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Mike Babcock addressed the media after his team’s 3-2 shootout win over the Vancouver Canucks on Saturday night.


On the team having some difficulty breaking through against the Canucks, like in the teams’ first meeting, for much of the game:

I thought they worked real hard. I thought they skated real good. After one, I thought they were better than us. Really, probably until the 30-minute mark they were better than us. Our power play wasn’t good. Even the one in overtime wasn’t very good tonight. But we found a way to win the game down 2-0, and so it’s a real big win. A big two points for us.

But I think you have to give them credit. I thought they did a real good job. I thought their coach did a real good job running his bench. I really did. He knew what was going on and he was dialled in. I thought their team played good.

On Travis Dermott’s debut performance:

I thought he was confident and moved the puck. Skated good. Looks like he’s got good hockey sense. The moment — the situation — didn’t intimidate him at all. I thought he was good. He was going out in overtime; we just never got to him.

On Dermott getting a couple of shifts with Morgan Rielly:

DJ [Smith] is running the backend there and just doing what he feels is right. He must’ve been comfortable, or he wouldn’t have gotten out there.

On what Dermott will need to do to stick:

We’re just going to watch him like all guys. Everyone comes to the National Hockey League and in the first game, everything is great. And then the next game, and the next game… Over a period of time, we’ll see if he’s a regular NHL player. If he can help us, he’ll play.

On Tyler Bozak scoring a shootout winner in two consecutive games:

When he scored, why wouldn’t you put him in, right? He just went and shot it in again. Good for him. I thought Bozie made a great play on the goal. I thought, when some of the other lines weren’t going early, his was.

On Morgan Rielly’s performance:

I thought he had good juice for sure. He jumped. With the way the game was, we ended up chasing the game, so he was very active, to say the least. But I thought he played a solid game. I thought he was really steady for us.