Alain Vigneault met with the media on Tuesday after practice and said (NYR):
- How was practice, "practice was good. It was good focus, good execution and guys worked hard and our guys are on the way to Ottawa to try and win a game."
- On the lines staying the same, "I would say to you that our body of work lately. I think that for this last little stretch for over a month we have been pretty close to one of the top two teams in terms of winning percentage in the NHL. In that big body of work we have had some real good moments, some other games where a period might have been more challenging. We just came from Washington and I went to see Washington against Chicago and in the second period, Washington wins that game 6-2, but they don't touch the puck. It seems like this year, more than ever, that teams can take over a period. Last night we played a team that took over two periods but our body of work lately has been good and we will go to Ottawa with the same lines we have been using for a while and try to come up with a win."
- On last night, "we look at a couple of points that I definitely want to point out before the Ottawa game. Today we are practicing and traveling so I will do that tomorrow morning. We are not totally gonna, a lot of times it's a good thing to do. In an 82 game schedule, for some reason there are nights where you just move on to the next game. There are a couple of areas that I think could be good teaching moments from last night's game that I am going to use tomorrow morning. Tomorrow is a new opportunity for this group. Not one player other than Pavs last night was happy with his own performance. After the first and after the second they were trying to get themselves executing and making the plays that needed to be made. We made a couple of more in the third, able to tie the game up but obviously we didn't deserve to win."
- What are those areas, "I would rather share it with the team than with you first. Today we put the emphasis on a couple of 5 on 5 things that we needed to do better, back checking harder, tracking back, tightening up the area between the forward and D. There are a couple of other specific areas that I want to get to and as much as I like you guys, I like my players a little better and I'll share it with them first."
- What is the line between going back to the loss and moving on, "every game and the schedule sometimes is different, sometimes with how the team is doing but if you look at the body of work in the last 15-16-17 games it's pretty positive for our group. Trust the players, trust the leadership group and go out and have a better game tomorrow."
- On being smart with the puck against Ottawa, "there is no doubt. We know them well, we know their system well, we know the areas we can exploit to have success against that team, we just gotta go out and do it. I'm confident that we will have real good focus tomorrow and play hard."
- On Buchnevich, "I think Buchie, at the beginning, he knew more English than he was letting on so I wouldn't get on him too much, but his English is fine. He understands everything, with the video now and showing somebody something, a lot of times it's pretty self explanatory and going here and doing that, language barriers, in his case, is not an issue. Everything that we tell the team during meetings, he picks up, he has come a long way in that aspect. I might be exaggerating there, it might have been more challenging for him at the beginning but he is fine now."
- On his game, "his game is growing, that 200 ft game that we need. The same game we need on the road and at home. There is no doubt that his skill level is there, his understanding of the game is improving and as it does, with his skill level, I think he is proving that he belongs in this league, can be an effective player and make an impact. He's just a kid and will continue to get better and improve."
- On Mika, "he is coming along real well, today he had a full practice on D, he looked real sharp. I am looking forward to trying him in the middle here real shortly."
- Could he go in the middle on Thursday, "Thursday is a possibility that he might get a couple of laps in the middle."
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