Here are the transcripts of postgame after Wednesday’s 4–1 Devils loss vs. Buffalo:
Jason Pominville:
Ryan Miller tonight…
“He’s a huge part of the team and he’s been playing extremely well for us. I think he’s a guy that takes a lot of pride in his job and he puts a lot of pressure on himself to do well. He’s been playing amazing for us, like you said, again tonight he stood on his head a bit; made some huge saves. That’s what we expect from him because he’s an elite goalie.”
Talk about your goal…
“It was kind of a frustrating night for us on the power play and we ended up switching sides and moving around pretty good – I just put it on net and it ends up kind of having eyes; it found a way in the net.”
You finally got one through, been getting shots but they don’t make it through…
“Yeah definitely, I got one tonight that I broke a stick on; I take a hundred one-timers a day and never break a stick. I come in the game and break a stick, it ends up getting blocked and going the other way; so those are ones that are frustrating a bit. But we have to do a better job on the power play, find a way to score like we did on the last one.”
You seem to play well in New Jersey, any explanation?
“It could be a little bit of coincidence, but when we play them we know that their reputation is that they are so solid defensively. For us to be able to get that first goal and make them kind of open up the play; and then we get another one, they have to open up even more — that’s when we’ll get our scoring chances. When they get the lead, they’re a tough team to play against; especially with (Martin) Brodeur back there.”
Ryan Miller:
The team’s performance tonight…
“We did a good job getting a good start and that’s what we want; a good start can always carry you through (the game). It’s good to see the guys get off to a good jump and we were skating really well in that first period. They made some adjustments and clogged up some outlets that we were hitting in the first period, so it changed the game for a little while there. But once we made some adjustments, we started pushing them.”
One guy that had a lot of chances was Parise; you saw a lot of him…
“Yeah, I’m going to see a lot more of him too, as we move forward (in our careers). He’s a talented guy, quick; he puts everything on net. I was kind of looking for him, when he was on the ice, he makes some smart plays.”
It’s only ten games into the season but is it nice to win three straight on the road…
“Yeah, we’re happy. I don’t want to give people the impression that we’re not happy. We’re managing our expectations a little bit better; we know there’s going to be a steady improvement by every team over the course of the season. With this team we have to show some improvement every night and we also have to show that we can bring a work ethic on the ice every night. A good start shows that guys really care and they want to play; I think that’s going to be a key to the season.”
Colin White:
Fast start for them and not so much for you…
“They jumped on us quick; we had a slow start; and a slow finish I guess.”
Was missing Paul Martin a factor early on?
“We’re definitely going to miss those guys, but I don’t think we performed as well as we should have, obviously. Myself, I have to be better than that, so we all have to pick our games up. Let’s not try to do too much, just do the right plays. We made a lot of poor decisions, all of us, tonight. We’ll learn from it and we’ll move on; it sucks right now, but its one game and we have to get ready for tomorrow.”
Does it help that there’s a game tomorrow, to get this out of your head quick?
“Yeah, we have to forget about it. We have to learn from our mistakes – we made a lot of them tonight. They played hard, they played 60 minutes; they played the same system for 60 minutes.”
The third goal did you get a piece of it with your stick?
“Yeah I did, I tipped it. The pass beat me, obviously through my legs, right to (Paul) Gaustad; I just turned around and whacked at it. I got a piece of it and tipped it, I think low corner (into the net) blocker side.”
Jacques Lemaire
What went wrong tonight?
“I think we faced a team that was ready and you could tell why they’re on top (of the standings). They have four good lines and they all play the same way. They’re a puck control team and they make quick plays and they’re around the puck. So there’s no doubt we faced a better team tonight. Our players were not surprised with what they were going to get from the Sabres. The second period is when we started to play.”
Penalties seem to be hurting you, are they bad penalties?
“Well, one (Pikkarainen) lifted a stick and touched a guy’s hand, it’s a penalty. The too many men happened when Travis (Zajac) was on the point (during a power play) and then he came to the bench. The defenseman jumped on the ice for the point man, and, the center jumped on the ice for the point man. So you end up with too many men on the ice.”
By the end of the first period you had Zajac back with Parise and Langenbrunner, why?
“Because we had no offense; we had no offense, so I felt that ‘hey if we’re not going to have offense, I’m going to put Travis back (with them).’”
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