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"It’s a long season – you go through ups and downs and right now I’ve got to get out of this and turn this around quick," said Monahan, 24, who missed two games recently because "something didn’t feel quite right."

"You’ve got to be strong. It’s an important time of the year so I’m trying to gear up and get ready for the playoffs and get my game as sharp as I can."

How does he do that?

"It’s just playing harder," said Monahan who long ago cracked the 30-goal mark for the third time in his six-year career.

"You can get a lot of looks in a game but you don’t count looks on the scoreboard."

"It’s frustrating (not scoring goals) but you’ve got to get used to it – that’s how games are going to be down the stretch and in the playoffs," said captain Mark Giordano of a tightening mindset the team has hammered home all month.

"Teams are going to tighten up. Tonight they were committed to putting pucks in and trying to defend. Special teams have to help us out – we have to be positive in special teams and we weren’t and that’s the difference."

https://www.sportsnet.ca/hockey/nhl/...layoffs-begin/