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NHL EASTERN CONFERENCE FINAL: LIGHTNING v PENGUINSMay 17, 2016Tyler JohnsonTampa, Florida: Practice Day Q. Tyler, what do you take out of those first two games in terms of how you guys played? TYLER JOHNSON: Well, I don't think we can honestly say it was our "A" game the entire time. Game 2, I thought we could have been a lot better. Game 1, I thought we started out well. There's moments where I think we could have been better. But coming back home 1-1, if you were going to tell us we were going to do that before, I think most of us would have taken that. So now we have the home ice advantage. So take it back here and hopefully go from here. Q. How much more do you need the puck? TYLER JOHNSON: Well, yeah, Pittsburgh is a very talented team, so when they have the puck, it's obviously very difficult. The more we can have it, the more we can play a puck possession game, the better it is. We have to do a lot better at supporting each other, giving each other outs, and being able to help each other. Q. 1-1, you'll take it, but you were one shot away from going 2-0 (inaudible). Is that a good thing or is that not okay? How do you take that? TYLER JOHNSON: Well, I mean, it's a good thing, but at the same time, we know we have to do better. Game 2, you know, Vas, he really had to stand on his head at the beginning to really keep us in it, and we were able to crawl our way back. But we need to play a full 60-minute game, and we've got to do that in Game 3. Q. What are they doing to create turnovers? Sometimes it's giveaways, and sometimes it's what the other team does to you. What have they done well in defending? TYLER JOHNSON: It's a little bit of us and them. They're a very, very fast-paced team. They have a lot of skill and a lot of talent. They're clogging the lanes with their speed. They're forcing you to make decisions quickly, and then we're not doing a good enough job supporting one another. We're too far from each other. When you're trying to make those long passes, those passes that are difficult sometimes under pressure, they do a great job of corralling the puck. And like I said, they're a fast team, so they're coming right back at you quickly. And that's pretty tough to play against. Q. Is there a way you can try to slow them down a little? TYLER JOHNSON: Well, I think it's just playing with the puck, being able to support each other, being able to help each other, and making the simple plays. You can't fuel their transition game because it is one of the best in the league. They're very talented at it. You know, in a way, it's a lot like us. We feed off turnovers as well. So it's kind of like playing with each other. We just got to do a better job of working with each other and helping each other out. Q. It's been a while since you've played over at home. How excited are you guys to get back in front of home crowd? TYLER JOHNSON: Yeah, we love playing here. Our fans are awesome. The building's electric. It's amazing. So it was fun playing in Pittsburgh, but we're definitely glad to be back here and playing in front of our fans, and hopefully, we can get a few wins here. Q. Johnny, how confident are you guys now with Vasilevskiy in there, seeing what he's continued to do every time he's gotten that opportunity? TYLER JOHNSON: I think we've been confident in him forever really. We can see what he does in practice. We see what he does in games. He's an unbelievable goalie. He competes. He's always going to give you your "A" game. You need that. It's tough when you lose a guy like Bishop, but Vasi is a guy that can come in and win games for us as well. He's done a tremendous job when he comes in. We've just got to do better in front of him. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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