"We didn't give them our best game, that's for sure. We turned the puck over, made a lot of mistakes. (But) Rick played tremendous. He made the saves when he needed too."

"It's mind boggling. You're thinking about it and you are shaking your head saying, 'How did we do this?' We don't say there are 11 games left, let's win them all. We needed a lot of help from everybody but we still needed to win 11 games. I think it's amazing."

"To me, he was always a safety valve, knowing that I had one of the best competitors in the game in front of me. To be the captain of three Stanley Cup teams, you don't do that by chance. It's because you've done something great in your career."

"It's a rivalry and they're playing hard. We're not happy they're not doing well against the rest of the league. They're taking points away from us."

"It's kind of nice to have (a shutout) on (Stevens') night. We played a tough opponent. It was a playoff atmosphere out there. It's a great day for Scott and it became a great day for us at the same time."

"We're trying to survive and get in the playoffs, so these wins are huge."

"I think being up, being down, trying to be consistent in the playoffs is probably the hardest thing, because it doesn't matter if you lose 2-1 or 7-1 — it's still one game. The bottom line is to advance."

"It's like preseason now. I guess maybe a memo was sent down to call games tighter again."

"It went our way for three games. It could go the other way for three games, also."

"[More insulting still, the New Jersey Devils declined to stay in Ottawa between Games 1 and 2 of their Stanley Cup semifinal series against the Senators last week, flying home to spend 48 hours in the relative Babylon of East Rutherford.] If you look around, ... there's not much to do around here."

"I played 25 minutes and 35 minutes in two games. I shouldn't be tired. I'm tired of getting scored on."

"It was fun to play the game again. It's going to be the same for every team. Everybody is in the same boat. It's like riding a bicycle, you go back to it and it's like you never left it."

"The team has the confidence to throw me in the net every night and that makes it a lot easier when you know you're going to get over 65 starts every year."

"I could have stayed in. It was my choice. When the team is struggling, why be in there for the sake of being there?"

"We have no excuse to not get back to where we were at or even better. I think the competition will be greater from now on because of the stretch drive. Some teams are going to try to secure playoff spots. Some teams are going to try to get back in the mix. Some teams, like us, are trying to stay alive and move up with the big guys."

"We're going to have a good competition and that's what you want."

"I don't think you can blame the new guys for the way we've been playing."

"My skate got caught and I twisted it. I heard it twist and I couldn't get up. All my body weight fell on it. I had to be really hurt to leave the game. We were still in the game at that point."

"[The NHL testing] just started in January, so it's OK. It's flushed out of his body, but from now on, the guy's got to be careful. Everybody is educated now. It's not like you don't know. Now, you have to know. That's your responsibility as an athlete. I think his was just an unfortunate situation that happened to him that's really isolated -- I hope."

"While you're fighting for a playoff spot, you might as well try to get the best spot possible."

"I think there was a big transition in Canada, having younger guys being part of Team Canada now. I think it's nice we had a chance to perform with each other. At least you don't come in and it's a brand-new atmosphere. Now Team Canada has been doing these pre-Olympic training camps in the summer also, where we got together. I think everybody's really anxious to see each other again."

"He's a young guy. When you have the privilege of playing for the greatest hockey country, there are only so many players. It's not that he's not worth being there, it's just because he's in a situation that Team Canada has a new wave of young players."

"[Devils netminder Martin Brodeur said the team is prepared for Stevens' absence, having learned how to play without him for much of the last NHL season.] We got used to not having him around, ... We really have a sense of what it's going to be like without Scott Stevens. At the same time we're going to have to learn about life without Scott Niedermayer, too. It's two tough blows to take..."

"[Starting for the Canadian Olympic team has given Martin Brodeur a distinct advantage. He was the first goalie to get the NHL's newly legislated smaller pads, pants, and other gear.] Goalies that like to react to pucks won't have a problem, ... Those goalies that block shots instead of stopping shots, will find it's going to be a little tougher for them, especially in close."