Joe Nieuwendyk Quotes (45 Quotes)

Gary and I are well aware of that (Oct. 31) game. There is a lot of hockey between now and then, but it will come up quickly.

We've had some injuries, and then (Jan. 19) we lose a guy like Gary (Roberts), that was a real critical juncture of our season. It could've been a time where we hung our heads a little.

We had some opportunities, 5-on-3, that we couldn't capitalize on and they made good on theirs. It's frustrating because we had a really good opportunity tonight.

That's probably why we're winning the way we are. When you have goaltending like we have, you can afford to be stingy defensively and not take too many chances offensively. When you get down two or three, then you have to open things up, and that leaves you vulnerable for more bad habits. He gives us a chance to win every night, and that's a real good cushion to have.

It should be better (today).

We had opportunities on the 5-on-3 to really go up two. I think that would have made the difference. When you let them hang around on their own ice and they get opportune goals like they did, you never know what can happen in overtime.

The story of our season really against these guys has been our inability to stay out of the penalty box. It's tough to play against a team like that.

Play was kind of going the other way, Lukas maintained position on the blue line and kept it in. I had a little time to get a shot away and fortunately it found the net.

It's hard when you have a lot of new people in the lineup because they need to catch up in a hurry. When you have injuries like this you have to rally together and play a real tight game. We knew that game in Anaheim was going to be tight. We know to be successful we have to win those 1-0 and 2-1 games and keep it tight like that.

He's a good energy player, works really hard, got good offensive capabilities. It's going to benefit our club.

Mats is a great captain and a good friend. He's the leader of that team and he shows why. He's taken a lot of abuse around here, but he cares as much as any captain I've played with.

When they add up like that it's particularly tough, because we're not overly deep.

Their power play cashed in and our PK didn't make the stops and it was the opposite on the other end. It was a special-teams battle and we just didn't have the effort we needed.

He's a real smart player. Not everybody sees the game as he does. When you play with a guy who can make passes like he does, you just try and find open ice, try and get yourself in a position where he can get you the puck. And he has a good habit of doing that.

We have to try and learn something from every night. We have to do a better job of staying out of the penalty box, because we can't let that become the focus of our game. If we are going to have a lot of penalties, we have to be better on the power play. We let our team down tonight. We had numerous opportunities to get back into this thing when it was 1-0.

I don't think anybody can quit. We've got a couple days to think about it and regroup. (Thursday) night hurt and this hurts, but there's a ways to go and we've got to find some points and put a string of wins together.

We'll take the two points. But we kind of let (Luongo) down a little with sloppy play. We gave them opportunities late that we didn't have to. We have to be better Friday night for sure.

That's a good hockey team. They work hard and probably are as physical as anybody we play.

It's clear now the team we have to catch is Tampa. We have three big games against them and it starts tonight. I don't think anyone's going to quit in this locker room. We're going to give everything we've got and try to claw back.

The loss to Tampa was the most devastating. We lost a little bit of that desperation.

Things have changed fast, but that's what we've been striving for. We just have to keep pushing ahead.

They were just a more desperate hockey team. We knew they were desperate coming in. They wanted the points more than we did.

We're all still getting our feet wet with this team. But our goals are high, no doubt about it.

Any time you get a goal early it really lifts the team, especially on the road. Tonight was a good start for us.

We have no choice but to do what we're doing. We're coming through.

It's a big loss for us. Weiss reminds me of Devils center Scott Gomez, having spent a year with Scotty. He's a real smart player. He makes plays with the puck. So it's tough.

You get an opportunity to put a team away and don't capitalize, it's tough.

That line is getting the job done for us. It's what you have to have from your top line if you're going to win hockey games.

We gave them every opportunity with the penalties we took. We can't do that.

That was a great effort. And that's what he's bringing to us, effort.... I'm sure that goal will make a few highlight shows.

Five-on-five we're a pretty good hockey club. We've got some areas we've got to address.

We're battling now. Before we were getting a little nervous as the game went on when it was tight. Now we're playing with a lot more poise with the puck. It's a sign our confidence is getting better.

He's never had a knee injury in his career. I can give him lots of advice.

The future is bright here. We played extremely well at home. The fans saw the type of team we are on a lot of nights. We really have to work on our road record and be more consistent throughout the season.

When you lose Pronger and MacInnis, that's a big part of the chemistry of your team. They're in a rebuilding phase, there's no question about it. We're going to see some faces tonight that we probably haven't seen.

It's what you have to have from your top line getting the puck in deep and getting on top of it. They support each other well and they're having success.

Just like (Friday) night's loss, we've got to forget about this win and move on.

The goal was to get two and we had a great opportunity that we let get away. And we've seen that before. But again, we just have to keep pushing along.

I don't think it was a stellar game by any means, but we have to win these games no matter how we do it. Some of it may be a little rust from not playing since Sunday. ... It was a little tough to get it going at times. But we needed the win, we got the win and we'll come out more energetic Saturday night.

Until we all learn to play with each other, we just have to get better each night and the offense will come. This was a big character builder for the team. I know it's early in the season, but we've got to start somewhere with this group of guys, and when we can win games like that against a good team like Tampa Bay, it's a big building block for us.

I think now his family's settled in, he is settled in and he feels an important part of the team. It's all about comfort away from the rink, too.

We're on the right path. We're playing like we're really trying hard to make the playoffs, and that's encouraging.

It's tough, because you get excited after these wins, then you get a little demoralized when the other teams win on the other nights. But we can only control what we can do here, and we've been doing a good job with that.

The power play needs to score when we get the opportunity, especially on the 5-on-3. You've got to capitalize against a team like that. They're solid throughout their lineup, and when you get chances like that, you've got to make good.

He's a pretty versatile guy. He can play up the middle or on the wing, so it gives some different combinations. When we all get our legs going and get cracking here, that'll be a good option.