Craig MacTavish Quotes

"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."

"You have to give them credit for their ability to check and they knocked us off the puck and they turned over a lot of pucks. But at the same time we were turning the pucks over and it just seems like we never settled into our game even from the outset we didn't settle into out game. But I think you give them credit for giving us a little bit of a lesson."

"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."

"We haven't had too many trips this year below .500. Three points out of four games isn't a total disaster."

"Even a guy with as much experience as Dwayne, it takes a while to get comfortable. You get out of your routine. Having been traded at about the same age as he is now, I know it's a little unsettling."

"He gives us experience. He can play center, he can play the wing and he's a penalty killer."

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

"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."

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

"It's a different standard with those two. It seems like you get credited for having the courage to call everything."

"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."

"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."

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

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

"(The loss is) hard to slough off. It's going to linger for a while. Given any other circumstances, this would be a game we could quickly get over and start focusing on San Jose Friday. It was one of those games where we deserved better."

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

"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."

"It's a huge cop-out to talk about a goalie when you only score two goals. Playing goal for our team, the way we're putting the puck in the net lately, is very difficult."

"(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."