It helped him to go to the minors. He went down, worked on his game and got his confidence. In his rookie year, he was a little gun-shy. It was all new for him, but now he's comfortable. . . . We have a good chemistry.

She's been playing really well for us. She's getting more confidence shooting the puck, and as a defenseman that's how you get assists. We really need her to do that.

I'm all for change. It's about excitement and entertainment, right? The way to do that is with more goals and more scoring.

We haven't gotten off to good starts, so that's important for us to do in both games. We want to come home on a good, positive note. L.A. is struggling, but is still a good hockey team. And San Jose, with Thornton in the lineup, that makes them even more dangerous offensively. The good thing for us is we've seen Thornton a lot, so we know his strengths and weaknesses.

It's going to take time and patience with this group to believe in the system. We've got to keep working at it until we perfect it. You have to know your [responsibilities]. If you make one bad read, the whole thing falls apart.

I think it's a willingness to work. I think our work ethic is not very good in the third. And you can see that in the games. But it might also be a learning experience with the younger guys. As veterans, we need to pass on that knowledge.