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NHL EASTERN CONFERENCE FINALS: LIGHTNING v RANGERSMay 21, 2015Alain VigneaultTAMPA, FLORIDA: Practice Day Q. (No Microphone) ? COACH VIGNEAULT: No, he's the guy. Q. (No Microphone)? COACH VIGNEAULT: Game 4? Obviously, we're down by one. We know the importance of tomorrow's game like we knew the importance of 1, 2, and 3, so we're going to be ready for it. We're playing against an extremely good team, but I liked a lot of things about our game last night. We came out really strong, scored a power‑play goal right off the bat, had a 2‑nothing lead with 00:50 left to play against the No. 1 scoring team in the league. It's not a big lead, but it's a lead. They came back and they scored four. Guys didn't stop playing. We tied it up. They scored another one. We kept playing. We tied it up in OT. We had two really good chances off the bat. Ryan McDonagh tipped in front of the net, and Dom beating Johnson out of the corner and taking it right to the net. We don't score, and they get a quick one right after. Q. As a coach, can you expand on what you said about the way your team played last night? You get back in it, and had you had the chance in the early part of that? COACH VIGNEAULT: It was a great hockey game last night. I mean, two teams playing with speed and skill. And last night, two teams that were able to make the other teams pay for some of their mistakes. We scored five on Bishop last night. That's pretty good. He's been an outstanding goaltender in this series, and in these playoffs. So there are a couple of areas that we need to look at. We've got a 6 o'clock meeting tonight, and we're going to look at a couple of those areas, and we're going to get ready for tomorrow. It was a hard‑fought series. We're trying really hard, and we're going to try really hard again tomorrow. Q. You want (No Microphone) but do guys have to make better decisions and not take risks? COACH VIGNEAULT: Well, if you look at a lot of those goals last night, we're there. We've got numbers. We've got people there. Their first goal, I mean, I know Dan loses the puck at our blue line. He's got the puck and Stamkos makes a great play. But Mac is back, Dan is back, (Indiscernible) is on the shot. Puck goes to the net. Hank tries to catch it, caught Hank off guard, and pushed it in on Stamkos' stick. Stuff's going to happen. Right now both teams are‑‑ in last night's game anyway, but both teams made each other pay for their mistakes. It was up and down. It was a lot of skill, lot of speed. It's as quick a series as I've been part of in a long time, and we're going to get right back at it tomorrow. Q. (No Microphone) you guys playing more conservatively against some of their top players? COACH VIGNEAULT: I don't think we can stop their top players. We didn't totally stop Crosby and Malkin. We didn't totally stop Ovechkin. Those guys still had some looks. These guys are going to get some looks. Right now when they're getting the looks, it's finding a way through different circumstances to get to the back of our net. But we're trying to defend as well as we have been in the past. Maybe it doesn't look it, but we're trying. We're going to look at a couple things on video and see if we can't be better tomorrow. Q. Do you want to let them dictate the pace of the game? COACH VIGNEAULT: I don't think either team can dictate the pace of the game. I don't think either team can dictate it. I don't think they're dictating. I mean, in a game there's flows. There's parts of last night's game where we were in there and we had puck control, we had looks. There were other parts where they were in our end, their skill was there, they had looks. Two good teams battling back and forth. Q. How do you think Hank played last night? COACH VIGNEAULT: Hank would be the first to say to you that six goals against is very uncharacteristic. In the number of games that he's played for the Rangers, he's been on most nights one of their top players. He's going to get ready for tomorrow night and he's going to try to have a real good game. Q. You did say after the game in the locker room (No Microphone) how quickly they're passing, that they were having trouble tracking the puck especially (No Microphone)? COACH VIGNEAULT: I mean, that's his assessment of his play, I'm not a goaltender. I do know Hank is very accountable and very demanding on himself. He is going to do what any good goaltender does. He is going to put last night's game behind him. He's going to get ready for tomorrow. He's going to have a good practice with his teammates. He's going to get ready with his teammates and he's going to play tomorrow night. Q. (No Microphone)? COACH VIGNEAULT: Coming along. Normal steps. It's just, there's a number of steps and this is one of them. Q. Coach, a lot of guys said today staying structurally sound. Does that mean back to basics? COACH VIGNEAULT: I mean, we are structurally sound. That's one of the reasons why we are getting turnovers. We're creating some turnovers. They're a good team and they can beat you sometimes. Even though you're in structure, they've got the skill level to beat you one‑on‑one sometimes. Just like we have that skill level sometimes. Even though you can be in structure, if you beat somebody one‑on‑one, you're going to get a good look. Both teams have got that high speed, high skill level right now. That's why there are some looks on both sides. That's why there were five scored on their team last night, and six on ours. Q. (No Microphone)? COACH VIGNEAULT: He was playing with that line throughout the third period. That line, he had played really well till then, and I thought he needed more ice time because he was one of our better players, and that's why I put him out there. Q. (No Microphone)? COACH VIGNEAULT: No, no. Q. Also (No Microphone)? COACH VIGNEAULT: He was‑‑ this is a team that forechecks real hard, five guys at you all the time. He was very good at beating the forecheck and making that good first pass. When the opportunity was there to jump up in the attack, he was using it. So he was an effective player for us last night. Q. (No Microphone)? COACH VIGNEAULT: I want to win. I mean, our players want to win. If we win 6‑5, we win. We've found ways throughout the season to win different types of games. That is the type of series we're in right now. That's what we're going to try to do. Q. I guess that type of game doesn't favor (No Microphone)? COACH VIGNEAULT: I would say to you, I mean, we've been in so many one‑goal games and tight ones, and he's played good in a lot of those games, one or the other. But he is more noted for a puck‑moving‑type defenseman. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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