The cliches are true, you have to take everything one game at a time in an 82-game marathon of a season.
But as far as first impressions go, the Columbus Blue Jackets had a great one when they shut out the New York Islanders 5-0 in front of a raucous crowd at Nationwide Arena on Friday night.
Afterward, there was a lot of excitement, not just from a pair of Blue Jackets rookies who scored their first career NHL goals but from head coach John Tortorella about the play of his team.
Pierre-Luc Dubois
On the atmosphere of the game: "It was amazing. The home opener, all the fans and everything, it was pretty amazing. To have my family here, it felt really good."
On making his debut: "I wasn't that nervous. I wanted to be ready when the puck dropped. Warmups was the time I was looking in the stands and I was drinking it all in, but when the puck dropped, I knew I had to be ready."
On what he'll do with the puck after his first career goal: "I'm gonna keep it, but I haven't decided yet. Maybe I'll give it to my parents for a little while, but I'll want it back soon."
Artemi Panarin
On his return to Chicago for a game Saturday night: "I'm not thinking about it too much. I"m glad to see some familiar faces. That's about it."
On the play of goaltender and fellow Russian Sergei Bobrovsky: "He is just keeping with his style. I'm not surprised."
Sonny Milano
On playing well and scoring a goal after a strong preseason: "I guess I did have a pretty good preseason, but it means nothing as far as the regular season. It was definitely a good feeling getting that one out of the way on the first shift, kind of get rid of all of my nerves."
On scoring against the team he rooted for growing up: "It's definitely a good feeling scoring against the team I grew up watching. They were my favorite team, so it was nice to put one in against them."
On the chemistry of his pairing with fellow young winger Oliver Bjorkstrand: "We actually loved playing with each other in Cleveland. Every time we got the opportunity to play with each other, we were pretty excited, so it's definitely carried over here in the NHL as well."
John Tortorella
On the game: "Bob had to make some big saves at certain times. I don't think he was too busy, but he made some key saves at key times. I thought the best part of our game, and this may sound silly when we win 5-0, but I didn't think we really defended well through the first half of that, but I thought we had some great sticks and great blocks that saved us when I thought we were just a little bit too loose as far as our coverage. I thought we were a little sloppy at times and we weren't strong on the puck, but we saved ourselves a number of times. I thought that was the best part of our game."
On what he learned about his team during the game: "Not so much I didn't know. I wanted to see it. I thought we played well. I think that's the most important thing for this team with the youth that we have. I think we have added speed, more than last year. We have to have a mind-set of playing quick. I thought we did. I thought our defensemen's legs were moving all the time, getting us out of our end as quickly as possible. That's what we're looking for."
On what he said to Milano and Dubois after their goals: "I was happy for them. I congratulated them when they came to the bench. But like I told Sonny when he overpassed on one play, I said, 'You can score another one.' I'm excited for them, but after that, it's business as usual."
Islanders coach Doug Weight
On the game: "We had some chances early. We had some jump. I don’t agree with the kick-in (goal by Cam Atkinson). His skate's off the ice. That’s the rule. If you’re guiding it and your skate comes off the ice, that's the danger point, right? That’s how it was described and now I’m told it doesn’t matter. That was surprising to me. It hurt us. We didn’t react as well as we had in the preseason."
On his team's play: "It’s a little disappointing. It seemed a little like deer in the headlights when it was 3-0."
On his team's scoring troubles: "We were slow to get the puck off but we’ve got to get pucks to the fuckin’ net. My God, I’m sorry. We’ve got to get pucks to the net."
