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NHL EASTERN CONFERENCE FINAL: LIGHTNING v PENGUINS

May 25, 2016

Jon Cooper

Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania: Practice Day

Q. Jon, you guys have been battle tested a lot the last couple of years. What kind of a test is tomorrow night going to be?
COACH COOPER: Well, it's Game 7. So when you get to Game 7, that means the team's beat you three times, and fortunately, you've beat them three times.
We've played a lot of hockey the past two years, 40-plus games in the playoffs. I feel we've been through so many different tests. This is just another one, and this is an in-the-moment test because the game's ahead of us. So it's not something we haven't seen before, but it is definitely something we're going to have to show up for.

Q. Any carry over from last night (indiscernible)?
COACH COOPER: What do you mean in regards to?

Q. You know, momentum.
COACH COOPER: I don't know. You look at some of the way this series has gone. We come in and we steal Game 1. They take us out Game 2. They get Game 3. Yeah, we've got to come back in Game 4. Now it's the pivotal game, and they're building. We take that, so you think we have the momentum. They came in and did the same to us in Game 6. I think it's a roller coaster. But Game 7 is Game 7. There's no two better words than that. Pretty sure both teams will be ready.

Q. Assuming it's Andrei Vasilevskiy in goal, how do you feel about him being in goal for you and how he's played in this series?
COACH COOPER: I think Andrei is the big reason we're in Game 7. He's made big save after big save for us. The one thing that I do like that's happened to him finally in this series is, you know, he finally started a playoff game and won, whereas his other playoff wins were always in relief, and he's won in Pittsburgh. So you've got to like the kid feels pretty comfortable playing there, and we like that.

Q. What are the percentages of maybe Stammer (indiscernible)?
COACH COOPER: I don't know. Again, nothing's changed as far as our end. So that's all I've got for that.

Q. How is Ben Bishop?
COACH COOPER: Again, I haven't talked to the trainer since last night. Not a lot has changed. We'll get together tonight as a staff and see where everybody is, but as of now, I don't anticipate Ben being in.

Q. Jon, there's so much talk about fun, embrace the moment. Is that hard? It's got to be a stressful situation as well.
COACH COOPER: Well, I think embrace, fun, you're just masking the stress. But it's a game we've all played at some point our entire lives, and these guys are competing at the highest level. When you sit back and you think, you know, it's September in training camp, and if I told the guys, hey, I just want to let you know, in May, we're going to play a one-gamer so you have a chance to play for the Stanley Cup, I think all the guys would have been pretty fired up to play that game.
So I don't think we need to be stressed about that. I think we need to have fun with it, and when the game's over, just walk by the mirror and look at it and say, did you give it your best shot? If the answer's yes, let the chips fall where they lie.

Q. I know you've come from behind in games, especially in Pittsburgh, and won the series, but how hard is it to keep on chasing against a team like this?
COACH COOPER: They're a good team. It's just the way some of these periods have gone. You look at the game we went up 4-0, and we're chasing them around the ice. They go up 3-0, and they're chasing us around the ice. At some point, these games have got to settle down a little bit. There's a lot of -- we talk about momentum in the series, there's been momentum switches in games, and they've been up and down. So the way this series has gone, I can't predict what's going to happen in Game 7.

Q. Other than that you won the game, anything from going to the Garden last year, that experience, does that help you? How can that help you?
COACH COOPER: Well, definitely, it doesn't hurt. That was last year, different team, different opponent, but you do get to kind of take what we did from last year, and it's funny how the series has kind of mirrored that, where we go into a hostile environment in Game 5 and have some of those late goals going on us and still find a way to rally. Got beat up a little bit in Game 6, and now you've got to reset and go to Game 7.
What team has the advantage? Can't really say, other than the fact we've had 100-plus games. It's a dress rehearsal for this one. Let's just give it our best shot.

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