Postgame Reactions: Quinn, Hertl, & Eklund Discuss Sharks 3-2 Shootout Loss to Canadiens

The San Jose Sharks react to the 3-2 loss to the Montreal Canadiens.

Cole Caufield scored his sixth of the season as the Montreal Canadiens beat the San Jose Sharks 3-2 on Friday afternoon.

William Eklund had a goal and an assist for San Jose. Mike Hoffman celebrated his 34th birthday by scoring his fifth goal in the last five games. Tomas Hertl also had two assists. Mackenzie Blackwood made 22 saves.

Johnathan Kovacevic scored his third goal of the season for the Habs. Cayden Primeau made 31 saves in just his fourth game this season.

Here is what head coach David Quinn, Tomas Hertl, and William Eklund had to say postgame:

"Much, much better effort-wise, both physically and mentally. We were much more structured. I thought our compete level was where it needed to be."

Quinn on Eklund: "He played a much more complete game. That's the player that we need. He's always got the ability to create some offense. One of the things that he and I talked about before today, was we thought his game was slipping a little bit in the areas that he's going to need to be consistently good at. From a compete and a pace standpoint, I thought his game was slipping a little bit. Which can happen, especially when you're a young player learning to grow in the National Hockey League. That's one thing I always love about him. He's a coachable kid, and once you talk about something, it usually gets done."

"100%. It was the best [the powerplay has] been all season. The pace of it. The work ethic. I thought what happened was after our first power play we became more confident as a group. You can really feed off your powerplay. I thought that's what we did at the end of the first period."

"We had way more chances. We could've put a couple more in. We played a pretty good hockey game."

"I think we responded really well and played a really good hockey game. Just small details cost us the win."

Hertl on the leaders' message: "We've been talking a lot, and every day, just block out the outside and just do it together. It's on us to do it, and we can play some good hockey this year."

"It was way better. The team effort was way better. I think our compete level was way better. So if we play like this, we are going to have a chance to win more games."

"I felt good. I think our line could have had even more. If we keep playing like this and keep working hard like this, it's going to create more chances."

Eklund on the powerplay: "We moved the puck quick. It was quick from the first powerplay to the last one. I think if you just keep moving quickly, it's going to be hard for them to defend us. We have really good players here."

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