After a 4-2 loss to Montreal, head coach Jim Hiller discussed Morgan Rielly’s injury, Gavin McKenna’s turnovers, the rising urgency as the losses pile up, and how John Tavares’ return helped William Nylander play what Hiller called his best game in a long time.
Hiller on Morgan Rielly’s status:
No update. Obviously, he didn’t finish. It’s never a good sign. We’ll see. We’ll know a little bit more tomorrow.
Hiller on how difficult it would be to replace Rielly’s minutes:
He’s played really well. I think he’s had a really good probably three weeks — as good as I’ve seen him in a long time. He’s really been helping us, and I think his confidence is back. This is a big blow, so hopefully it’s not too long.
Hiller on his message to Gavin McKenna after the turnover:
I’ll keep most of that between him and me, but he knows. He had a couple of turnovers, and you just can’t. You can’t do it. You can’t continue to do it. You know what I mean?
But he’s a great young player. Bounced back. Good attitude. All that kind of stuff — trying, learning, come a long way. It’s all good. It’s just tough sometimes.
Hiller on what the team needs to take away from the loss:
I’ve talked about this a lot of times. They created some pretty good chances, but I think we gave them two or three of their goals. There was a tip going wide, and it’s a great tip. They had some nice plays.
Outside of that, I thought we limited them pretty good, we had our looks, and their goalie played well. You’ve just got to keep going. You can create chances. Don’t give them easy ones. It’s not a complicated formula.
Hiller on whether the Leafs put together a full 60 minutes:
I thought we put a full 60 minutes together today. Outside of moments with the turnovers, I didn’t see them grinding us in the O-zone. I didn’t see them racing up and down with their skill. They’re a good team.
Outside of those moments, I don’t know what you want to call it — 59 [minutes]. The times that we turned the puck over are bad moments, for sure. But the energy, the compete, structure, chance creation — those were there.
Hiller on John Tavares’ return and his chemistry with William Nylander:
First of all, I thought Willy had his best game in a long, long time, and I don’t think it’s any coincidence that John was out there with him. They have a lot of chemistry together. John wins pucks.
I think maybe John’s biggest contribution was getting Willy going as well as he did. And then John’s game was good. He was fine. He started a little slow in the faceoff circle, got better, and was around the net. The puck just jumped on him a couple of times, but he was around the net.
Hiller on the sense of urgency given the standings and the homestand:
I would echo what they say. There’s always a sense of it. Never changes. I know some games feel like they’re bigger, and, “Hey, we’ve got to win.” But if you win the next one, you’ve got to win the one after that. It just never changes. We always play to win, and you always have that pressure to win.
Hiller on how the team managed the minutes in the first half of a back-to-back:
I think the minutes were managed pretty well until that end, and we had some guys overextend at the end with the 6-on-4. Otherwise, I think we were in pretty good shape, but there were some guys that played quite a bit just because of that stretch.
