Steve Rucchin Work Quotations

I don't think it took a goalie change to do anything. After the second period, things were going good. It was just a matter of time. It was just the team's work ethic. And Jaromir Jagr stepped up for us.

We feel we have a better team. I've been here awhile and this is the most excited I've been. But we have to focus on making sure that we work hard and keep that going. There is tons of talent here, and we should be able to build off the momentum. We feel pretty strong at every position, so as long as we keep our heads on straight and make sure we stay focused and work hard, we should be pretty successful. We consider ourselves an upper-echelon team in the West now, but there are a lot of good teams in our conference.

The work effort was a lot better tonight. It's frustrating when the puck doesn't go in. But once again, our special teams let us down. That's two games in a row and that's two losses. It's frustrating sure, but it gives us something to build on. It'll be a great atmosphere at Madison Square Garden. Sure, we're behind the 8-ball a little bit, but there's still a ways to go.

You work so hard to get to this point and then shoot yourself in the foot like that, it's inexcusable. It really is. Guys were losing their composure out there and that obviously can't happen. I guess if there's any light on it, it happened in Game 1. That's going to be a quick lesson for us.

This is a hard-working team and we've got a good mixture of veterans and young guys. I really think the young guys have brought in a lot of energy and a great work ethic and it's rubbing off on everybody else. Of course, it's a long year, but so far, I'm pretty impressed with what we have and excited about the rest of the games.