Stars coach Lindy Ruff was left embarrassed by his team’s performance in Game 3, a 6-1 drubbing in St. Louis, and he doesn’t want to hear anything about how the game was actually closer than the final score would indicate—which happens to be exactly what Blues coach Ken Hitchcock said after Tuesday night.
Asked about Hitchcock’s assessment this week, Ruff was having none of it.
“I think Hitch is like the peanuts on top of the bar,” Ruff said, per the Dallas Morning News. “They're complimentary. And I'm not buying into that part.”
As you might imagine, Ruff was far from the only one in the Stars’ dressing room feeling embarrassed after Game 3. But with Game 4 set for Thursday night in St. Louis, Ruff is looking to keep his team on an even keel.
“Just focus on tomorrow,” Ruff said. “I think what we've done through the playoffs, we've had some bad periods. We've been able to flush them and be ready to go. The atmosphere in that room is great. There's always disappointment. We're a team that's learning how to balance the emotional getting too high and not getting low. We've played some pretty good hockey when we've played a disappointing period here and there.”
