Washington Capitals head coach Barry Trotz on the play in the second period…
“We played, even in the first period, really good. The second, we just kept doing the same thing. Stayed with the game plan, kept skating. We skated better, more intensity. We did what we wanted to. We made some slight adjustments from Game 1, which you do. We just stayed with it. We stayed with it all night.”
Washington Capitals head coach Barry Trotz on goaltender Philipp Grubauer’s play…
“I just liked his demeanor. I can’t put myself in those shoes. That is the great trait of a goalie. You are not so overwhelmed by the moment or the situation. That is what I liked about Philipp [Grubauer] is that he just came in and played and did a good job.”
Washington Capitals forward Nicklas Backstrom on how the Capitals approached today’s game…
“We said to each to stick with the game plan. I think we played a lot better today overall, 60 minutes. Tough start, down two-nothing, but we stuck with it and kept working, and in the second period we got some energy from the goal from Karl [Alzner]. A little unlucky with the third one, but I thought we had the momentum in the second. It’s a good thing to never give up. A lot of the guys on this team have good character and never give up. And this is how you battle back. We needed this.”
Washington Capitals forward Nicklas Backstrom on the increased shot attempts and traffic in front of the Islanders net…
“First of all, we need to get traffic in front because he’s a good goalie. They’re a good team. They collapse in front of the net and block shots, like all the teams in the playoffs, and it’s just how you get through them. We talked about it and finally got some goals and that’s good for us, good for our confidence moving forward.”
Washington Capitals forward Tom Wilson on the Capitals strong puck possession…
“The biggest difference between the first night and tonight is that we really felt like we were getting to them. We were getting them on the forecheck, we were hitting their D [defense], we were making their lives difficult, and that’s what it takes in the playoffs. We didn’t score right away, we weren’t up right away, we just had to keep pounding the rock and staying on them, and it pays off in the long run.”
Washington Capitals forward Tom Wilson on the physicality of the game…
“I think we can be a little more physical. You can always get a couple more hits in. It was a good heavy team game. It’s not always hitting every guy you see, it’s just leaning on guys, playing strong, making sure you win the wall play and the puck battles. That’s playoff hockey. That’s what it takes. You can see down the stretch in the third period that you kind of wear them out, and we are just going to try to keep the momentum going.”
New York Islanders head coach Jack Capuano on the amount of time the Islanders spent on defense tonight…
“When you take shots and you converge on loose pucks, that’s what you do. That’s been the strength of our team, and for whatever reason tonight, we had chances to shoot pucks and we didn’t. We didn’t deserve it. We didn’t deserve it. Thirteen to 15 shots after two periods; that’s not going to get it done, whether or not we had the lead. We have got to put pucks on net, we’ve got to make their D [defense] turn, we’ve got to make their goalie work. You can see when we started doing some good things and played down low, we got some offensive zone time, but too little, too late.”
New York Islanders head coach Jack Capuano on whether or not they let tonight get away…
“Doesn’t matter if you are up two or down two, we lost the game. At this point, when you are in the playoffs you have to have a short memory; you move past it and move on to the next game. You can’t think about it now, you have got to get ready for Game 3.”
New York Islanders captain John Tavares on the play of the Islanders tonight…
“I thought the first half of the game we were pretty good. I thought we did a good job. You know they’re going to come hard; they’re at home feeding off the energy of the crowd. I thought we had some good legs. We did some good things to generate some chances and we scored [on] some chances, so we get a 3-1 lead and I thought we got a little less aggressive. Not moving our feet as much. We could have been a little bit harder on the forecheck. We’ve got to do a better job when we have the puck at times, especially in our own end. The second half of that game wasn’t our best.”
New York Islanders captain John Tavares on the excitement heading back to the Coliseum…
“We’re excited about going home. We know what our building will be like. Our fans have been tremendous all year. It’s a tight series, and we want to take advantage of being at home now.”
New York Islanders defenseman Lubomir Visnovsky on the intensity of the Capitals tonight…
“We gave up a lead on the road in the third period. They obviously came hard, and I think just in general our execution was not at the standard that it was during the first game. When they come hard and you don’t execute, that’s what happens.”
New York Islanders defenseman Nick Leddy on playing without a stick…
“It’s tough. It’s hard to be that player without a stick. You kind of feel useless in a way, because you can’t get out there and make them make a mistake or get on them quick, so it’s obviously tough, but you’ve got to try and make due with the situation.”