Vancouver Canucks center Brad Richardson goes up against Dallas Stars goalie Kari Lehtonen during the second period of their game Tuesday, October 21, 2014 at the American Airlines Center in Dallas, Texas. (G.J. McCarthy/The Dallas Morning News)
Check out the highlights of a highlight-filled game right here.
Ralph and Razor bring it to the people here.
Nice interview with Kari Lehtonen here.
Stars Head Coach Lindy Ruff:
On tonight’s game:
“We started the game and did a lot of great things but I thought defensively we really struggled. I thought the defense really had a tough time down low. We made some poor decisions that led to some pretty big chances. On some of our coverage, we were above the puck on the offensive zone and they got inside us but when the game was right there, I thought we were the better team. When it got out of hand we had too many guys leaning on the offensive side and not willing to pay a big enough price to keep it fairly comfortable and I thought (Lehtonen) made some big saves. He was our best player by far.”
On the team’s start to the season:
“I’m concerned, I think our defense needs to play better. It hasn’t played well enough. There’s been some games when we’ve played two periods, one period, thirty minutes…the shot differential tonight leaned heavily in their favor. That’s an obvious statement. Last game was the same. Shot differential wasn’t the same but the chances were still there and, sooner or later, that catches up to you unless you correct it.”
On the Stars’ positives tonight:
“Faceoffs after two periods were 72% or something like that. That was good, the penalty killing was good. I thought the first unit power play passed up some big opportunities to shoot it but obviously Cole got us one. We lost a game here in overtime where we played really well against Chicago. You can look at it like sometimes it all evens out. It also tells you there is a lot of work to be done.”
On scoring a goal after a big save from Lehtonen:
“That’s the tradeoff you get that big save and then you go the other way. It was a situation where they’re either coming back or we take it the other way and get one. A lot of times you see that where a big save can lead to a goal going the other way.”
On the two game road trip:
“Both teams are playing very well. The Islanders have been really the surprise and Jersey, history shows, is one of the toughest places to go in and scrape out some goals and get some offense. They’re a very diligent club, they’ve been good offensively this year and their goaltender has been really good.”
Stars defenseman Trevor Daley:
On tonight’s win:
“It was a great feeling. Two points – that’s all that matters. The positive thing we take form tonight is that we got two points. I think we are going to look at a lot tomorrow in practice. That was a tough game to be a part of. When you get up by that many goals early, you expect the other team to push back. You tend when you are up by that much to sit back.”
On the team’s ability to score goals in bunches:
That’s a huge positive. That’s going to help us win games. On the flip side, we have to be good on the [defensive] side. We got two points tonight. It’s a huge two points. We haven’t won at home yet. At the end of the year they don’t ask how, they ask how many.
On the team’s record:
We’ve lost one game in regulation so far. I think anyone sitting in our position is actually pretty excited about what’s happening. It shows where we are at, where we could go and the potential we have. I think that’s a positive thing in this dressing room.
Stars forward Erik Cole:
On getting off to a fast start in the game:
“We had a good start, but there was a lot of things in the game we can improve on. It’s not too often it’s a 6-3 win and your goalie has to stop over 40 shots for you. We’ve got some areas we can definitely clean up, but obviously it’s a big two points for us.”
On scoring three goals in his last two games:
“I’m just happy we can send anybody over the bench and count on them for scoring. It’s always nice to be contributing and taking pressure off our top guys to have to be there every night for us or have to lean on (Kari Lehtonen) as heavily as we’ve done in the past. It’s just two games so we have a long way to go.”
On what happened after getting off to a 5-0 lead:
“They kind of got a little bit of a push and took some risks and things like that, but we got ourselves into penalty trouble and gave them some momentum. We sat back a little too much and we just weren’t playing a real sound defensive game as a five-man unit. In the D-zone we were giving up just too much. There was one play where (Kari Lehtonen) had to make three or four great saves right at the top of his crease and we need to work at it and get better at it.”
On Lehtonen’s big saves:
“That’s what Kari does. Makes big saves for us when we need them and he has always done that. It’s not a surprise. Obviously he’s been a little critical of himself here in the early going, but I think that was a real strong effort that he can hang his hat on.”
Stars forward Ryan Garbutt:
On his line having success:
“It was great. Our line was just using our speed, threw a puck out to the net. Not sure if Cody [Eakin] got a whack on it or not, but it was nice to get the ball rolling for us.”
On the importance of getting an early lead:
“It was big jumping out to that lead, but it was also kind of tough. We kind of sat back on our heels after and didn’t play the game that we probably should have, but it’s nice to come out here with a win against our old coach.”
On the bounce-back after the Philadelphia game:
“It’s a little bit different playing against teams in the East and teams in the West, although it was pretty wide-open out there today. It’s just one of those games we have to put behind us, and I think all three of us learned from it and we’re going to get better from there.”
