John Tortorella Played Quotations

We're right where we want to be. You want to play the team that is supposed to win it. The result (Tuesday) was not there, but we have played better.

We're just trying to get points. Obviously we wanted two and wanted to win in regulation, but you know the way we played the last two periods I think we're very fortunate to get two points.

Sean has played well at a very important time of year. Johnny will get a start. If we can get the two of them going, it's a good problem to have.

I'd just like to get a save. It's tough. I didn't think Grahame played well. You give up four goals on 17 shots. We need the occasional save.

From our goaltending right on out, I thought we played well, I thought we played hard, I thought we created a lot of offence but you're still in the situation where you're not putting that puck in the net when you have those chances. The 20 minutes in the third period was very important in just finding a way.

He's a guy we're still making assessments on. Has he played poorly? No. Has he done enough things to be a bona fide National Hockey Leaguer? No. So we'll see as we go along with him.

He's got to go down and play. The next time he gets a chance here, and it could be this year, you have to come in with the mind-set that you need to try to make a difference. I don't think he played badly, I just don't think it was a situation where he was trying to make a difference. He was just kind of feeling his way through it a little bit. And the minutes he was getting, it doesn't give him a great opportunity.

We looked tired and I think they were tired, but I still think they played hard. It's finding a way.

I thought we played with more energy, I thought we did better things tonight. Both teams had some opportunities. They scored on a couple. We didn't.

I think the new rules have played with the minds of some players, especially our offensive people. We're going to instill the red line at times in the game. ... Our guys are going to play with it just to get them to come back (to the defensive zone). And we knew it was going to happen with these new rules. It's a process, especially for our offensive people.

I thought we played well enough to win. We had plenty of scoring chances, and we just didn't finish.

I thought we played well enough in Washington, but again we didn't score the big goal. That was probably, to me, one of the toughest losses I've gone through in the way we lost it. I thought we made some terrible mistakes on the (winning) goal. ... As a coach, it was a tough one to eat.

I thought we played very well, but do the math. Eight scoring chances, five goals. It's frustrating.

I thought parts of the game we played very well, but other parts we were brain-dead. Even in the second period when it was 3-1 I thought we weren't playing badly, but we put ourselves in a bad spot with too many penalties.

That's a tough one, I thought that we played well right on through. I thought that we played a good second half of the third period. We'll rebound and they should feel good about the way that they played, as it was our seventh game in eleven nights against a quality team and we just have to stay positive.

We played more of the way we need to play. And it's the way we will need to play if we're going to become a good team.

What we've been trying to do is be a tougher team to play against. I thought we played a good, solid road game.

This team should feel like we can play in these games. They've played in enough important games and they should feel good about themselves when they enter them.

We've played well at times, and other times we haven't. It's having the right answer. If we don't have it, then we're in a major hole.

We just froze. Atlanta has some good offensive people and we couldn't change the momentum. The way we played the last two periods, we're fortunate to get two points.

We're going through a tough time here with injuries. This situation, things piled up. Three main guys on our team all together. I really respect how our team stayed together and played a game as a team.

You look at a lot of the other studs in the league this is the time when your best players need to step up and Marty, certainly the past couple of nights, he has been our best player offensively. I don't want to single anybody out because I think we have played well as a team, but you have to give him a little bit of credit. His game is different than it was in the middle of the year.

I understand they have had success against us, but I think the past few games we've played them, a turn here or a turn there and it could be a different result. We're looking forward to it. We're right where we want to be. ... They're the ones that for the past couple months: 'No one is going to be able to touch them.' So we want the opportunity first.

This is right where we want to be. I understand that they have had some success against us but I think in the past few games we played them, a turn here, a turn there it could have been different. We are looking forward to it. We are right where we want to be as we start our first round. For the past couple of months no one was going to be able to touch them. So we want the opportunity first.

Absolutely, but in today's game, where are we going to go with the (salary) cap? I am (upset) at what is happening there because I thought our team played very well tonight. And this has gone on for quite a while. Is there other options out there? We can't do (anything).

The last few games we played them, a turn here or a turn there would have changed the result.

I am pissed, I am pissed at what is happening there. Because I thought our team played very well (Wednesday).

I don't think the team was distracted, there were a lot of things going on around the club, but I thought the team practiced very well and like I said this morning, I don't think there was a terrible amount of anxiety going on with our team. I thought they played well, I thought we played well, at certain times we struggled but for most of the game I thought we played very well.

I couldn't be happier as far as how hard they played and then they turned it up in the overtime, that's what I liked. They tried to win so we'll take that point and go from there.

I don't like finishing a game that way. I'm not getting on my team at all. They played hard. They played really well.

He really didn't get a lot of work. He hadn't played much, but he gave us a chance.