Dave Tippett Playing Quotations

We have a real focus on these seven division games. Hopefully, we have a good grasp on being able to lock up the division. Believe me, I'm happy we're playing teams like this. Our players recognize competition, and this is good competition for us.

When you can't make plays under pressure and you're not willing to win 1-on-1 battles, then I guess that's the game. Then the bounces. I'd like to see how many bounces go to the team playing with more desperation. That's kind of the way it happened tonight.

He was very good. He's a guy we monitor every day and watch very closely because he's taken steps as we've gone along. As the pace of the game rises, we hope he will rise with it. Tonight was a good example of him playing a very good game on both sides of the puck. He made a lot of smart plays.

We don't feel we're deprived in that area. We feel we have people capable of playing very physical and very hard.

To say he's not playing well because he's not scoring. ... There are some players you can say that about. Jere isn't one of them.

There's stuff to build on. We needed to clean up our play in a few areas, but that's a desperate team playing at home and we still were able to overcome that. The bottom line is you want to win these games, and we won. So the glass is half full right now.

They're both talented players and both of them are used to playing with more open ice. It's a game where they really should fit in.

It's a challenge when we're playing desperate teams. We looked tired. Even when we were pushing, we looked tired. We have to get the guys some rest. But I think this adversity can be good for us if we use it to our advantage.

The goal is to extend our lead. We've played well enough to do that. It's an indication that the team is coming around and playing the kind of hockey we need to play going down the stretch and into the playoffs.