Cannon City Quotables: Columbus Blue Jackets vs. Pittsburgh Penguins
Last night, Cameron Butler, Zach Werenski, and Elvis Merzlikins spoke to the media postgame. HC Pascal Vincent also gave his thoughts on the game.
Cameron Butler - 54 seconds TOI. Butler was called up just two hours before game time.
- On his car ride to Columbus: I don't remember any of it. It went by pretty quickly.
- On his NHL debut: Definitely not the way I imagined it.
- My first shift when I came on the ice for the faceoff, it really sunk in.
- I was just thinking to go and enjoy the moment.
- I got here with 15 minutes to spare, got dressed, and got out there.
- On playing only 54 seconds: I didn't really have any expectations coming in here, I just came in and helped out, worked hard on my shift, and I think it went pretty well.
Zach Werenski - 1 goal, 1 assist, 4 shots, +2, 27:24 TOI
- Feels great. Whenever we play Pittsburgh at home, there's a lot of energy in the building. Like tonight with Rims big night, even more, so it was a fun game for us and I'm just happy we got the win for him.
- On being down 3-1: We just kept playing, kept it simple.
- I think we worked hard.
- Happy we got the win for our group, for Rims, for our fans, so it was a successful night for us.
- It's always fun when we can beat them, especially in our own building, whenever you get a win in the NHL it's fun, maybe a little bit better when you beat Pittsburgh.
Elvis Merzlikins - 30 saves, 4 pp saves, 3 sh saves, .909% save %. Stopped 4 of 5 shootout attempts.
- On how meaningful of a win this was: Well we had a tough losing streak. It was amazing to come back home and see our building full. It was amazing to play at home again.
- Between Columbus and Pittsburgh, we have a special love here. (he says with a chuckle) It's always fun to play against them and they're a good hockey team, even if they're not making the playoffs.
- Little mistakes and they punish you.
- We had a horrible road trip. It's not that we're not trying. We're seriously trying every day. We're practicing hard. We did not give up. We decided together, we're going to go until the last game, and going to try to get as many wins as we can.
- On finally beating Pittsburgh: It feels good!
Head Coach Pascal Vincent
- Yeah, it feels pretty good. We played a good game in Pittsburgh. We were in a position to compete for the win, we didn't. But tonight, coming back from behind, winning in a shootout feels good.
- Especially good for the players. For them to keep pushing, keep working, and keep trying to do the right things over and over to get rewarded, it feels good.
- That goal that we scored right away after their third goal was a key moment. It gave the bench a lot of juice.
- I had no plan for him (Cameron Butler).
- On Marchenko: Part of the message to Marchenko was to shoot more.
- I'm excited for the fans too. to give them something. To give something to cheer for.
- On Severson going in the shootout: We know his scoring % in the shootout is very good. He's always been considered. We see him in practice.
- On Closing out the season: We're going to keep doing what we've been doing all year by promoting winning habits.
What's Next - Colorado visits Columbus on Monday.
More From THN Columbus
Join Jason Newland's Columbus Blue Jacket page on Bunches, a new app that connects sports fans. Also, you can watch a new YouTube game show about the Blue Jackets, Around the Fifth Line.