Via the team:
Washington Capitals head coach Adam Oates on the effective play of Eric Fehr…
“Last year by far he was our most versatile player…His offensive reads, he has a great stick – he is kind of an opportunist player. The goal tonight, maybe caught the goalie off guard, and he almost had one in the second on the PP [power play].”
Washington Capitals head coach Adam Oates on if scoring tonight helps Mike Green’s overall game…
“No question, it helps to get points because that is how people view him in one capacity. As we’ve talked about, I’ve tried to talk him out of that as much as possible. We need him to play minutes and to play. He’ll get his points here and there, but the league is too hard to score in, but he will get them.”
Washington Capitals forward Eric Fehr on the play of Nicklas Backstrom…
“He’s [Nicklas Backstrom] really protecting the puck well. It seems like you need to send two or three guys at him to get the puck away from him. He is handling the puck with confidence, and he is making great plays. It’s what we expect from him every night, but it’s pretty unbelievable to watch.”
Washington Capitals forward Eric Fehr the Rangers losing Anton Stralman…
“It’s really difficult for a team to go down to four D [defensemen], five D; and for them, right after a break, you’re really feeling it. I think they did a really good job of breaking pucks though. I thought we did a really good job of putting pressure on them, but at the end we were lucky to get the win.”
Washington Capitals defenseman Mike Green on the play of goaltender Philipp Grubauer…
“His [Philipp Grubauer] composure really. He is not a man of many words, but he always seems like he is relaxed and calm and in his own state of mind. All goalies are a little bit different. He has played outstandingly, and you can’t give him enough credit. He played great tonight.”
Washington Capitals goalie Philipp Grubauer on tonight’s win…
“It’s huge. Every win is, because I haven’t played many games, so every win is a great feeling for me.”
New York Rangers head coach Alain Vigneault on the Caps third goal and how his team played …
“It was definitely a hard fought game by both teams. I thought five on five I really liked the way we competed tonight. I liked the way we played and executed, but this game is a game of inches, and late in the third [period], there’s a turnover in the offensive zone and our gap is just a little bit lose, and the goalie is a little bit off and the puck finds a way to get into the back of the net. We’re going to have to be better next time.”
New York Rangers head coach Alain Vigneault on losing defenseman Anton Stralman…
“You go from six to five defenseman, and then the top three have to log a tremendous amount of minutes, so that might make it a little bit challenging towards the end of the game as far as defending and attacking, but that’s not an excuse. Those are things that happen. I thought for the most part we found a way to compete real hard and just before they scored that goal, we hit the post and instead of going post in, it goes post out.”
New York Rangers forward Brad Richards on the game-winning goal…
“We played a pretty good game. [Rangers goaltender Cam Talbot] gets that nine out of 10 times, or maybe 19 out of 20, so that happens, that’s hockey. We went down and hit the post right before that then it goes the other way. We gave ourselves a chance to win, but some nights that’s the way the puck’s bouncing.”
New York Rangers forward Brad Richards on the team fighting for playoff position…
“We’ve put ourselves in this position; every point is huge. The first half [of the season] we’ve put ourselves in the position where it’s going to be a dogfight coming in, so no matter who it is it seems like every night we play someone that’s probably going to be a match where there’s some kind of [playoff] implication.”
New York Rangers defenseman Dan Girardi on the team coming out on the losing end tonight…
“It’s disappointing obviously. I thought we played a pretty strong game. That last [goal] is just tough. I hit the post and they come right back down and score. That’s kind of how it goes in this league some times. You get a chance to score and hit the post, and they come right back down and put it in on you. It’s unfortunate we lost that way but, there’s a lot of good things we did tonight.”
New York Rangers goaltender Cam Talbot on the game-winning goal…
“It was just a quick release and it just beat me. It’s [a save] that I’ve got to make especially in a situation like that where it’s a tie game with five minutes to go and we’re pressing for the win. We had just hit the post, I think, right before that and that kind of took the wind out of our sails there and that’s one I need to have back.”