The Columbus Blue Jackets fought off elimination in the Eastern Conference Quarterfinals with a 5-4 win over the Pittsburgh Penguins at Nationwide Arena Tuesday night.
Following the game, head coach John Tortorella and selected players shared their thoughts on the Game 4 win.
Blue Jackets Head Coach John Tortorella
On puck possession and handling the Penguins' surges:
“I thought the most important part of it is that we bent a little bit, but then we ended up scoring. When they got closer, we ended up with a shift and we scored a goal. Our forecheck and our puck possession was better.
“After the second goal, I think we started turning pucks over and they really turned it up. But I thought we answered. We played a lot of good minutes. A lot of simple minutes. Like I said, and I mean it, I wanted them – some guys with limited playoff experience, some guys with none, just to try to enjoy a win. Now we'll try to figure out how we go about our business and how we manage our series.”
On Quincey and Nutivaara seeing action for the first time this series:
“I thought they sparked us. I thought Q came in and immediately was a physical presence. I thought Nuti probably played one of his better games for us. He played to his strengths, getting the puck out, moving the puck up the ice, scored a goal. Two guys who haven't been playing quite a bit at all of late stepped in there.
“Listen, we don't have a chance of even being here if it wasn't for that guy. He has had a tremendous year.”– John Tortorella on Sergei Bobrovsky
“[Matt Calvert] came and played well. [Lukas Sedlak] is a guy who doesn't play a lot of minutes, but he allows me to do other things with other lines. So, that's a good team win.”
On William Karlsson's line tonight:
“Yeah, that line played really well. Most the night against Crosby. Not only checked well, but was fortunate to bang a couple in.
“It just pisses me off with [Matt Calvert], the stuff he does when he missed a game. Prior to his suspension, he was playing so well. I think he came back and felt bad that he let the team down. I thought all three of them played a really good game.”
On the changes to the lines put in for Game 4:
“The games are won and lost by the players. I just felt we managed the puck better. Our forecheck was much better. We had the puck more. And I think it was just simple. We were just trying to play as quickly North-South as possible and I thought everybody got involved in that.
“We got some timely goals when they surged and [Sergei Bobrovsky] made a great save in the third period for us. So, yeah, everyone contributed. That's the way we've won all year long with everyone contributing, by committee, and I'm just happy they found a way to win a game here.”
On the message during the second intermission after Pittsburgh dominated the end of the second:
“After the second [Pittsburgh] goal, we got small a little bit. You could see we started turning pucks over. And that's a good team – they can sense the blood in the water, but we got through it. The penalty by [Quincy] – we can't get involved in that. You start getting involved in doing stuff when you really should just try to play and it's tough to kill those off. That's their first goal.
“But after the second goal we really struggled. I thought Bob made some key saves there, but I told them in between periods, ’You got through it. We're still up by a goal. We just have to get some of our momentum back.’ We scored a goal right away.
“The part for me is when we scored a goal right away, they came down and scored with their fourth line, but we answered. We didn't allow them to surge for many minutes in the third period. Game 3 in the second period, we had no chance. We just couldn't stop them.”
On Sergei Bobrovsky's performance in Game 4:
“You know he wants the second one back. There's no sense in me assessing it. It doesn't do anybody good. You know he wants the second one back. He knows that, but he answered with some key saves.
“I thought he answered with some key saves after the second goal and I thought he made a couple of great saves in the third period.
“Listen, we don't have a chance of even being here if it wasn't for that guy. He has had a tremendous year. Has he been a little inconsistent at times? Yeah. But, he stood in and made some huge saves at huge times tonight. He's the backbone of our team here and he's fighting through it.”
On Josh Anderson's size and speed in this series:
“I thought he started off the series strong with his physical play. I thought he really answered well with not a really bad game in Game 3, but I thought he was dead-on his game tonight and that line was pretty important to us.”
Blue Jackets Center William Karlsson
On his game-winning goal in the third period:
“It's always nice to have an insurance goal, obviously. It's fun scoring again.”
On getting the series back to Pittsburgh:
“As we've said before, it's one game at a time, really. It's all we can do. We said we wanted to go back to Pittsburgh and I think we handled ourselves.”
On skating against Sidney Crosby:
“Well, you can't really take a shift off against that line. They're really skilled and they're really good. You have to have your head on a swivel all of the time and be sharp.”
Blue Jackets Goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky
On the win:
“It's great to get the win. I thought the guys did a hell of a job in front of me and it's great to feel that.”
On teams looking for rebounds:
“Both teams have their own strategies. I just have to do my thing and enjoy it.”
Blue Jackets Defensman Markus Nutivaara
On the team playing a more simple game:
“Play simple and trust your own skills and teammates. It was easy to play.”
On sitting out the first three games and bouncing back:
“We needed a win. But that's all. We need three more wins.”
Blue Jackets Winger Brandon Saad
On the adversity heading into Game 4:
“Yeah, [Game 3] was a tough loss. But as hockey players, you go through that throughout the season, where you just have to move on to the next game.”
On teams trying for rebounds:
“Collapsing defensively and helping out our goalie with our defense, and like you said, you want to shoot for a rebound, especially with how tight teams are playing defensively. Just to get action at the net is how you create chances.”
On the lift Nutivaara and Quincey gave the team:
“Yeah, it's huge. They come in after not playing for a week or so and for them to hop right in there and contribute like they did, that's great for a team. That depth is how we win hockey games.”
On the importance of starting with a two-goal lead:
“Last game, too, we got off to a quick start, but we ended up giving up the lead. So tonight, our mentality was coming in and starting fast and continuing that for 60 minutes and buckling down, playing the right way.”
Blue Jackets Center Boone Jenner
On Quincey and Nutivaara's contributions:
“They were huge. With Zach [Werenski] going down, it's a tough one, but they did a great job of coming and they didn't look out of place at all. And Nuti made some great plays out there – had a big goal for us – and Q was physical.”
