Here's what Columbus Blue Jackets head coach John Tortorella, center Pierre-Luc Dubois, goalie Sergei Bobrovsky and captain Nick Foligno had to say after the Blue Jackets comeback win over the Washington Capitals Thursday night.
Head Coach John Tortorella
On what Artemi Panarin brings to the team...
“We traded away a really good player in [Brandon] Saad to get him. He's a different type of player, a guy that can make something out of nothing.”
On killing the last four minutes of Josh Anderson's major...
“There was plenty of game left. We just knew we had to stay with it. We took too many penalties, but quite honestly, although we gave up two, I thought we killed penalties very well tonight. We're just doing it too often.”
On losing Nick Foligno, Josh Anderson and Alexander Wennberg...
“I think players enjoy that. It's not a big deal to them. They lose players, they're happy because they can get on the ice quicker and more often. There was no panic on the bench. I think guys play better when they get more minutes.”
On Josh Anderson's hit and game misconduct...
“No, you're not even going to bring me down there.”
Center Pierre-Luc Dubois
On playoff hockey...
“I think it was important tonight to establish myself and show that I can win the face-offs.”
On winning battles on the boards...
“I thought I gained confidence through the season, took some big steps and winning my one-on-one battles on the wall is one of them.”
On making his Stanley Cup Playoffs debut...
“I couldn't nap today. I was so excited. It's so much fan. The stakes are high, the fans are amazing. I was really excited.”
Goalie Sergei Bobrovsky
On coming back to win the game...
“We've done it before. We come back from deficits of a few goals and we did it again. It's only one game, so we'll enjoy it for tonight and come back for the next one.”
On Panarin's overtime winner...
“It was great. I'm not surprised. He's a skilled player and he made a big goal.”
Captain Nick Foligno
On coming back to win the game...
“Never quit. We knew we had it in here, but we had to get our game going. We didn't feel like we got our game going much in the first period.”
On stealing home ice...
“Yeah, it's huge. We wanted to come here and get one and now we have to worry about getting two.”
On losing forwards to injuries and penalties...
“Talk about our depth. Since the trade deadline, it's been ‘next man up.’ It's unfortunate – the Wenny hit, I didn't like that one at all. And then you can't foresee getting a slap shot in the face, but guys hung with it, and we were short manned after after [Anderson left] but we found a way and kept going.”
