After a 3-1 win over San Jose, Jim Hiller discussed Auston Matthews’ response to an early mistake, Gavin McKenna delivering in a big moment, Easton Cowan’s matchup assignment, and another strong night for the penalty kill.
Hiller on the biggest key to pulling out the win:
I thought we stuck with it. We had some really good chances through 40 minutes at even strength, and Askarov made some really big saves.
I think the difference was in the third period. We made some mistakes, and Bob made some big saves. But I thought we still pushed.
If you go back to the Buffalo game, where we were a little more tentative, I thought we did a really good job just staying and going forward today.
Hiller on Matthews moving past his turnover and responding with a strong game:
That’s it. That’s what I’m talking about. He’s our leader that way, but that’s a hard thing to do sometimes because you make a mistake, and it doesn’t feel good.
We’ll always tell a guy, “Don’t dwell on it. Move forward.” It’s easy to say, hard to do, but that was a textbook case of what you do after you make a mistake.
He was huge, especially in the third period, with some of the stuff down low.
Hiller on McKenna’s ability to deliver in big moments:
We talked about that, right? Even his first goal.
We’ve talked about Gavin a lot, but he’s just not afraid of the moment, and he enjoys the moment. You saw his celebration.
You could say, “Shouldn’t everybody do that?” There’s lots there, and you have to want to be that big-time player. That’s what he has in spades.
Hiller on McKenna’s maturity through the attention of the past several days:
We haven’t really talked about it since a couple of days ago, but he’s just the same guy. That’s what I just love about him. He’s the same guy.
He’s worn this high prospect and this high skill. He’s worn that for years, and he’s just really comfortable with it.
Hiller on Marchenko building momentum ahead of his return to Columbus:
I’m sure the hat-trick game probably really pumps him up. We’ll see.
We’re going to have to go in there on a back-to-back and play really hard with him on our mind, right? Because we’re super, super glad to have him, and we’ve got to go in there and play for him tomorrow night.
Hiller on using Cowan alongside Matthews in the matchup against Celebrini:
We wanted a hard match. We hadn’t done that with Auston yet this year. We wanted a hard match. It’s Celebrini.
I’ve been talking about Easton accepting different challenges along the way, and we thought, “You know what? We’re going to task him with this.”
Wily wasn’t feeling great, so we didn’t know what his energy would be like. We thought we’d give the job to Easton, and I thought he did a really nice job.
Hiller on the penalty kill following another four successful kills:
Power play and penalty kill are similar. Once you start feeling good, it makes it a little bit easier, and we’re feeling it right now.
I thought tonight was probably our best job on the penalty kill. There have been some other nights where we’ve been good, gave some chances up, and got some good saves. Tonight, I thought we executed extremely well.
John Gruden primarily runs the penalty kill. He’s had just a great plan, and the guys have executed it.
Always, in the end, there’s going to be a breakdown, and then the goaltender’s got to make the save. It’s the combination of those things.
Hiller on getting a win for Sergei Bobrovsky:
It was an important win for the team.
Again, I talk about Gavin. You guys have talked to Bob. Bob’s the same every day, too. I’m sure he wants to win every game, but he is just a cool, calm pro.
I thought it was a good win for our team because it was a little bit gutsy in the end. We had to be gutsy to win that game. We hoped it wouldn’t have to have been that way, but that’s what it was.
Hiller on Vinni Lettieri’s debut:
Good. Had a couple of chances. Good shot. Made good decisions with the puck. I thought he had a really good start.
Hiller on using Nylander late in the penalty kills:
He hasn’t penalty killed a lot for us this year, but he has. In Utah, he got a shorthanded breakaway, almost scored. Then tonight, he’s got the two-on-one and almost scored.
He’s been pretty dangerous. I think he keeps the other teams off balance just a little bit.
