I loved that in the third period, we just played hockey. Guys didn't panic. Guys weren't tight. They were loose. They were loose in terms of how they played. I think we out-chanced them pretty dramatically despite having the lead and could've grown our lead significantly. That would've been too easy. The way it is supposed to be on a night like tonight: It's supposed to be hard. We're supposed to find our way through it. As much as I would've loved to have more goals and breathing room, we needed this tonight. I thought the guys handled it very well. It was one of the best third periods we've played maybe all season with the lead. Really proud of the guys tonight.
It is huge. We didn't play well in the first period. We looked really tight and tentative in that first period. We didn't have it. Even the goal itself is kind of a broken play. It lands on Auston's stick, thankfully, and he makes no mistake. It is a big goal for sure. Getting out of that period gave us a chance to kind of regroup, relax, get out and play. I thought we were excellent from there.
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