Ottawa Senators head coach Travis Green addressed the media after a 4-3 overtime win over the Maple Leafs in Game 4 of the Eastern Conference Quarterfinal playoff series.
On the boost the four-minute penalty kill provided his team in the overtime period:
I don’t know if it was a boost, but it was relief. Any time a team like Toronto gets a four-minute power play, you know you are in one, especially with how good their power play is.
A lot of credit goes to our penalty kill tonight. They really got the job done. Gutsy effort.
On the Leafs limiting the Senators to four shots over the final 40 minutes:
They are a good team. To be honest, in the second period, it looked like the ice was tilted. I haven’t looked at the analytics, but I am going to bet that we out-chanced them tonight.
They have good players. They block a lot of shots. They have some defenders back there. We haven’t done a great job of getting pucks to the paint, but it is easier said than done.
And they’re a good team. They’re going to push and create momentum. I thought we got it right back in the third period.
That is playoff hockey. There are momentum shifts. I didn’t like our second, but I liked our first and our third.
Against a team that is supposed to win the Stanley Cup — or is talking about it — you are not going to go in and steamroll them. You are going to have moments where they will have the momentum.
For anyone who thinks this is going to be easy, it is not. It is going to be hard. Could we be sitting here in a different position? Yeah, we could be, and our guys know that. But as I said last game, they are not going to go away.
Go win another game and see what happens.
On the mood in the Senators’ locker room heading into the third overtime game in a row:
Sometimes, you forget that your team hasn’t played in overtime in the playoffs. On the first night, I talked about it a little bit. Your team kind of grows in front of your eyes.
Tonight, one of the things we talked about was not passing up a shot. A lot of times, overtime ends with a shot like tonight’s. Be around the net if you can get a puck to the paint, but don’t get a shot blocked so the other team goes and gets a breakaway. You are not just throwing pucks to the paint.
We talked about playing with no regrets. We talked at the beginning of the series about not wanting to have regrets when you look back. Whether you win or end up losing, play with no regrets. Play confidently. That was kind of the message we said to our team tonight.
On Jake Sanderson rebounding from the miscommunication with Artem Zub on Matthew Knies’ 2-2 goal to eventually score the game-winner in OT:
I don’t know if it was even a rebound, to be honest. Things happen in the game. There are a lot of mistakes that are made in the game. Whenever someone gets a scoring chance in today’s game, someone usually has made a tiny mistake.
They have good players. They are going to make plays.
On the offensive contributions from Tim Stutzle and Shane Pinto:
Pints has a big role as far as checking. We have talked about it a lot in this room. If you can get a checking centerman who can score, it is quite a bonus. He is becoming that, for sure.
It was nice to see Timmy get one. He has had a pretty strong series. He is still learning a lot as a young player, but it is nice to see him get a goal on the power play, for sure.
On the growth in Sanderson’s game throughout the season:
When I first took the job, I knew he was a good player. When I saw him in training camp, I knew he was a really good player. If you asked me today, he is an exceptional player.
His game is still growing, like a lot of our team. We have players who have gotten better from training camp to today. To be honest, they are still going to get better next year.
I think Sandy is… Not “scratching the surface,” but he is improving. You can say that about Timmy and a lot of our guys. They are still improving. It is the exciting part about our team.
On defenseman Tyler Kleven’s playoff performances so far:
I think his game is really growing. It has taken off probably since Christmas steadily.
You always have a player as a coach who you lean on a little bit and maybe give a little tough love at certain moments. He was that guy early in the year, but I give him a lot of credit. He has stood tall under a little pressure. He is really growing into his own.
He is big. He is physical. He is smart. Every team that gets to play in the playoffs learns a lot about certain individuals. We are seeing him grow. He can take another step with his confidence and ability.
On Linus Ullmark’s performance in the Senators’ net with the season on the line:
Really happy for him. We came out and played well — really well — in the first period. Like a lot of good teams do, they pushed back hard. I thought Linus really showed what he is all about tonight.
There has been a lot of talk about him in the series and a lot of doubters, even in this (press) room. Man, he looked like a guy who has won a Vezina and is one you win with. The pressure was not a big deal for him. He stood really tall for us.
