18:40] Yeah. [18:41] I think last year when he got here, he was so excited, right? [18:45] But I think the adjustment to come back, I think maybe some of us, maybe himself, have underestimated how hard that was going to be. [18:52] What do you see from this year that's maybe a better version of what you might have had to go through last year? [18:58] And what? [18:59] Well, I think he's very comfortable in the way we want to play both ways. [19:05] I know offensively, the numbers don't reflect that, but he's actually very involved offensively as well. [19:12] Defensively, you know, he disrupts a lot of plays, big on draws. [19:17] He's at a really, really good start for our team. [19:20] And I know that statistically, it's hard to measure everything that he does. [19:23] But, you know, he gets in the way a lot. [19:27] He disrupts and he's obviously big on the kill too. [19:29] So, I guess, it's been very good. [19:32] It's been very good. [19:35] Yeah, Simon. [19:39] In this movie, Jacob Father, we've heard a lot of his calm, his control of him-mêmes, but we saw it on the glass, [19:46] and I think we saw it a little bit, and he looked at it very well. [19:49] He said that he had a little bit of lightness, which is not always the case of his guard. [19:53] Is it your impression of having a young guy, to have a look at this situation, to have a look at this situation? [20:00] It's rare, you're saying? [20:03] Yes, yes. [20:04] What are your impressions of that? [20:05] Do you see it? [20:06] Well, I want the players to be themselves. [20:09] And I think that's it. [20:11] They are able to express their way. [20:15] We don't try to change the person's personality. [20:22] The people manage the stress and the pressure differently. [20:27] But when you're you-mêmes, you're your best version. [20:32] You don't try to be someone you're not. [20:35] And I think there's comfort in there. [20:38] That's what I'll say, you're still in the 3rd? [20:42] You're still in the 3rd? [20:45] You're still able to manage the goals and the goals you have. [20:48] How do you manage the goals and goals? [20:49] How do you manage the goals in this match? [20:51] The match in general? [20:54] The 3rd in particular? [20:56] The 3rd in particular. [20:58] Plus it was the 3rd in the 7th, [21:02] plus Winnipeg, [21:04] they pressed all that. [21:08] They pressed all that. [21:10] It was a pressure. [21:12] Yeah. [21:13] It was like, [21:15] especially in the 1st line, [21:16] they are difficult to manage [21:17] when they have a lot of anticipation. [21:19] I don't want to say triches, [21:21] but it's a lot to accentuate [21:23] on the offensive. [21:25] It's not necessarily easy to manage [21:27] because they will do a lot of things [21:29] that they won't normally do. [21:31] So you have to be alert, [21:33] you have to take care of the team, [21:35] you have to protect the risk. [21:37] In general, I think we have done a good job. [21:39] You have 4 punitions, [21:44] you have no power play [21:46] and you find a way to be in the end [21:48] and you have to play the proper game. [21:50] So, [21:52] it wasn't perfect in the evening, [21:54] but I liked how [21:56] we found a way to manage [21:58] a match. [22:09] More, go second out of the left there. [22:11] Mark, we're here. [22:12] Just to ask about your defense [22:14] and how they're helping your young goalie. [22:15] There wasn't a lot of rebound chances, [22:17] not a lot of on-end rushes, [22:19] not a lot of backdoor players. [22:21] How much do they help your young goalie [22:23] just the way they're playing in front of them? [22:26] I feel like our penalty kill did a great job [22:31] in front of fouls. [22:33] Actually, we had to defend [22:36] too much tonight. [22:40] I'm not going to get into the why, [22:42] but we actually did a pretty good job [22:44] at defending. [22:46] Our D's are a big part of that. [22:48] Fouls was tremendous. [22:50] I mean, I would like to have to defend less. [22:52] But we were good when we had to do it. [22:55] And, you know. [22:57] You know. [23:02] Well, GM. [23:03] When Josh Anderson is the coach [23:05] of his championship, [23:06] he left 1 minute 32 seconds [23:07] in the third. [23:08] It's the same four players [23:09] who were able to do it. [23:10] How much do they have been important? [23:13] For you? [23:14] It's true. [23:15] They have been important [23:16] through this match. [23:17] Jake Evans, Phil Darnaud [23:19] have played a great match tonight. [23:20] It's true. [23:21] They played a great role [23:22] in disadvantage. [23:24] It's 1 minute and a half, [23:27] but we did a good job [23:30] to not give them a easy setup. [23:34] I'm kind of happy. [23:38] The same thing