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NHL STANLEY CUP FINALS: BLACKHAWKS v LIGHTNING


June 4, 2015


Ryan Callahan

Matthew Carle

Steven Stamkos


TAMPA, FLORIDA: Practice Day

THE MODERATOR:  Questions, please.

Q.  For any of you three, you guys have now lost the first game of the series three times out of four, but have been so resilient.  Is that the mindset over the next couple of days to retain that resilient mindset?
STEVEN STAMKOS:  Yeah, I don't think we planned on losing the first Game3 out of the four.
Definitely not something that we've had any issues with.  We've bounced back after a tough game.  Last game was tough in a way that we played really well and just couldn't get it done.  We've had some tough ones where we didn't play well, didn't deserve it, bounced back.
This will be a different test for our group.  I think we look at all the positives in that game.  There was a lot.  I know that was the first game for a lot of us in the Finals, but I don't think that's an excuse for our group anymore.  We got that out of the way.  We played extremely well, especially the first two periods.
If we're in that position again, we'll make the necessary adjustments.  But there's a lot of good things, and we're going to build on that.

Q.  Was there a moment this season where something happened and you were able to bounce back, whether it was a bad stretch of play or injuries?  Was there a moment where you said, I think there is something in this room that can propel us to where you are now?
STEVEN STAMKOS:  I don't know if I can pinpoint a specific moment.  I think we were very consistent for most of the year.  When we didn't play well for stretches, the stretches were pretty minimal, to be honest.  I think that's what made us successful.  That's what's made us successful in the playoffs, is the ability we've had to realize when we don't play well.
Sometimes it's not pretty when we don't stick to the structure.  But the next day we come in, we watch the video, the coaches do a great job of pinpointing the details of the game that we weren't very good at.
This group has bounced back all season.  So I don't expect anything to change at this time of the year.

Q.  Ryan, then Steve, did you feel like you were able to physically do what you wanted to do last night?  Were you as physical as you wanted to be?  And, Steve, you were 17 plus last night.  I think you're averaging about 18 minutes in the playoffs.  You were 19, 20 during the regular season.  What's comfortable for you to play?
RYAN CALLAHAN:  Yeah, I thought we executed the way we wanted to.  They had very quick players, a lot of skill.  It's hard to finish on them.  When we had our chances, we were finishing our checks, we were physical.
The first two periods I thought we were really good on the forechecks, taking away their time and space, breaking up plays.  I thought those first two periods we executed our physicality pretty well.  Clearly got away from it a little bit, played a little bit more defensive hockey.  But for the most part we played our style.
STEVEN STAMKOS:  Well, obviously as a competitor, you want to be out there as much as possible.  I think every player is going to have that same answer.  I'm not worrying about that stuff right now.  Our focus is winning, doing whatever it takes to win.  I think everyone has that same attitude on our team.

Q.  Ryan, this team got secondary scoring all season, all four lines.  It's a little different here in the playoffs.  How much do you need that secondary scoring?
RYAN CALLAHAN:  It's very important.  In order to have success this time of year, you have to have that.  We've had guys step up throughout the lineup this whole playoffs.
Our first two lines I think have carried most of the weight in that.  But guys have chipped in, defensemen have chipped in when need be.
I guess a team like Chicago, too, that has so much talent throughout their lineup, I think that secondary scoring is going to be important.  Guys are going to have to come up with big goals at big‑times.

Q.  Steve, can you describe about that fine line trying to protect the one‑goal lead going into a third period, yet trying to maintain your aggressiveness.  How would you describe that?
STEVEN STAMKOS:  Well, it is a fine line.  I think everyone was trying to do the right thing last night.  I mean, it was pretty much a perfect game plan the first two periods.  We come in with a one‑goal lead into the third.  The first thing on your mind is to defend that lead.
We've had different scenarios throughout the playoffs where we've done that.  But we still continued to pressure.  We were playing smart hockey, guys were above, but we were having some time in their end with the puck.
We just didn't do that last game.  We gave a team that is very skilled and talented, knows what to do in those situations, we gave them the puck.  They had it too much.  The rest is history after that.
We learned our lesson pretty quick here.  Like I said, we're not worried.  We're excited about the fact that we did a lot of positive things.  That's something to build on.  This is the two best teams in the league for a reason.  We believe in ourselves.  We've done that all playoffs.  We'll learn from the mistake that we made, maybe sitting back a little too much, letting the game come to us.
We talked about not chasing it.  We kind of chased it a little in the third.  I think guys realized the mistake we made and we'll be better next time in that situation.