On Kari Lehtonen:
“Kari was our best player out there. He was attacking the puck – it was fun to watch and it’s pretty easy to play in front of him when you’ve got a goalie playing like that.”
On defending the lead:
“We sat back on them a little bit. Consequently, we gave up a lot of shots and that’s something we’re going to have to clean up if we have high-scoring guys like the top three that we have. We’re going to have big leads. We’re going to have to defend them.”
Canucks Head Coach Willie Desjardins:
On the start of tonight’s game:
“I thought they put lots of pressure on us. They’ve got good speed on their attack. They went to the net hard. The goals may look fortunate, but they got goals because they worked hard and put pressure on our net.”
On having close to 50 shots tonight:
“I think when you’re down you always gamble more, and when you’re gambling more sometimes you get more shots out of it. I think we had to gamble a little bit more and as a result we got quite a few shots.”
On the lucky goals Dallas scored:
“They didn’t get lucky goals, they went to the net and they got chances. I thought we played pretty hard in the third and I didn’t think they gave up. I think that’s the only positive.”
On if the team got outworked in the first period:
“No, I didn’t say we got outworked, I said they went hard to the net. They put good pressure on our net. They have real good speed as a team and they used their pace. I think the first period was pretty even, they just scored on their chances.”
Canucks forward Jannik Hansen:
On tonight’s game:
“The start was something we obviously don’t want to end up in, being down five goals a couple minutes into the second. As far as the play from then on, I thought we did well and I think we were creating chances and sticking with it. I felt like we had more chances for more goals. If we can put up 40-50 shots a night we’re going to be in a better position then we were tonight.”
On if missing the shorthanded goal hurt them:
“Absolutely. It’s a tie game, and instead it’s 3-0 two minutes later. It’s obviously extremely frustrating when you see the momentum swing in such a big way. One thing, you miss a breakaway, and the other is that they skate back the other way and score.”
Canucks goaltender Ryan Miller:
On tonight’s game:
“Well we got a couple of tough breaks early on that put us behind. Considering how we started out I thought we started to put a good game together. Our system is working a little bit better midway through the game and on to the third, so good for the guys, again we got ourselves in that hole, and we stuck with it. I thought we performed pretty well considering. Just a tough night, a couple of tough situations.”
On Jamie Benn’s goal:
“I talked to the guys, and it hit my blocker and then hit my knob. I couldn’t do that again if I tried on 999,999 of a million pucks. He kind of fanned on it, I reached for it, it hit my blocker and it was going wide, and then hits my stick, I think. I don’t even know what to say. I haven’t done that one before in the NHL. I’ve done a lot of stupid things but that’s a new one.”
On if he is anxious to get back in there after games like this:
“Yeah, I didn’t like my overall positioning on [Erik] Cole’s goal, but after that it was just a series of tough breaks. I don’t know what else to call them. From my perspective I need to probably be a little bit more aware and do whatever I can to keep the puck out of the net, but it just didn’t work out that way on those bounces.”
On if he knew at any point in the game that it wasn’t his night:
“No, I mean, the way Tanev and I ended up, we were face-to-face and I almost just wanted to laugh. It was just ridiculous situations and they’re going to come up. Hockey’s a sport where mistakes happen, quite a bit, actually, and tonight odd situations presented themselves early and I found myself on the bench.”
NOTES:
· Dallas scored six goals on Tuesday after scoring five goals on Saturday. The last time the Stars scored at least five goals in back-to-back games was Nov. 3, 2010 (5-2 vs. Pittsburgh) and Nov. 5 (6-3 vs. Arizona) (per Elias Sports Bureau).
· KARI LEHTONEN stopped 43 of 46 shots to earn his third win of the season. The last time he recorded 40+ saves came on Dec. 16, 2013 at Colorado (per hockey-reference.com)
· SHAWN HORCOFF tallied two assists on Tuesday for his 300th and 301st career assists. HORCOFF now has three points (0-3=3) this season.
· ERIC COLE scored two goals Tuesday night, and now has three goals in his last two contests. COLE has tallied 12 goals and 15 points (12-3=15) in his last 10 contests against Vancouver.
· TYLER SEGUIN notched two points (1-1=2) on Tuesday, extending his current point streak to four games (5-5=10). SEGUINleads the team with 10 points (5-5=10) on the season.
· JAMIE BENN posted a goal and an assist Tuesday night to extend his current goal streak to four games (4-4=8). BENN also extends his current point streak against the Canucks to eight games (5-7=12).
· JASON SPEZZA added his team-leading seventh assist of the season, extending his current point streak to three games (1-6=7). SPEZZA is now tied for second on the team with eight points on the season (1-7=8).
· RYAN GARBUTT notched a goal and an assist Tuesday night for his first multi-point game of the season. He now has four points (1-3=4) in the 2014-15 campaign.
· TREVOR DALEY extended his point streak to three games (2-2=4) on Tuesday night, posting his third assist of the season.DALEY now has six points this season (3-3=6).