What players and coaches had to say after Bruins-Blues Game 2
The Blues won Game 2 by a score of 3-2 in overtime to tie the series Wednesday.
Here’s what the Bruins and Blues coaches and players had to say after the Blues’ 3-2 overtime victory in Game 2 of the Stanley Cup Final Wednesday at TD Garden:
Bruins coach Bruce Cassidy
On how much this game feels like a missed opportunity and what did St. Louis do well:
“They were desperate. I shouldn’t say they were desperate. They’re not desperate. They seemed to play with more urgency tonight than they did Game 1.
“What they did was I thought they were on top of us, tighter than they did the first game. They didn’t allow us to get the space. As a result, we didn’t seem to win as many races as we did Game 1 to pucks.’’
NO. 4 WINS IT IN BOSTON!!!! #stlblues #WeAllBleedBlue pic.twitter.com/dVuNzfZlvR
— St. Louis Blues (@StLouisBlues) May 30, 2019
On the problems the Bruins faced after losing defenseman Matt Grzelcyk in the first period to an injury: “Yeah the partner chemistry I think this year, as a result of a lot of guys getting out of the lineup, that part I think we can overcome. Guys are used to playing with different guys. But losing the 16 minutes of Grzelcyk’s time, good puck mover, guy that can break down a forecheck when he’s on, and that was clearly a strength of theirs tonight and a weakness of ours breaking pucks out. So that’s where we missed him the most I felt like.’’
On his confidence in John Moore or Steven Kampfer as possible replacements if Grzelcyk is sidelined: “They’ve played the playoffs, helped us win games. I’m more concerned with Grzelcyk’s health right now. … Hopefully he comes back and he’s fine. We do have two days between the next game, so if not, we’ll look at Johnny vs Kampfer. The easy thing to say is Moore is a left stick. Keeps everyone on their appropriate side, but we’ll deal with that. Next man up, we’ve done a lot this year.
On the series shifting to St. Louis: “They’re going home, their fans will be behind them just like ours are. We went into a hostile environment in Carolina, very loud building, won a couple there. Columbus, won a couple there, Toronto. We got a veteran group, they’ll bounce back, they’ll be ready to go.’’
Bruins forward David Backes
On the more physical nature of Game 2:
“There were a lot more confrontations, I thought, some of that might have had to do with guys trying to pull the pin on the puck before it explodes a little bit and trying to take a little bit of extra time with it. The quicker that puck moves the tougher it is to finish pucks.
What a freakin’ hit by David Backes on Sammy Blais pic.twitter.com/F28bWE0SBX
— Evan Marinofsky (@EvanMarinofsky) May 30, 2019
Bruins goalie Tuukka Rask
On if he saw the game-winning goal:
“No.’’
On the series: “We are playing in the Finals so it will be hard fought series and you know when you play a big, heavy team like St. Louis, there’s no extra room out there so it’s not going to get easier.’’
Bruins center Charlie Coyle
On St. Louis’ performance:
“They came harder than the last game. They had pace, they hit, and they were all over the puck. We expected that. I don’t think our play was up to par with theirs and you see they get the result they earned.’’
On what he’s going to do to mentally prepare for Game 3: “We just got to reset. Tie ball game right now. No team’s ahead. No team’s behind. It’s one-one. We have a chance next game and time to prepare now, but we just reset, refocus, come back ready to go for the next one.’’
Bruins forward Brad Marchand
On the difference in the Blues from Game 1 to Game 2
: “They just competed. Hard. They won a lot of battles in our zone. They have a lot of good sticks, so they turn a lot of pucks over and created some offense off of that.’’
On his line: “Yeah, we need to be better. Personally, I wasn’t good the last two games so we can’t be playing like that.’’
Blues coach Craig Berube
On his encounter with Carl Gunnarsson in the bathroom before overtime:
“He just said he needed one more shot. He was joking around a little bit, you know. But he played a hell of a game, Gunny.’’
On St. Louis’s resilience: “I think that for a long time now this team has really become a really good hockey team and a tight hockey team. They play for each other night in and night out and they care. We’ve always responded to not a very good game, so you know, going into Game 2 I knew that we’d be a hard team to play against tonight and we were.’’
Blues goaltender Jordan Binnington
On resetting after losing Game 1:
“Life of a goaltender. Just keep moving forward and regroup and just try to be there and give your team a chance to win and I just keep that mindset.’’