for both of you. [23:49] Just want to know [23:50] what you think about the weekend [23:51] here in Winnipeg [23:52] where you thought about the show. [23:53] There's a ton of Habs fans all over the city. [23:55] Just your overall thoughts about it. [23:57] Yeah. [24:00] It was a pretty special event. [24:02] Two incredible fan bases. [24:04] Two storied teams. [24:05] So, yeah. [24:07] It was really fun to be a part of [24:09] and, you know, [24:10] feeling the energy as we're driving up to the rink. [24:11] It was pretty cool. [24:12] And seeing all the Habs fans, [24:14] it's always special to play in front of them. [24:16] Yeah. [24:18] I mean, it was so cool. [24:19] Like you said, [24:20] when our bus was pulling in tonight, [24:21] it was crazy. [24:22] Just a mob of Habs fans. [24:23] And they were getting the [24:25] Ole Ole chance going [24:26] and we were getting off the bus. [24:27] It was really cool to see [24:29] how well these fans travel. [24:30] And we definitely felt the sport. [24:32] stay in that same row. [24:34] Hey, guys. [24:35] This is for the two of you as well. [24:37] Another game defending the lead late in the third period. [24:43] Come out against Chicago with a win. [24:45] Come out here with a win. [24:46] What's it been like gelling as a team, [24:48] being able to hold down those leads together? [24:50] And how active has the defense been in being able to push that through [24:54] with Jacob playing the way he is? [24:56] Yeah. [24:58] Having him back there definitely helps a lot. [25:01] I think it's still a work in progress. [25:04] We're just trying to do hard actions, [25:06] play the same way and, you know, [25:08] play prideful hockey. [25:09] And I feel like we're doing a better job of it. [25:12] Limiting our risk and, you know, [25:14] still learning how to play with the lead. [25:16] But, you know, [25:17] we're doing a pretty good job of putting ourselves in these situations. [25:21] Yeah, I mean, like you said, it's never going to be perfect. [25:24] I wish we could close out every game every single night. [25:28] But the reality of it is it's a hard league to do that in. [25:31] And I'm just really proud of the guys putting the team first [25:34] and a couple of big penalty kills during the game there. [25:36] So really proud of the effort. [25:38] Back row in the middle. [25:42] You guys talk about kind of the fans and the event, [25:45] but what are some takeaways from this weekend, [25:48] from these games that are going to help guide you guys [25:51] through this next couple stretch of games? [25:53] I think it just builds our confidence [25:58] and kind of, you know, [26:01] we're just trying to build our game every night. [26:03] So I think just having the confidence of, you know, [26:06] going in here and playing the way we did, [26:08] it's good for our team. [26:09] Right side, Arvin. [26:12] Hey, Lane, Marty was just sitting here mentioning [26:16] how you felt you guys had to defend too much today. [26:18] Why do you think were some of the reasons why that was [26:21] because you've done a pretty good job of avoiding that? [26:24] Yeah, definitely defended more than we wanted to. [26:29] I feel like we just weren't really executing at a high level [26:34] through the neutral zone, [26:36] getting deep pucks and winning them back. [26:38] But we had flashes of it [26:40] and ended up executing a couple of plays and scoring. [26:43] But yeah, I think they also had their push too. [26:48] So we spent a lot of time defending, [26:50] but I feel like we did a pretty good job of defending. [26:52] Last question. [26:54] Second on the left, Derek. [26:55] Hey, Jacob. [26:56] Talking to some of your teammates, [26:57] they said they had a chance to kind of look around [26:59] and take in the atmosphere while they were on the bench during the game. [27:01] Just wondering if you had a chance to do that too? [27:04] And just what was it like just looking at the moment for that where you were? [27:08] I mean, it was pretty cool. [27:10] I think this game was different than a lot of other games I've played [27:14] where I feel like a lot of times you're looking at the clock, [27:16] kind of waiting for it to run out and obviously you want to get the win. [27:19] But I think tonight was just one of those games where you almost see, [27:22] you know, you never want the game to end. [27:23] You know, it's so fun to be out there. [27:25] You know, two of us have been talking about it. [27:28] We wish we could play more of these. [27:29] It's so fun. [27:31] Such a great environment. [27:34] The ice was pretty good. [27:35] So just a lot of fun. [27:37] I definitely took in my fair share of the moment there. [27:40] Thanks.