Q.  Ryan, I'm wondering what the message or directive was to you and Cedric in particular with the matchup with the Toews line and how ultimately you thought you did?  What is the biggest challenge in facing them?
RYAN CALLAHAN:  It wasn't really a message.  It's just kind of how the matchup worked out.  I didn't know going into the game we were going to play against them more than any other line, but it worked out that way.
Listen, they're a very talented group, that line.  They're going to get their chances.  They're going to get opportunities.  You got to try the best you can to limit that, limit their time and space as hard as it is.
I thought we were successful against that line when we started to get pucks deep.  We tried to get the puck in their zone more, control some offensive zone time.  You want those guys to defend, not be in your offensive zone.
I thought we did a good job of that.  That job's going to get harder as the series goes on.

Q.  Matt, you did a pretty good overall defensively holding them to 21 shots.  What were the keys in the game plan of slowing them a bit?
MATTHEW CARLE:  Yeah, I think we did a good job of keeping them to the outside, clogging the neutral zone.  You know they're going to get probably three or four shifts a game where they're going to get a buzz in the offensive zone.  I don't think we really panicked when they did that.
Like I said, we kept them to the outside, let them do their cycle game, force them into mistakes, tried to get the puck out of our zone as much as possible.

Q.  Steve, anything about Corey Crawford surprise you?  What made him so difficult to beat last night?
STEVEN STAMKOS:  I don't think there was any surprises.  He had a good game, made some big saves when he had to.  Our goalie did the same.
I think when you get to this time of the year, goalies are going to be playing well.  I know a lot of people have talked about all the offense, the firepower in this series, but I think you saw last night two teams willing to play well defensively, and that starts with your goaltenders.  He was no different.
We're going to have to find a way to get some more pucks past him.  Can't expect to win a lot, especially against a team of that caliber, scoring one goal.  Power play has to generate a little more.  We're going to have to find a way to beat them.
I don't think anything surprised us.  He played well.  We have to expect that he's going to continue to play well.

Q.  For each of you.  For those who might say Game2 is a must win for you, you would say to that what?
MATTHEW CARLE:  I don't think it is.  We're pretty confident in our road game.  We've shown that a lot throughout the playoffs where we need to have a must‑win on the road, we've been able to pull that out.  I don't really think that adds a whole lot of pressure to tomorrow.  Obviously we want to even the series up, feeling good going into Chicago.  By no means I don't think we put that kind of must‑win pressure on us for tomorrow.
STEVEN STAMKOS:  There's no real must‑win until you've lost three games in a series.  So like Matt said, we're confident in our ability to bounce back after a loss.  I talked about it before.  After tough games we responded well to not playing well and losing, and playing well and losing.  We saw that in the Detroit series a little bit as well.
We're confident in our ability to come back and even this series up.
RYAN CALLAHAN:  I don't think there's a must‑win unless you're facing elimination.  We put a lot of pressure on ourselves to try to win every playoffs game.  I think that's the way you approach it.  You approach the game, you want to win it.  You want to do everything you can to do it.  That's the way we're going to approach tomorrow, the same way we approached Game1.

Q.  Matt, you talked about limiting the chances for them.  Any kind of adjustments you have to make against this team that you're really not that familiar with?
MATTHEW CARLE:  Maybe a little bit with how different their D are in the offensive zone.  The Rangers D were active, but I don't think they're as active as guys like Keith and Seabrook.  I think our guys have to be a little bit more aware.  When they get their cycle game going, it's five guys that are in their system that are trying to create offense.
As a group on the ice, we really have to be aware of that.  That's pretty much the biggest adjustment.

Q.  Matt, you may have been asked about the Blackhawks more than any other player, given your history with them.  Are you tired of hearing about how good they are, how experienced, how deep?
MATTHEW CARLE:  I don't know.  I mean, we saw that in the last series playing against the Rangers, how good they were, how good Henrik Lundqvist was, elimination games, stuff like that.
Blackhawks have been around for five or six years now.  You're going to hear about it with the success they've had.  I don't know if you get tired of it.  You want to try to beat them, try to create our own success here and talk about the Lightning.

Q.  Steven, is there any level of concern about having too much respect for this Blackhawks team, whether they've earned it or not?
STEVEN STAMKOS:  That is a fine line.  I don't think this group is really focused too much on that.  Obviously we respect every opponent that we play.  We showed that every series that we've had.  We've played some unbelievable players and some great teams.  Had to talk a lot about those on different matters.
Like I said before, these are the two best teams in the league.  We have to believe in ourselves, and we do.  We've shown that all along.  It doesn't have to come out in the media.  It stays in the room.
I think that's been a big key to why we've had a lot of success, is each guy believes in each other, our coaching staff believes in the structure and system they put in place, and we as players go out and do it.
It's not going to change now because we lost Game1.  Again, I can't reiterate it anymore.  I think we played a solid game.  The last couple minutes, especially, some tough bounces.  We'll learn how to win in those situations next time we're in them.
But we played a good game and we have to keep looking at the positives.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports
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