After the Toronto Marlies’ play-in series victory over Rochester, head coach John Gruden discussed
On the team’s series-winning performance:
I thought we set the tone early. We were on our toes. We were doing a lot of the right things to give us success. We started with a lot of zone time in the offensive zone, and when you have defensemen who are skilled like [Rochester’s], you have to make them defend. You have to set the tone early. It wears on them by the end of the game. We did an outstanding job of doing exactly what we wanted.
On the “veteran” top line of Logan Shaw, Vinni Lettieri, and Bo Groulx leading the way offensively (two goals for Shaw):
I always let those guys know that they mean so much to our group. They can play a 200-foot game. They’re good in all zones.
I told them that they don’t need to put all that pressure on themselves. Just do the right thing, and the points will take care of themselves.
You could see how effective they were on both sides of the puck today. They were outstanding.
On the luxury of leaning on that calibre of veteran line in these big playoff games:
We are only allowed so many veterans. Still, we have some younger guys who are playing like veterans right now. Any time you are going to win at any level, you need some good older players and some good young players to mix and match.
I thought our guys played with a lot of poise. We were good in the third period. If we weren’t, Dennis Hildeby was outstanding.
On turning to Dennis Hildeby in an elimination game:
We talked about it at the beginning. We have two really outstanding goalies. It is more about the style we play. If we play the right way, our goalies are really good. They’re going to make saves sometimes that most goalies won’t.
They made the ones they should, and they made a couple of big ones when we needed them to. It is a complete luxury for us to have.
On his decision to start Hildeby in the winner-take-all series decider:
It’s the same reason why we went with Artie in the first game. He had some good stats against Rochester early on. It is kind of like it’s his net, and he gets it. If you don’t, then the next guy goes.
It is something we’ll have to look at. Now, Laval plays a different style — a little heavier. Again, we’ll make that decision by Wednesday.
I feel the same way. We can’t go wrong either way.
On Dakota Mermis’s work on Logan Shaw’s goal:
Those are leaders who understand what it takes to win. They set the example. They set the zone. They know.
When they are out there, you can see how important they are. Those little things that go unnoticed sometimes don’t go unnoticed when you want to win.
On the message to the team late in the third during the ice cleaning:
Coach Dyck was going over the 5-on-6. We know how we want to play the 5-on-6, but it was just to give them some reminders, in case they pull early. They obviously did. They pulled their goalie with three minutes to go because they had their top lineup. But we had the right guys on the ice.
