St. Louis Blues right wing Vladimir Tarasenko (91) scores a goal against Dallas Stars goalie Kari Lehtonen (32) during the third period of an NHL hockey game, Tuesday, Oct. 28, 2014, in Dallas. The Blues won 4-3 in overtime. (AP Photo/LM Otero)
Stars Head Coach Lindy Ruff
On the team’s play tonight:
“We’re this close to completing the deal. I thought we started a little bit tentative and gave them too much respect. Then it was pedal-to-the-metal for 50 minutes. We made a couple of mistakes where we ended up beating ourselves again, which hurts. We got a point out of the game. A penalty in overtime is sometimes tough to kill, but we had an opportunity just before that where Jamie (Benn) almost had an empty net to put it in. I think we’ve got a couple of mistakes we’ve got to clean up still but not as many. That team doesn’t give up a lot and they gave up quite a bit to us. Our puck position, our offensive zone play and our transition play these last three games has been good.”
On Jamie Oleksiak’s first goal:
“He’s gaining confidence. He’s got size, he can skate and has good playmaking ability. I liked his game. Defending he was really solid and you’ve got to start there.
A couple of times he was up-ice, he was in a couple of other scoring chances which were smart plays and I really liked his game.”
On the play of Kari Lehtonen tonight:
“He made some good saves. I like it when guys are hard on themselves and expect to make every save. That’s the way it should be. Expect to give up nothing. That’s a great attitude to have.”
On losing the lead during the game:
“There’s good players on the ice, they’re going to get some chances – but let’s make them earn their chances. Let’s not hand them their chances. Let’s not hand them the 2-on-1’s when we have the lead. St. Louis has good players and they will get their chances, but let’s make sure that the quality of them is on the lower side because we’re going our part.
We had too many giveaways on the rush. We made it easy on them. We cut the ice into about three-quarters and said here we’re going to give you an opportunity. We just have little things to eliminate.
We’re skating as well and competing as hard now…they couldn’t skate with us. I was very impressed with the work ethic of our team. But what was up here (mentally) hurt us.”
Stars goaltender Kari Lehtonen
On how he felt the game went:
“From my point, I think we played a really good game and that four goals from those shots were too many. I feel like I could’ve stopped one or two of those and that kind of kept them in it. They started good, got the first couple of chances, but after that I think we played really well and that’s about it.”
On giving up two quick goals so soon after scoring:
-“That’s something that can’t happen; I think we learned something. In the third period we scored and then we kept playing well after that, but they were able to get another goal and it’s just something I’m not happy about with my game today. We just need to take the one point and take it from there.”
On whether the team is closer to playing the style Lindy Ruff wants them to play:
“This was way better than last game on the Island, but this seems to be one game we play really well, and one game we play really sloppy. It’s just that time of the year we have to figure out what works for us, and I think everyone in front of me played really well today. I’m happy about that.”
Stars defenseman Jamie Oleksiak
On scoring his first NHL goal:
“Overall, I’m glad to get that first one out of the way. I think it was a good pass by [Tyler Seguin] and a good setup by Jamie [Benn], it was a good goal.”
On walking the line between being offensive and still being positionally sound:
“When you can get pucks through the net, that’s definitely an advantage and you can get some good scoring opportunities off that and it opens up a lot of stuff down low for the forwards. So I think we have a lot of great offensive defensemen that have good shots that can get through and we have to take advantage of that.”
Blues Head Coach Ken Hitchcock
On tonight’s game:
“It was a wild game. It was the best and worst for both teams. During the first period, it was probably the best we’ve played on the road the whole year. In the second period, we seemed to lose our bearings once [David] Backes got hurt. The second period we were off kilter, not skating and not competing like we did before. Then we gathered ourselves and managed some good minutes in the third period. We had a second period where we were a little bit on our heels. The way Dallas plays, if you’re going to get on your heels you are going to get on your heels further. We re-grouped and played a decent third period.”
On where the Blues are at right now:
“We have no idea what type of team we have. We have played two hockey games with the line structure that we had. This might just be one of those years where you have to scramble to stay afloat. We never had any adversity last year until the last two weeks and then we got bombed. We have had nothing but an unsettled roster [this season] both at practice and in games since the second game of the year.”
On Jori Lehtera and Vladmir Tarasenko:
“I knew from the start that Lehtera was a guy who can find his way into the program. I didn’t know if he was going to be a one, two or three, but I knew he was going to be something. I knew him and [Vladimir Tarasenko] had good chemistry from playing together so we put them together in training camp. That line with [Jaden] Schwartz was awesome. In two of the games played together, they had 22 scoring chances on the line and then with the injury everything got blown up. Now we are a little bit in scramble mode.”
On David Backes’ injury:
“He will be re-evaluated tomorrow. With the upper body injury he was removed from the game. We will have to see what the doctors saytomorrow.”
Blues forward Vladimir Tarasenko
On thoughts on his team:
“We just trust in our team, we trust in every guy on our team so they worry about being down by one goal, but we’re sure we can get it back and just play for each other.”
On the chemistry between him and Jori Lehtera:
“We played two years together in Russia so it was a fun time to play on the same line all the time. The chemistry, took a long time to get here because it’s different hockey, but we work and try to get better every day. He knows where I’m going and I know where he’s going and we like to work to find each other.”
On earning his first hat-trick:
“It’s good but thanks to my teammates for helping me do this, but we have a tough [game coming up] against a team that beat us a week ago, so we need to prepare for it and no time savor it.”
On the importance of getting the comeback win:
“Just one hockey game so we just play our game like our coach says “trust in our power trust in our team” and it’s an important win for us.”
Blues forward Steve Ott
On the video commemorating his time in Dallas:
“It was a first class organization when I played there and will be for a long time. It’s just another testament to the community, the fans and organization. Obviously, I hold a piece of my heart forever, and they always will be. But priorities wise, I know where I stand now and who I’m battling for.”
On if he knew video was coming:
“No, I didn’t. It was honestly a first class gesture, it really was. I was shocked and the reception you get from the fan that probably won’t be cheering for me the rest of the way. It was nice to say kind of a goodbye hello at the same time and a thank you from my end as well, I really enjoyed my time here.”
On his thoughts of where team is at with injuries to key players:
“You can’t replace those types of players. It’s impossible. But we have to start pulling together with every guy getting a little more ice-time. Every guy has to try a little bit harder in essence, but those guys are irreplaceable.”