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NHL EASTERN CONFERENCE FINAL: LIGHTNING v PENGUINS

May 19, 2016

Jon Cooper

Tampa, Florida: Practice Day

Q.. Coop, talk about the decision to put the triplets back together last night, what prompted that, and how did you feel that they played?
COACH COOPER: Same thing as prompted it for two series prior to that. I think with a lot of coaches, what happens are adjustments and different (indiscernible) in a game. We'd gone two periods without scoring. We weren't getting a ton in there. We put those guys back together, and they gave us a little bit of a boost.
So you're just looking for different things that work and guys that have a little bit of chemistry together. Fortunately, they do, as well as -- you know, they play with other guys as well. But you just can't -- you've got to look after the rest of your team as well, and we're trying not only to get -- you think, well, you get Kuch and Johnny going, you know, Palat helped spark that, and you're just trying to help -- you're just trying to find ways. Because it's worked with those guys in the past, we wanted to go back to it. I've done it a ton during the beginning.

Q.. (Inaudible)?
COACH COOPER: Something I would consider? Of course I would consider it.

Q.. You've been down in series before, but last night's game was fairly lopsided. Does this feel different than being down in other series or not really?
COACH COOPER: I don't know. It's hard to say. I think being down in the series is being down in a series. It really doesn't matter how, I guess, you get there. The one thing I looked at and said, okay, we've won one of these three games. We did take three away from them in the regular season. So it's not something we're sitting here saying, oh, we can't beat this team. We couldn't beat them in the last two games, and that's the way we're looking at it.
So we have to just dig down and look through the past, do some of the things where we've had success, and really look at some of the things that are hurting us. The things that are hurting us are things that are a little bit uncharacteristic in what we do.
But in saying that, Pittsburgh's put us in a position to be like that. Now it's we served, they volleyed back. Now it's our turn to send it back to them. That's what we've got to do.

Q.. Can you update us on Ben Bishop. Obviously, skated today with the group and on his own, as I understand it. Maybe talk about the dynamics of the decision moving forward if he's able to play, given how well Vasilevskiy's played. I think it's fair to say he's been tremendous.
COACH COOPER: Well, we've moved into football terms now. So Ben Bishop is probably -- I'd consider him in that doubtful range, but that's better than being out. So as of now, Stammer's still in a holding pattern, but aside from that, everyone else is available.
So answer your question about Bish and Vasilevskiy, Vasilevskiy has been outstanding for us. Unfortunately, we're the ones that kind of let him down. But I don't think -- first of all, it's not a question for right now anyway because there is no -- Bish isn't available to really come back right now. That's what makes it kind of a moot point, but I guess in the end, when you've got two outstanding goaltenders, whatever decision you do go with is probably not going to matter.

Q.. (Inaudible) you don't expect Bishop for Game 4 then, right?
COACH COOPER: I don't expect him.

Q.. Jonathan has been so good during these playoffs, obviously a lot of stories written about him. When he makes that mistake, like he made at the end of the first last night, how do you maintain and keep his confidence up to make sure it doesn't linger with him?
COACH COOPER: The thing is I always -- I look, and the player makes a mistake, and just because it eventually ended up in the back of the net, it's a bad mistake. When there's other guys that are making mistakes tenfold, and they don't end up in the back of the net, so they're not as magnified.
The one thing with Jonathan is that -- sure, that was one mistake that was made 170 feet from the net, but there were other mistakes made by other players on the way back. And that's kind been with key with a lot of the goals scored that have been against us. It's not just one guy, but a lot of guys are making mistakes, and Vasilevskiy's been left holding the bag most of the time, and we just haven't helped him out.
I think for any player's psyche, Jonathan included, you've just got to sick with them. It's not a situation where -- these are our go-to guys. These are the guys that are going to play. Jonathan is going to get right back up and go back out there, and so is everybody else that's made mistakes. They've done it as a collective group. We've come this far together as a group, and we know we can keep going as a group.
You've just got to -- I think the biggest thing is, you know, build on their positives, show them a couple of mistakes where we can do better, but show them what they're doing really well, and for the most part, everybody's doing, including Jonathan, a lot more things well than they are poor.

Q.. I apologize if I have this wrong. Did he not play, though, for a good portion early in the third period after that mistake, or did that mistake have anything to do with it?
COACH COOPER: No, I just juggled the line is what happened. I think if I looked at the ice time, I think it was based more on the forwards. He played more than Kuch last night, but those are our go-to guys. When I look at the guys playing on our team, it's Phil and Johnny and Kuch and Killorn and Joe, those are the guys leading the way.
I was trying to get a spark, trying to move some things. He's had a little chemistry with Vlady in the past. Anyway, we ended up scoring a couple out of it, and we gave up too many.

Q.. Based on what you've seen in the three games from that Hagelin, Bonino, Kessel line, a lot of people talk about their speed. What else is problematic about that trio?
COACH COOPER: Well, you look at their team, and everybody -- you got the Crosby line. You've got the Malkin line. And they're the kind of line that goes a little bit unnoticed, and I think that's probably helped Phil out quite a bit. Because you think about him in Toronto, he was the guy, and now he comes to Pittsburgh, and he's just one of the guys. And I think that can help a player out.
He's been pretty darn good playoff performer, even before he got to Pittsburgh. But you add -- they've got a really good mix with that line because there's a guy who can score in Phil, who got really good speed. He's got deceptive speed. He's quick.
Then you've got Bonino, who's a really smart player and he sees the ice and does a lot of great things like that. Then you've got Hagelin, who's really fast. He's a worker, and he agitates. And you kind of mix those three guys together, and it's a pretty cohesive group.
But you sit there and think of the lines that they keep rolling out, there's just another line that you have to worry about. When you can go three and four lines deep -- and something we've been able to do -- it's a tough matchup for teams. They're just another case -- and plus they're feeling it too. They're in one of those playoff runs where they're feeling it, and when you are going like that, good things are going to happen for you.

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