The Minnesota Wild kept the Columbus Blue Jackets held down last night and would cruise to an easy 3-1 victory.
The Columbus Blue Jackets Outlook and Success
Last night, Zach Werenski, Adam Fantilli, and Daniil Tarasov spoke to the media postgame. HC Dean Evason also gave his thoughts on the game.
Zach Werenski - 26:16 Ice Time, 2 Shots, 1 Block, 3 Takeaways, 3 Giveaways
- I don't think we started on time. If it wasn't for Tarry it could've been a lot worse in the first period. We have to give a better effort.
- On the slow start: We have a standard now on how we have to play, we've done that for four games, and tonight, we weren't there.
- On the injuries and if they caught up - No it shouldn't. We have a lot of good players in here. We didn't work hard enough tonight. As a group, we have to reset and get back to work on Monday.
- We had a four-minute power play in the second, a couple of other power plays in there. We had some chances to tie it up.
- When it's a 1-nothing hockey game and we're not playing our best, we have to realize that and dig a little deeper.
Adam Fantilli - 22:04 Ice Time, 61.5% Faceoffs, 2 Hits, 0 Shots
- It was all in our start, to be honest, the first period wasn't great.
- We've got to start better.
- On a failed 4-minute power play - It's not great! We're looked at as guys who should be putting pucks in the net in that situation.
- On if the Wild should get credit - They're a good squad, but we're looking at ourselves here. It doesn't matter who we're playing, we should be able to score on a 4-minute power play.
- On the injury situation - It's not something we've been looking at, to be honest. We got guys that are given an opportunity, and with that opportunity comes responsibility and we just got to be better. I'll point the finger at myself first. I got to be a lot better.
- On the Wild's 20 blocked shots and how to fix that - Dont hit em! Good on them.
Daniil Tarasov - Stopped 32 of 35 shots, .914 save %
You can watch to Daniil Tarasov here.
Head Coach Dean Evason
- On the slow start - It's on all of us. If we're not ready to play it's on me, it's on the coaches, it's on the players. There was one guy ready to go, and that was our goaltender. He was outstanding.
- We have to start correctly.
- On any indication they were going to start slow - No, we would've lost our cool if we did. There was nothing in warmup, nothing in our preparation. We skated for about 20 minutes yesterday, so we weren't taxed.
- A lot of guys have played a lot of hockey, but who cares? It's not that hard. You're playing a little bit more maybe than some people are used to, but who cares? It's early in the year and we're in good shape.
- We'll dive into it here tonight and tomorrow as a staff and try to figure out what went wrong and hopefully, it never happens again.
- On players playing different roles due to injury - Don't matter!
- We hope and believe (tonight) was a one-off.
- We were one and done and weren't collecting the sprayed shots.
- We work our butts off for most nights. Give ourselves a chance for most nights.
- We need to play the same way for 60 minutes, not just 40.
- On the overturned goal - Our video guys told us right away it was 50/50. At that point in the game, 2 nothing, we're not playing our game. Worst case it's a little timeout, we get a little break. Our penalty kill's been pretty good. Yeah, we thought we'd take a chance.
- On David Jiříček's debut - Had a strong game, we thought he did a lot of really good things for sure. I'm a little more concerned about the entire team effort at this point.
What's Next - Columbus is back home on Tuesday and will host the Toronto Maple Leafs.
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