Mike Babcock addressed the media after his team’s 6-0 win over the Montreal Canadiens on Saturday night that extended their winning streak to six games.
On 165 consecutive minutes of shutout hockey:
Well, Freddie was good early. We weren’t as competitive as they were early. They won more battles and more races. I thought we settled in and got playing. Scored some timely goals. Getting that first one was big, but getting the second one really kind of gave us some breathing room and I thought we settled in and played.
On Auston Matthews’ two-goal game in his first night back in the lineup:
I mean, obviously, he’s not himself yet. I mean, he can still shoot the puck, as you saw. He had a couple. All of his details and all of that stuff will come back just as his legs [come back] and he gets comfortable. You know, it was good for him to get a couple and feel good. He’s a high, high-end player. It’ll take him a few games.
On the line shuffle that threw together Matthews, Mitch Marner and Matt Martin:
I don’t know if you were watching, but the game wasn’t going very good. We weren’t very good, so it wasn’t about who I put them with. It was just that I had to do something different than what was going on. When I put Marleau and Hyman together, it gave me another real good line to go with the Kadri line to take over the game a little bit. I thought that helped us.
On whether he’ll stick with the lines to start Monday’s game:
No, no. Not at all. We’ll be back to the way we started for next game.
On the progress the team has made during its winning streak:
We’re getting better. I didn’t think we showed it in the first half of the game, to be honest with you. I thought we relied on goaltending and we weren’t near as competitive as we have been. That’s what you pay the goalie for. Some nights you need him to be good to help you out and get you established so you can get going. Once we got settled in, obviously, we were much better.
