Dallas Stars Quotes After Riveting 3-2 Win Over Vancouver
The Dallas Stars may not have made it pretty, but they found a way to get the win on Friday night. After being challenged by the Vancouver Canucks, the Stars came up in a big way with the 3-2 victory in the shootout.
After the game, we got the chance to catch up with a few of the players and coaches. What they had to say is below:
Jason Spezza:
How it feels to get the win after a loss:
Yeah it’s a good bounce back. Being shorthanded seven times is a tough game, but our penalty killers did a great job and we gritted it out and won it in the shootout. Some nights there are different ways to win games, and I’m just glad we found a way to win.
How big the special teams play was:
The penalty kill was great. Unfortunately they got that one, but they got so many looks on the power play and we did such a good job with Fidds [Vernon Fiddler] and Eaks [Cody Eakin] and everybody that killed. They did a good job of not giving too much, because when a team gets that many touches on the power play they’re going to get chances. Luckily Nemo [Antti Niemi] was big for us.
It was a good character win. Probably not the prettiest game we’ve played all year or the best effort but finding a way to win is important.
How he found a way to score the second goal:
Yeah it was just a tight little spot and I saw him [Ryan Miller] lean a little bit. It’s a shot I’ve used before.
How the different types of wins affect overall play:
It’s tough. It’s 82 games and it’s a grind and some nights you aren’t going to have your best. But it’s important as a team to find a way to win. We’re finding a way to do that especially after getting embarrassed by Ottawa. It was an important bounce back game and to have seven power plays against, we could have become easily frustrated. But I think we got the fate we deserved.
Jamie Benn:
The special teams play:
There was a lot going on out there. I think we took too many penalties and as myself I took two which I can’t do against a team like that. They’ll eventually capitalize and they did tonight. We got a power play goal and a couple good looks in overtime, but there was a lot going on.
The penalty kill:
We were pretty good before that [goal]. We took a lot of penalties but I think we did a good job. It started with our goalie who had some big saves in there.
The Dallas Stars ability to bounce back:
It wasn’t pretty tonight, but at times we were playing really well. But the biggest thing is we found a way to win and get two points.
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If he likes what he saw from Antti Niemi:
He’s obviously a top-notch goalie in this league and he made some big saves tonight. He faced 30 or something shots and it was nice to see him get back in there.
Antti Niemi:
On his diving save in overtime:
Nope, no panic. Just wishing for the best.
The job of the penalty killers:
Great work there. They got the puck out a bunch. Good job overall.
If he likes 3-on-3 overtime:
So far, yeah. It’s interesting for sure.
How he felt in the shootout:
Good. I think giving up a couple breakaway goals in the game the other day forced us to take some breakaways in practice, so that probably helped a little bit.
Lindy Ruff:
On finding a way to win:
I thought our special teams were real good and our penalty kill did a great job. Our power play had a couple of great looks in overtime but didn’t hit the shot we wanted to hit. It was a different night. You’re going to have games like this where a lot of it is special teams and it takes a lot of players out of the game. In the first period I had a few guys who barely got out there.
Antti Niemi’s performance:
Excellent, I thought he was excellent. He did a great job and made some big saves. He made the one save at late in the second period that was a slap shot from the slot. I thought it was a really good save and obviously he was a big part of that win tonight for us.
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If he was happy with the bounce back effort:
For the most part I was. The game was so disjointed that it was hard to break that one down. You really break it down into special teams and you don’t get a lot of flow to it. I thought both goaltenders made some big saves at opportune times. Jason Spezza probably could have put the game away two or three different times for us, but Miller made some great saves. But I thought Antti [Niemi] kept them out there and gave us a chance to put it away.
Klingberg’s turnover:
We went a different direction after that for a while and it was a case of move your feet right away or move the puck right away. We just overthought it for a second and those two guys are the best in the game at reading it and putting it in the back of the net.
Biggest change to penalty kill over the last few games:
We keep trying to keep the opposition guessing, and I think James [Patrick] did a great job tonight with our guys. We really got aggressive up ice. The first few they hardly got any entries and their zone time was way down, which was great. We had some real good shot lanes. We really didn’t give up anything point-blank. Just a little bit of a missed assignment on the last one or we would’ve had a clean night.
If Kari will travel:
Yeah, Kari [Lehtonen] will be with us.
Next: Stars Bounce Back, Knock Off Canucks 3-2 In SO - Postgame
The Dallas Stars are back at it tonight when they take on the Minnesota Wild. Stay up to date on the preview of the game by checking back to Blackout Dallas.