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Mike Babcock addressed the media after his team’s 4-1 loss in Game 2 of the Eastern Conference quarterfinal series against the Boston Bruins.


On where the game was lost:

I thought at the start, we weren’t as good. Last night, I thought our intensity was real good at the start of the game. Obviously, at the start of the game, their intensity was at a different level and we didn’t handle their forecheck and execution. It’s nothing that we hadn’t talked about or tried to prepare for, but we didn’t execute on it. Instead of putting the puck in like we did the game before and getting in on their D, we turned the puck over. In the end, that cost us. To be honest with you, initially, you’re probably hoping to get a split, but once you get the first game, you get greedy and you want the second game. We didn’t get the second game. We’re in a best of five now and we’ve got to dig in.

On Kadri’s ejection and likely suspension:

The league decides on all of this kind of stuff. I didn’t see it and haven’t reviewed because it was down the wall from us. I haven’t reviewed it. I don’t really know that. It was a physical game. The referees, the way they reffed the game, they let lots of stuff go, obviously. But in the end, you can’t let that get in the way of what you’re doing. Playing in the Stanley Cup playoffs isn’t supposed to be easy, and it’s worth it. You’ve just got to find another level to dig in.

On Frederik Andersen’s excellent performance despite giving up four:

I thought in the first and the second, he did a really nice job for us. It is a real unfortunate bounce for him on the fourth goal, but I thought he did a nice job. We basically shot it in the net ourselves on the third one. I thought Freddy did a good job, but he did a good job the night before, too. That’s what we expect him to do — to give us a chance every night.

On what the team does to adjust after seeing the Bruins up their physical game:

We go home and have an off-day, get regrouped, and get back at ‘er. Every game in this series is supposed to get better and supposed to get harder. Obviously, we have to elevate our game here and respond. The bottom line is, whichever team is in on the other team’s D is going to have success.

On whether he has any comment on DeBrusk’s knee on Kadri that went uncalled:

It does me no good to evaluate this stuff. They’ve got other people that do that.

On how the team responded to the physical challenge tonight:

I thought, in the first period, we weren’t good enough. I thought in our third, we were coming with good things, but to me, it took us too long. The way they played tonight I don’t think surprised anyone in our room. We didn’t execute and handle it, so the bottom line is, we’ll get another go at this. We’ll be in our house next and we’ve got to come out and get after them just like we did in Game 1.

On what adjustments he’ll make to the lineup at center if Kadri is out:

That’s a good question. My two options would be Marleau or Willy. I haven’t… That is what the flight is about here tonight, getting that figured out and go from there. In the meantime, it is a regroup opportunity for us. That’s all it is. We liked our game in Game 1 and felt real good about ourselves. We didn’t like our game Game 2 and don’t feel as good about ourselves. Get regrouped and get ready to play.