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NHL WESTERN CONFERENCE FINAL: SHARKS v BLUES

May 22, 2016

Paul Stastny

St. Louis, Missouri: Practice Day

THE MODERATOR: Questions for Paul Stastny.

Q. (No microphone.)
PAUL STASTNY: Neutral‑zone battle, a lot of chasing both ways. When we're at our best, we try to get that possession game going, try to build that offensive time zone, make them play on their heels as long as we can.

Q. What enables you to create high‑percentage scoring chances below the goal line?
PAUL STASTNY: You try to wear them down whether it's on one shift or shift by shift. Eventually the second and third period you'll start getting more chances.
Just like any team, like us, when you get teams hung up in the D zone, that's when they start getting tired, that's when they start making mental or physical mistakes.
Everyone is the same way. In the O zone, it's easy. You can skate a lot harder when you have the puck compared to when you're chasing in the D zone.
That's our goal, is to get them facing their goalie, get them playing D as much as we can.

Q. Because both goalies have played a ton, does it make it less controversial? These guys are friends.
PAUL STASTNY: I think it was just kind of a wake‑up call. It was more on us, the players, a wake‑up call, something needed to be changed. Didn't matter who is playing in net for us.
I've said it all year, when one guy is playing or the other, we don't change our game. We have confidence in both. We trust them both.
Similar in a lot of ways. Maybe a few differences. But I think both guys are comfortable in net. We don't change our game, which is important when we have either Moose or Snake starting.

Q. Hitch said you went from relying on Elliott to playing for Allen. Describe what he meant by that.
PAUL STASTNY: Yeah, I mean, we just didn't play good the first couple games. Moose had to make some big saves just to keep us close in the game. Like I said, by putting Snake in there, just a little lineup change to wake us up a little bit.
I think if Moose is playing as well, we would have played the same way. We looked at ourselves, we knew what the situation was, we could have been down 3‑0.
Didn't play the best game in Game1. We needed something to get back to our game. Whether it's a goaltending change or having a tough loss first game there on the road, didn't matter for us, we knew what we were going to bring to the table.

Q. How big is Monday? You know you have to go back there. How big to get the jump before you go back there?
PAUL STASTNY: It is. We were in this situation against Dallas, it was 2‑2, then became best‑of‑three. It will be nice if you start the series as best‑of‑three.
Did good things. Rested up today, especially after our travel day. We want to do everything we can to take care of that home ice. I think that's what we've worked for all year.
Just have to put in a good effort tomorrow knowing it's a big game. It's long travel for a quick turnaround.

Q. Your team has lost a few in a row Game5s at home. Hitch said there's nothing to it. Do you feel there's anything there?
PAUL STASTNY: No, I don't think so. I mean, even before this series started, there was an article, or a headline how we haven't been as good at home as we've been on the road. I told Steener that we've sometimes played better at home and the outcome hasn't been there. We haven't played as well but got the win.
I think we just have to stick to our game, feed off the crowd. Sometimes we have to. We just got to also use the crowd to our advantage when things are going well.

Q. How do you think guys, especially your goalies, stay sharp during the playoffs? They're not playing for a month. You aren't really practicing as a team. Is that really impressive given the stakes?
PAUL STASTNY: Yeah, that's why they're both number one goaltenders. It's not the first time they've done it. It's not their first year pro. They've been around. They've learned from guys. They know no matter the situation, it could be an injury or something happens, they're going to go in there right away.
I think both guys are so even‑keeled, well‑prepared, they're always watching for each other. Even if it's an off day, they want to get their shots in no matter what just in case they are going in so they're ready.

Q. Is the mental side as impressive to you guys as the physical side of it?
PAUL STASTNY: Yeah, I mean, I think‑‑ I can't say for a goalie. For a player, physical side is kind of tough. A guy like Mags who hasn't played for a couple weeks, goes in there, hasn't skipped a beat. That's impressive. The mental side, the decision making for a goalie, a player, is just as important. Just kind of shows to the mental strength of those guys.

Q. Did you see the Wingels' hit?
PAUL STASTNY: I was on the ice. I don't know.

Q. Looks like he was coming off. Let up to come off for a change. Is it cool to do that?
PAUL STASTNY: Like I said, the game happens fast. There's little plays that I think if you really looked at everything in slow‑mo, everything looks worse or better. In the eye of the beholder.
That one, like I've said, I think playoff time you know you're always going to get hit. That's how it is. We do the same thing to them, they do the same thing to us. Whether it makes an effect now or down the road, I think that's what you try to do.

Q. The way you played yesterday, do you feel you threw them off their game a little bit and there was some frustration there?
PAUL STASTNY: Like I said, we worry about what we do. We got back to our game. When one team is playing better, it's going to throw the other team off, going to frustrate them when things aren't going well.
For two games there, not a lot of chances, shutouts. People were talking about how the series was mismatched, uneven. In the locker room we knew we didn't bring our A games for Game2 and 3. We knew we had a lot more to give.
We knew it was still 2‑1, if we won that one game, we would be where we wanted to be: home ice, best‑of‑three.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

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