Frank Nazar reacted immediately to being hit in the face by a puck, throwing his gloves down and heading straight to the locker room, indicating serious concern about his injury.
The Bill Masterton Memorial Trophy is awarded annually to the National Hockey League player who best exemplifies the qualities of perseverance, sportsmanship, and dedication to ice hockey.
I kind of bit on the shot [by Frost] and he threw it backdoor. I just put my glove out there, tried to cover space. And I got fortunate... I caught a piece. That's a remarkable accomplishment in this game, and it just speaks volumes for how good of a goaltender he is.
They're a better team than people think. Look at their game, before they played us last game, they had just lost in overtime against Dallas. They're in the game every night. Before the break, they had a hell of a stretch where they were in the game all the time. They can skate, they have size, and their goaltending is really good, so they're in the game every night, so you need to be as close as possible to perfection.
Your job as a coach is to put the team in the best situation to succeed. Take away the fact that they're all phenomenal players and number-one picks; many times, it doesn't work. There has to be chemistry between the group. Those are three guys who need the puck, and there is only one puck out there. I have to admit there was a lot of unselfishness between those guys.
Winnipeg is coming off a big win, and they're a tough team at home. They're playing a lot better, and they're a big, heavy team. The top line is dangerous, for sure, and obviously, their goalie is elite. We have to do a good job against that top line, and we're going to have to out-compete that goalie tonight. He is good, so we need second and third opportunities around the net.
It's hard enough to tip in a puck right from the goalie's doorstep. That sucker is small, hard, and moving well above the speed limit, and it's a genuine feat of hand-eye coordination to not just get a blade on it, but to get only just so much blade on it to not halt it but redirect it to the angle of your choosing.