[sureLoss]

https://www.nhl.com/news/calgary-fla...?tid=278387990

good read the other questions are on Gulutzan calling out the team after the monreal loss, Brian Elliott's play, and Curtis Lazar

Did you see any signs maybe as you were coming out of the All-Star break, or better yet going into it, that would lead you to believe this kind of run was possible?

"I mean, I'm not going to sit here and say we thought we were going to see this, but we did see a couple things. I really believed in our group. Chemistry and mix often get overlooked. I think those are real critical things. It's a group that gets along and it's a group that likes each other. So that's No. 1. A lot of our data, the things that we study and look at and evaluate and analyze, was good, and it's been good for a longer stretch than just this little run. It's not just the traditional analytics; it's playing more of the game in the other team's zone than ours, sort of our completion percentage. Just our execution of the things we want to do was better. We felt we're doing some good things. Our shooting percentage was down and our save percentage was low. So we looked at it and saw our special teams play, our 5-on-5 play, those numbers have been good for a fairly decent amount of time so if we can execute and get our goaltenders and our team defending at a level I think we're capable of I think we'll be able to have some success. That's sort of what has happened."

Another guy who has had a real strong season is Mikael Backlund, who is leading the team in points with 47. Did you see this coming from him, the production, the all-around game? I've seen some discussion about him being a Selke Trophy candidate even.

"I think [he should be]. I think so. He's been really good. What I've noticed since I've been with him, and it's just three years, is he's one of those guys who came into the League as an offensive guy, took some time to find his way but has turned into a reliable guy. He's first over the boards in every situation. I think we went six games in a row where he never got an offensive zone faceoff. Six games. That's a lot. So we bury him defensively. He sees the other team's top lines. He's the first over the boards in penalty kill, 6-on-5, power play, 4-on-3, 3-on-3 -- he's turned into an every situation type player. Above all that the maturity I've seen in the time I've been here is he's now one of the guys at the front of the bus taking responsibility for wins and losses. What I mean by that is it's not just about his game, his game is now secondary to really dragging the group along and being the guy at the front of the bus to say, 'I'm going to take a real responsibility about getting two points on each given night.' But he's a very rare player that gets tapped on every situation and is producing."