Head coach Mike Babcock met with the media after his team’s blowout win over Winnipeg on the opening night of the 2017-18 season.
Does the success begin in the net for your club here tonight?
Babcock: Well, obviously, we took so many penalties. I think the shots were 18-17 at 5on5, but we took so many penalties that the goaltender had to be so good early. You know how hockey is — if they score on one of those early, once they get confidence, we probably lose some. Who knows, the game could be different, especially in their building. I thought we battled through there and made a few adjustments on the PK. We scored timely goals ourselves. It was a good night for our guys. A lot of guys got off. You don’t have to worry about scoring goals when you score right away. A lot of guys did that. Big win.
Good for Patrick to get going right away?
Babcock: I think so. Instead of talking about how you’ve gone three weeks without scoring and suddenly your linemates aren’t good and this isn’t good, let’s just play hockey now. It was a positive night that way. Obviously, we can play way better and are going to play way better. But good start for us.
How about Leo’s visor penalty?
Babcock: You’re not supposed to ask me those. What’s next?
Are you impressed with how Andersen is playing to start the season?
Babcock: I just think anytime your goalie plays good it gives you a chance. Freddy gives us confidence. He worked real hard in the offseason to prepare and has had a good camp. It showed here tonight. Good for us.
What did the first 10-15 minutes look like from your vantage point?
Babcock: Like we were in the box. When you take as many penalties as we did tonight, there is no rhythm off your bench. It’s hard to get going. You’ve got guys who normally play 10 minutes a night playing a ton, and guys that play big minutes not getting on the ice. Obviously, it can’t be like this. We’ve got to be way more disciplined. In saying that, it is what it is.
How important is it for guys getting those first points of the season so quickly as they look to avoid that “sophomore jinx?”
Babcock: I just think, when you do your work in the offseason and you get prepared, you don’t have any sophomore jinx. If you feel good about yourself and you don’t work, you come back and it doesn’t go as good. I’m not as concerned about that as some might be. I just think the guys are good players and they worked hard this summer. It’ll show this winter. Obviously, it’s a good way to start. Any time you get a win, it’s real important. We’ve got a real tough New York team coming into our building, so we want to get off to a good start.
Tyler and JVR got things started.
Babcock: Yeah, it was a big power play goal for us, and then the faceoff play. The way faceoffs are lined up, you can’t use your feet and there will probably be more quick plays than there used to be. In saying all of that, they’re good players who can score and it was a big night for them.
