Hitmen take 2-0 series lead

Here are some quotes from the post-game news conference

Mike Williamson - Hitmen Head Coach

"It was a close game. I thought that we got timely goals and timely saves."

"Tri-City definitely had another level tonight I thought. They won a lot of races to pucks and battles on the boards early in the game especially."

"I think we played well in stretches and better as the game went on. Early on we weren’t as sharp as we needed to be and a lot of that was with the game Tri-City had. We’re happy with where we’re at. We know how good Tri-City is in their own rink. We’re going to have to be that much stronger, that much better going into Tri-City."

"We’ll talk about it. There’s things we have to improve on, there’s always adjustments to make and adjustments to counter that they’re making. We just have to have a businesslike approach and we will."

Peter Kosterman - Hitmen defenceman

How did you find out you were playing?

"I got a text a couple of hours before I headed off to the rink. I think it was sent sooner, but I got it at like one o’clock."

About going into Tri City

"These guys are really good at home, that’s what we have heard. We’ve just got to make sure that we keep to the game plan.”

Giffen Nyren - Hitmen defenceman

About assist on the first goal

"It was huge. I was coming back on a backcheck and it just came back out there, so I turned around and Broda was in the slot. There’s no other guy I’d rather put the puck on his stick than that guy. His shot’s phenomenal."

"Once we got that first goal, our feet started moving a lot more and our team really buckled down and tried (to allow) no turnovers."

Ian Schultz - Hitmen Co-Captain

About a better effort by Americans

"We kind of expected that. They brought it to another level and I think we kind of matched it at the start and then kind of got off our game a little bit."

About the team's penalty killing

"Everybody’s really sacrificing their body right now."

Jim Hiller - Tri-City Head Coach

“The score was closer, obviously. I don’t know for sure, but I thought maybe in last night’s game the play was more even. I thought Calgary had more pressure in our zone tonight than they did last night despite the score.”

“We usually start quick and score the first goal and that, obviously, hasn’t been the case here two nights in a row. We have a break down and again a key goal by them on a turnover. I thought up until that point we were playing pretty well (but) we kind of shot ourselves in the foot and got the building into the game and us on our heels.”

Johnny Lazo - Tri-City goal scoer

Talk about your goal

“I found some time in the slot and just kind of faked and put it upstairs.”

About Hitmen goalie Martin Jones

“He (Jones) is definitely a bigger guy. He’s got the good size, he’s quick. He was on Team Canada for a reason. He’s a phenomenal goaltender. We’ve just got to get more pucks on net and more traffic than we have been.”