Red Wings-Islanders Post-Game Reaction: "It's a Big Win for Us"

Last night, the Detroit Red Wings earned a stirring come-from-behind overtime victory over the New York Islanders, the franchise's first ever victory at UBS Arena, which the Isles have called home since 2021.  Here's what the Red Wings had to say after the win.

-On the comeback win: "It tells us a lot [about our team]: Never give up, that quiet confidence, and whatever comes, we'll go through.  It was really a big win for us."

-On Ilya Sorokin: "He is an unbelievable goalie, one of the top goalies in the league.  He put a good test to our guys.  Got four goals, so usually you win the hockey game."

-On his own performance: "Better, but still not there yet."

-On the road trip as a whole: "We would like to get four [points], but you can't win every game.  We'll enjoy this win tonight and then move on for next game."

-On strong early defensive play: "You can never give up on plays, and they are a great team, so you've always got to be on your guard.  It starts with D, and then getting the puck up to our guys.  Everybody can bury it."

-On conversation in locker room in second intermission: "Message was still the same.  We never got down on each other; we just knew we were playing a good game and eventually it would go in."

-On emotions after the win:"Little bit of a relief.  We've struggled the last couple games putting a full game together.  We have the confidence and belief in this room that we can do that every night, so it's just putting it together."

-On the Red Wings' effort: "Huge.  We've come into the third period being down now a couple games in a row.  To be able to come up with this one means a lot."

-On the message going into the third: "Just play our game.  We put together two really good periods, and we didn't get rewarded.  I think we came out in the third and just kept doing what we were doing, except the pucks just went in."

-On coming back in the third: "You get one, you get momentum, and you get two.  Even though they equalized it pretty late, we stayed calm, and happy we just got the win."

-On the sense of a team win: "A lot of guys played a really good game today.  We really played as a team, and we didn't get rewarded in the first, [but] we stuck with it in the second and didn't get rewarded there.  Stuck with it in the third, and it finally came."

-On the OT winner: "It's kinda what OT's about.  Teams usually pack it in, and you play a lot of possession with the puck.  It can be pretty boring sometimes, but when you get guys moving, I was lucky I got a puck there, and then great play by J.T.  Happy to put it in."

-On what stood out most about the comeback: "Hanging in there.  I loved our resilience.  I liked our first 40 minutes.  Our last two games, we were not very competitive in the first.  I thought we did a very good job of flipping that.  We had a much better first period.  I didn't mind our second, but we find ourselves down.  Statistically, you find yourself down [after two periods] on the road, you don't win.  Not only we got down, we got down two against that team and that goalie.  That's a really good win for us."

-On Ville Husso: "Battled throughout.  You go head-to-head in a game with that much emotion on the road against Sorokin, and he got what he deserved...he made some ridiculously outstanding saves."

-On character shown in victory: "It's a good sign for our guys.  They hung in there the whole time, didn't get rattled, kept going.  It's a big win for us.  If we want to get anywhere where we're trying to get, we gotta stop these slides.  We were in an 0-2-1 slide, and it just doesn't get any easier.  To come into New York and we're having trouble with our offense, then Sorokin puts up the first 40 minutes like that, I give the guys credit for hanging in there."

-On areas for growth after 10 games: "More complete with our games.  I don't think we're good enough to have holes in our game, to leak a little bit.  Obviously, we fed off a really good start, but we're sitting here after 10 games, and, as a coaching staff, you constantly are re-evaluating where you're at through segments—either five or 10 games.  If you would have told us when the season started, we'd be 6-3-1 with the type of schedule we had, obviously we would have taken it in a heartbeat.  So we're here, now we've got to keep building on it."

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