HC JASON KREIS: “Obviously we can’t do much in the training session when we’ve got a game two days ago and a full day of travel yesterday. So the majority of the guys who anything, really, just warm up and some 5-v-2s. The rest of the group was able to do a little bit more but still very limited.”

“For me, the New England result of a month ago, whatever it was, was never a 4-0 game. That was a game where I thought we were neck and neck all the way until we got an ejection. And then, from that moment on, we knew we were still trying to chase the game, and you’re a man down, and so you’re always gonna be suspect to giving away goals. So the late goals in that game were the difference. And obviously we were all really disappointed with the performance in the first 45 minutes against Portland. And then, again, to have an ejection in the—whatever it was—47th, 48th, 50th minute. Being two goals down, pretty much that’s game over. So, we need to wipe the slate clean. And we need to come into this match with—feeling like we have something to prove because we do. We need to prove something, first and foremost, for ourselves, but we need to prove something to the rest of our club and all of our fans. They’ve been so fantastic this entire year, and we haven’t been at home for a long time, so it should be a game that all of us are up for.”

“Yeah, it’s always a moment, I think, in a team, when you get a new coach, that you’re recognizing pretty quickly that you’re fighting for your job all over again, so to speak. You’re fighting for opportunities in the starting lineup. You’re fighting for minutes in the 18. You’re fighting for a future with the club. But I would tell you that we’re in the exact same boat. Just because we don’t have a new coach doesn’t mean anything. Because we are in that exact same boat.”

“I think we have to balance [between best available and resting], and, for me, we’re not gonna place anybody in the lineup that we don’t think has the ability to help us to win a game. So it’s not like we’re just gonna try out things and do some rotation. No, no, no. That’s not it at all. Again, for me, it’s always about putting out a team that you think can win the game and that gives you best opportunity to win the game, especially when we’re at home, and sometimes that means fresh players over playing everybody 90 minutes, three games in a row. But, for us, the decisions are never about rotation or for fairness or anything like that. The decisions are made to give us the best opportunity to win.”