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NHL WESTERN CONFERENCE FINAL: SHARKS v BLUESMay 24, 2016Alexander SteenSan Jose, California: Practice Day THE MODERATOR: Questions for Alexander Steen. Q. What happens between now and the drop of the puck tomorrow? Is it about getting the mind right, the body right? ALEXANDER STEEN: I think of both, I think. The focus is just bringing the series back here to St.Louis. Q. Just that simple? ALEXANDER STEEN: Yeah. We'll make adjustments obviously. We'll look at the tape, have meetings tonight, prepare the way we have previously. Q. A lot of people have talked about simplifying things. What makes it so difficult to have it be simple? ALEXANDER STEEN: We're playing a good team. Throughout a seven‑game series, both teams are going to be changing things in their game, adjusting to the other team. Again, coming out of last night's game, we're the team that has to adjust going into tomorrow. Q. Why do you think so many mistakes by veteran guys last night? ALEXANDER STEEN: Well, it's an emotional series. That went back and forth. We had a couple chances on the power play, as well. They obviously made us pay. Penalty kill is something we'll look at tonight, as well. Right now the focus is on getting the bodies ready. Obviously the mind is ready for tomorrow. Q. You have won two Game 7s in this post‑season. What have you learned about what you need to do in a Game 6? ALEXANDER STEEN: It doesn't change. Elimination games are elimination games. I like the way we played in the two previous ones. Simplified, a lot of desperation. That's what we'll need tomorrow. Q. Why the problems at home? ALEXANDER STEEN: It's so hard to say. The games are so similar, whether you're at home or on the road. It's not as big of a difference as it has been in the past, I think. But it's definitely something that we'll need to change and something that we'll focus on when we get back to St.Louis after Game 6. Q. What must the Blues do to win Game 6? ALEXANDER STEEN: Get back to where we were in Game4. We really liked our game in that one, the desperation, the contributions. I thought defensively we were just a lot more sound than we were at home. Obviously, on the road you usually get a home team that plays a little bit differently than they do on the road, as well. You know, we're looking forward to get going tomorrow. We'll regroup, like I said, today, get on the plane, have a couple meetings and be ready. Q. Are you surprised that Vladimir has struggled this series with his ability to score? ALEXANDER STEEN: Everybody has their roles. They're playing him hard, just like the rest of the group. Doesn't matter who's putting the pucks in the nets, we just have to win games. Q. How close is he to lighting it up? Coach says last night he feels he's one play away from making something happen. ALEXANDER STEEN: With his shot, talent, capabilities, he's always a threat. Q. Why in the regular season when things are going well, you guys got loose, weren't as focused? When you have your back against the wall, especially in these playoffs, that's when you get the effort and performance. Why does it take that for you to be on top of things? ALEXANDER STEEN: I don't think that's true. I think playoffs is completely different beast than the regular season. We got out to a 3‑1 lead against Chicago. That's not playing with just your back against the wall. Q. Alex, Hitch mentioned last night, they're going to want to try to knock you out early tomorrow. The start of the game... ALEXANDER STEEN: The start, the middle, the end, it's all important in the playoffs. They're not going to knock us out in the beginning of the game, nor towards the end. You got to play 60 minutes. It's playoffs. You play 58 and it can cost you. Q. You'd like to win every series in four. As a professional athlete, this sort of pressure, the do or die, is kind of what you play for, too, isn't it? ALEXANDER STEEN: Yeah, I mean, you know it's going to be a tight series. These are good teams we've faced in previous series. San Jose has done a good job against us so far. I mean, I think the games that they've won, we've kind of shot ourselves in the foot a little bit. If we get back to the way we play, we'll be good. Thank you. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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