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NHL WESTERN CONFERENCE FINAL: DUCKS VS PREDATORS

May 13, 2017

PK Subban

Anaheim, California - Practice Day

Q. The resiliency last night. You guys get scored first, you get scored on in the third period, and you still find a way. Can you speak to than a how you overcome that.
PK SUBBAN: Yeah, it's, obviously we knew coming in it's going to be tough to win in their building and we wanted to have a good start, we had that, but I think that's just an unfortunate bounce and a shot off a stick and a little screen and they got up early. But I thought we did a good job responding and even when they pushed, we pushed back. Obviously the turning point in the game was that five-on-three, we had the opportunity to take the lead and we got to give them credit, they have done such a good job over the years and especially this season of sacrificing their body and getting in shooting lanes and they did a good job of killing that off, but I thought that there was no panic on our team, we just kept our composure and stuck to the process and we got a lucky bounce and got the first win.

Q. Your penalty kill has been outstanding lately, what can you point to on that?
PK SUBBAN: Just kind of like what they're doing, you have to be willing to sacrifice your body and get in shooting lanes and just kind of disrupt. There's some good players, when you're in the Final Four teams, every team's got a pretty good power play and got players that can break open a game, so you're not always going to be able to shut them down, but you can just try to take away their time and space and try to disrupt and deter as much as you can. I think we have been doing a good job with our sticks on entries and getting our sticks in passing lanes, and all that stuff's important. So we have done a good job also of getting 200-foot clears, when we have a chance to clear the zone we're clearing 200 feet, so that's got to continue.

Q. That pass, over to James Neal, what's going through your mind on that one timer?
PK SUBBAN: I just, I was banging my stick on the ice, I wanted it bad from Eky, just because I saw everyone was really low, and he made a fantastic play before that just to take it down the wall and cut in front. And then he got it back and he gave it to me up top and I knew that, usually when I get the puck in those types of positions, everybody is expecting me to kind of shoot it. And I just tried, wound up, took a look, and everybody was diving and legs were trying to get in the way of the shot and Nealy did, I mean, everybody talks about the pass, but you can't make the pass unless the guy makes the effort to get open and create that lane. He did a good job getting open and I just tried to put it in a place where he could shoot it and he did and it went in.

Q. Once it gets over to him is it just kind of, it's going to go in, in your mind?
PK SUBBAN: He's so clutch and obviously his ability to finish is a big part of the reason why he's had such a good career and why he's scored so many goals in this league and he does it just as well as any other goal scorers in the league. When he's open you just try to get him the puck as much as you can. I just have been able to find him a couple times this season. But like I said, he does a good job of getting open and finding open space.

Q. Now that you played a little bit, are you even thinking in terms of trying to give him more opportunities whenever you can, I know you're --
PK SUBBAN: I think you just try to make the right play at the right time. Whether it's to him or someone else. I mean the right play might be to shoot it. So execution is so important now in the Playoffs and I just think that simple is better. But that was a simple play, it was just, he was open, so I gave it to him.

Q. If the emotion and chippiness goes up in this series, as a lot of people expect it's going to, how are you guys going to deal with that?
PK SUBBAN: Just like we would deal with it any other playoff game. Just continue to stay focused. I think that discipline is probably the biggest factor now in the Playoffs. So far, you watch every game, special teams are so important and we know how hard teams check five and five, it's tough to get five and five goals. So when you do get an opportunity on the power play you try to make it a difference. For the penalty kill, you try to kill the penalty. So I think that special teams are huge, but discipline is probably the most important thing. So regardless of how chippy things get or physical, you want to try to stay out of the box.

Q. What's the area that you want the team to improve in the most going into the next game?
PK SUBBAN: Just to, I think there's other levels to our game. Last game we played well, we had the start that we wanted to, but I still think we can play a lot better. Was that a full 60 minutes? Maybe not. But it was good enough for us to get the win. I think that we're just going to have to continue to do those little things that have brought us success and attacking and defending in a five-man unit. We have done that stuff extremely well in the Playoffs, we just got to get back to it. We have a hell of an opportunity tomorrow and we know that they're going to come out hard, but it's going to be a big game.

Q. Did you ask for a Neal overtime goal for your birthday or is Game 2 the birthday wish?
PK SUBBAN: I can't tell you what my birthday wish is or else it doesn't come true. So I'll make that tonight maybe when I have a cup cake or something for my birthday.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

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