Boston College 3, Minnesota-Duluth 2: Duluth Postgame Quotables

Courtesy of BCEagles.com, here's a transcript of Minnesota Duluth's postgame press conference, featuring head coach Scott Sandelin, forward Karson Kuhlman, and forward Kyle Osterberg.

I particularly enjoyed Coach Sandelin's response with regard to the decision to end the game after the video review of the icing/non icing call.

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Opening statement:

SANDELIN: "How many people thought we were done when it was 3-0? I'm really proud of our team. I think obviously we could've went a different way, but this group has really battled all year and certainly grown. It was a game of inches, obviously we were close at the end to tying it but we made a couple of mistakes, not getting pucks out and they're a very good transition team and a very good team that is going to capitalize on those opportunities. For us I think it was a lot of missed opportunities of missing the net, and things like that. Maybe early in the game if we got a goal earlier or somewhere in there it changes the tone of the game a little bit. But I'm really proud. I thought our guys played a really good game and we kept fighting until the end. Unfortunately we came up a little bit short."

Thoughts with 10 minutes to go and being down 3-0:

SANDELIN: "We did it in the playoffs. We were down 4-2 to Miami, that two-goal deficit and came back and scored three. You still have 20 minutes to play. You just need to get one and chip away. I think that obviously gave us a huge lift, and then another one, and almost had the third one. I think more of it early, was some missed opportunities earlier in the game. If we hit the net with some of those, and keep the puck in front of him and get some rebounds and those types of things versus missing the net. I thought we really tried to harp on that as the game went on. Again, that's why you play 60 minutes and you play to the buzzer and our guys did that and we just came up a little bit short."

On being given an explanation from the officials on why they ended the game after review:

SANDELIN: "No. "

On this game being a microcosm of the entire season:

SANDELIN: "Probably a little bit, Matt. You've watched us all year, so you know. You know what, it's been hard to score goals and our guys have worked hard and created a number of chances. Again sometimes you trying to get too cued or hold onto pucks too long but tonight we just missed the net early a lot. You have to get pucks on him [goalie] and make sure you get traffic. You have to try to be hard around the blue paint. Sometimes we were but when you miss the net you're chasing the puck again. This is not a team you want to chase the puck on. They are a great transition team from defense to offense. If you're missing the net, it makes it easy on transition. We had a couple of shifts where we kept it in and did have some opportunities. We needed some more of those but you just have to bear down. You don't get a ton of opportunities. I think I said this last night; you really have to bear down. Sometimes even if you bear down, you know he is a really good goal tender. He has had ten shut outs this year, almost 11 for a while. Finally we found a way to get a couple past him."

On playing against a high caliber team:

SANDELIN: "I don't think you can make mistakes on any good team. Their first goal, we didn't get the puck out, and we had a couple of opportunities. They put the puck on the net and it squeezed through our goaltender. Those are the things that happen. The second goal, we were lazy getting back. Again, we created those and they were opportunistic. I thought they were very opportunistic tonight. And the third goal again on the penalty kill. We had a chance to clear it and we got it around the boards and we didn't get it out. The next thing you know it's in the net to make it 3-0. Again, you know against any good team you can't turn pucks over or make too many mistakes because they are going to get opportunities. They got some guys on their team who certainly have found the back of the net quite a bit and tonight they found it one more than we did."

On if Kaskisuo was screened on that last goal:

SANDELIN: "You know, I haven't talked to him. He has been great for us all year and he has given us a chance to win pretty much every game. You know what, every now and then they're going to get some by him. Again, to me, we could have helped that cause in front of him on probably all three of them."

On interpretation from the bench of the last seconds of the game:

SANDELIN: "Yeah, I don't know why they stopped it. Obviously they were killing a penalty and they shot the puck down. I think kind of what I feel is that it ran out. Other than that they reviewed it to see if it did cross the line. Initially we thought it was really close from the bench. That's why they reviewed it and figured that time was probably going to run out anyway. So, I don't know, their captain was kind of coming back being the mediator so I was kind of hearing what he was saying. I kind of figured once they reviewed it, and talked to them over there too. Once they reviewed it, if it's in, it's obviously in. If it's not, the game will be done."

On final chances in the game:

KUHLMAN: "Yeah, I think our strategy there was just to get pucks to the net. I think that's where we got our opportunities all game. The very last one there, the puck bounced onto me, and I just threw one on net. I think it rattled around—hit one of their guys, hit one of our guys, and I think the goalie got his glove on it or something. Like coach said, it's a game of chances, and unfortunately, it didn't bounce our way."

On Willie Raskob stepping up on offense:

OSTERBERG: "Raskob is one of those guys that when it's a big game, he definitely steps up to the table. It's always great to see that. It was unfortunate that the stick broke, but that's just how things happen sometimes."

On being forced to shoot the puck high:

KUHLMAN: "Yea, obviously he's a top-end goalie—one of the best in college hockey. He's a big kid. I thought Farley's shot was good. I mean, you got to go upstairs on a goalie of his caliber. I mean if you can get one or two more bounces and bang home a rebound, it's a different game. It's just the way it goes."