PREGAME: Lane Lambert interview with Everett Fitzhugh before the Sabres/Kraken matchup (12/14)

Everett Fitzhugh's conversation with Kraken head coach Lane Lambert ahead of the December 14th matchup between the Seattle Kraken and Buffalo Sabres at Climate Pledge Arena.

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:01):
Thanks Mike Lane. A tough one in Utah the other night,
where once again, this final score not indicative of how
the team played. A couple of empty net goals against.
But just take us back through those sixty minutes in Utah.

Speaker 2 (00:12):
Well again, you know, not indicative a couple of empty
net goals against which we've you know, we've had a
couple of those in the last week. You know the
Minnesota game as well, where we gave up two empty
net goals. It's a one goal hockey game. Disappointed in
the fact that, you know, it was seven and a
half or eight minutes left, we're tied.

Speaker 1 (00:31):
Again.

Speaker 2 (00:33):
The theme and the trend is not you know, it
does not going the right way for us. We have
to find a way to be better in those situations,
you know. And I thought our commitment level was high.
I thought we blocked a lot of shots. But I
also thought that we were slow defensively, slow to close,
and I thought we spent too much time in our zone. So,
you know, at the end of the day, could we

(00:55):
have gotten points out of that game? I thought our
goaltender played well again, and yes we could have, But
you know, we have to spend less time.

Speaker 1 (01:02):
In our own it's been a rough stretch for Seattle.
But you've said multiple times, including this morning, you've liked
how the team has played, The effort's been there, they've
they've played good enough to win or at least get points.
How do you manage that frustration? Where do you think
the crack can have more to give in these areas well?

Speaker 2 (01:20):
I just think that you know, I have I have
liked a lot about our our work ethic, but at
the end of the day, that's just required. Let's face it.
You know, you're required to come to the rank and
you're required to work, so you know, to say we've
been working, you know, that's great, that's all fine and dandy,
But I think just little areas of detail for our

(01:41):
hockey team. This is, you know, the time of the
season basically where you know the cream starts to separate
itself a little bit and are you on the right
side or the wrong side. And our attention to detail,
in my opinion, has dropped slightly, whether it be sickness,
whether it be distractions outside with Christmas season, whether it

(02:05):
be you know it's fatigue. You know, there's got to
be more attention to detail in certain areas. And that's
you know, I've always said, and I've said it before
to you, you never know what five seconds is going
to win to lose your hockey game. We've had a
lot of situations where five seconds is one is a
hockey game, and we're having too many situations where the

(02:25):
five seconds is losing us games right now.

Speaker 1 (02:27):
This morning, you also talked about because of the injuries
and the sickness, guys have been elevated into different more
different roles. From what you've seen so far, from those players,
what do you like about your lineup that you've tossed
out there every single night. You know, you talked about
Elie Tovin in this morning, Freddie Gadrou being on the
second line as well. What have you liked about some
of these players and their efforts in these elevated roles.

Speaker 2 (02:47):
Well, I think to your point you mentioned Freddie, I
think Freddie's done a really good job. He's up on
the you know, up on the whatever, the top six,
and he's playing right wing. He makes plays. This is
a good opportunity, Freddy to show us, you know, that
he's more than a fourth line center, you know, and
he certainly has the ability to score with his goals

(03:09):
last year, his goal numbers last year, and he's made
some really good plays to play. He made the Marchmen
on Marchman's first goal in Utah was outstanding off the wall,
you know, And so that's been good. Like when you
have people go down and you give players an opportunity,
you like to see them take advantage of it, and
then you know, you know going forward when players come
back that you know your team's even better because you

(03:30):
can keep a guy in that spot. I'd say Freddie
Budrouzman a real bright light for US.

Speaker 1 (03:33):
Buffalo Sabers are a team that leeds the league if
you're brought up this morning in rush chances and they're
a team that on paper has so much talent, but
they're not getting the results that they would like either.
What about the Buffalo Sabers do you feel would present
some challenges for Seattle here this evening and given everything
that happened that's been happening with the cracking lately, what's
going to be that game plan tonight against Buffalo?

Speaker 2 (03:55):
Well, they're a very talented offensive hockey team there. Do
you join the rush more than any other team in
the league, Like you say they're number one in the league,
and aug Man rushes and it starts from the back end,
and you know they're not afraid to get five guys
up in the rush. You know. So if you manage
the puck and you force them to go two hundred
feet and you stay above them, there can be some

(04:18):
frustration that sits in there. You have to look to
do that. If you don't, they're going to hurt you.
And you know, so you have to make sure that
you have a right mindset going into a hockey game
against this team. They want a high event game, and
they're good at high event offensively. They're not great at
high event defensively, but no team is. So you know,

(04:41):
our game plan has got to be smart.