Craig MacTavish Quotes

"When that happens, it's a tactical mistake on our part. We can't blame the goalie on that one."

"It's going to be very entertaining, very pressure-filled hockey from here till the end. When you find yourself five points out of the division lead and three points out of ninth, there's a lot at stake."

"You miss a guy with that intensity. He sets a great example for everybody, in terms of work ethic and selflessness."

"The guys are starting to play well in front of him, and we're getting the consistent performance we were looking for from the position."

"Against a team like Detroit, they'll make you pay when you give up those high-quality scoring chances."

"We had lots of opportunities to win the game ourselves."

"That just confirms my philosophy that the less you want something, the more likelihood of it occurring. This was a game that we really didn't care all that much about, so automatic win."

"He'll get the opportunity. The rest will be up to him. He showed the ability at his first rookie camp, but he was inconsistent. I guess you expect that out of a young kid."

"It's another example that you have to take care of every aspect of our game. Otherwise it ends up being a loss."

"You hate to have the whole season riding on something like that. But welcome to the new NHL. That's got to be a record for the amount of shooters."

"It was a great opportunity for us. We knew what this one meant. If we won it would effectively be a five team race."

"Players like him are seldom available. He's just good all-around. Reading the rush, good stick, use of his body, making the outlet pass, reading plays."

"I'm really happy about the way we've responded to adversity. They showed some composure by not throwing in the towel after the two quick ones in the third."

"It's another example of how you have to lock down every last detail, or you don't win. We played a very good third period, only allowed them four shots on goal and they scored on two of them because they were quality chances that came as a direct result of our mistakes."

"We have to play a much more intelligent game then what we played the last three games. We've been sloppy for three straight games now and you can't hope to win at this level making those types of mistakes."

"We've got to answer back and it's in a much tougher building now. It's well documented how important these games are for both teams. We've got to bounce back."

"There are a lot of teams looking for one more save a night. We're one of them."

"(Chris) Chelios got a couple penalties in the second period, but there's no question that they willed the influence over the officials. Part of that is the inexperience. I'm not saying we didn't deserve a number of those penalties, but there were a number that I thought were poor calls."

"I think it lends a sense of perspective for both guys because they've been all over the place to get here."

"Hockey moulds and reveals character. The root of it is really built into the character of the person."