The game was probably a little sloppier than what you have would have hoped. But how proud are you of way the guys battled back in the third period, and how good does it feel to get over those post-regulation lows?
Yeah, the third period was great. I mean, just the start of it, the way you come out there, just to try to turn the momentum for us to start that period. Especially after the way the second ended. So obviously, that was a huge shift, huge goal. Thought we had some good follow-up for it. Sid’s goal there was massive, obviously. But I also thought we had just more time there where we’re starting to put multiple shifts together. And then in regards to overtime, if you go back to our last overtime, I thought we did a lot of really good things. And so, we carried that over into this one, obviously. We got the opportunity, we executed, and great to get that first overtime win.
Bryan Rust goes down at the end of the second, comes out and scores that goal to start the third. Just what can you say about what you’ve seen from him in terms of his leadership and just the way he can step up when the team needs it?
He’s going to give everything he has every single night, every shift. You look at just how important he is for this team in terms of the usage all situations. He’s a part of all of it. And yeah, I think when the team needs a big play, or on the offensive side, a big moment, he’s obviously a guy that can deliver. So, great game by him, by his line there tonight.
What was wrong in the second period, and then what changed in the third?
I think in the second, there was a lot that was off. Just in terms of our puck pressure, it wasn’t there. There’s one man when we need to get the second guy up. I think the battle level… the second period, there was a lot of things that were missing there from our game. Third period, I thought we got back to some of the things that have worked for us. So, it’s great to get the win. I think as we continue to move forward, though, you’re never gonna have a perfect game. But I do think that there’s things, you look at those first two periods, we have to clean up moving forward.
I think the big takeaway here for tonight is there’s going to be games you’re playing well, and you’re down. The ability there to just stay with it, to know that it’s another time, it’s another situation that we now own, knowing that you can go into a third period in a situation like we started the period and come out there with a win. Great to get the overtime win. Again, I think we really built off that last one. I think we’re doing the right things. I think the last two games, our overtimes have looked vastly different from previous ones in the year. So, it’s another situation there that we own that moving forward, and we just got to continue to take steps there in the overall game.
Kevin Hayes just called Tristan Jarry the backbone of this team right now. How impressed have you been with the way he’s able to come back in here after three weeks away and just be so solid?
Yeah, it’s another outstanding game there for him. We’ll go back and look at some of the ways things developed, but he had to make some huge saves there, even late in the game. And so, he came up big again, which was great to see. He’s had some time off, but he put in the work, too. Credit to him just making sure he was putting in that work there in terms of practices that we’ve had leading up for his return to play. And obviously, a great first two games for him.
What did you think of Kevin Hayes with Sidney Crosby tonight?
I thought he did a good job. I thought the line was going. They get that one early, and that was big for us, because just the I don’t know what it was, five minutes, I felt like we were flat. And so, to be able to go out there and for the line as a whole there to come up with the goal, I thought he had some good moments there in the offensive zone, some good puck pressures when we were getting on it to disrupt the play. So, I think anytime you have a first game where the lines are a little bit different, it might take a little bit of time to get going. But I thought there was definitely some good moments there.