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NHL EASTERN CONFERENCE FINAL: PENGUINS VS SENATORS

May 14, 2017

Bobby Ryan

Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania - Practice Day

Q. Just a new day here.
BOBBY RYAN: Yeah, it's a little bit of a recovery day and a chance to get ready for Game Number 2, I think. Number 1 is already behind us.

Q. How important have recovery days been for this team over the last little while?
BOBBY RYAN: Rest is a weapon. It is big, though, this time of year. You're looking -- guys that have played all 82 are into the 90s now. It's important. There's nothing systematically that you need to work on. You can address it, but you can make those changes on the fly. So a chance to give your body recovery is huge.

Q. Bobby, yesterday a lot of your teammates were smiling and saying that they were surprised by how fast you were on that last goal. Were you smiling too?
BOBBY RYAN: Yeah, I guess so. I held something in reserve there. Every now and again, I like to think I got breakaway speed. I'm just glad my hands kept up.

Q. Bobby, you talked about kind of these playoffs being a bit of a redemption for you. Is it also a sense of relief, after the regular season you had? At this point you contributed to a big win.
BOBBY RYAN: Yeah, I guess. Ultimately, you want to step up and feel like you're contributing instead of a lot of nights this season coming away with nothing and feeling like you made no difference in the game whatsoever.

Again, you used the word redemption and comeback or whatever it is, but I stuck with it all year, and now I'm getting the rewards for, I guess, the work we had put in and I had put in and buying in. Right? Sometimes I got away from that at times this year. But this is the time of year you can redeem yourself. So I looked at it as a complete restart.

Q. Did scoring that goal make it easier to get through today?
BOBBY RYAN: Yeah, I guess so. If had I missed and it had gone back the other way, it would have been a long day for me. Makes the day a little shorter to get ready to get back at it tomorrow.

Q. And a tough Mother's Day, obviously?
BOBBY RYAN: Yeah, I hadn't thought about it too much until you brought it up. Thanks.

Q. Sorry.
BOBBY RYAN: It's almost poetic. It's my first without being able to text my mom, but I woke up this morning, and I was able to text my wife because it was hers. You take the good with the bad on days like today.

Q. Bobby, you said yesterday that the focus in a new series challenge is still 80 percent focus on yourselves and 20 percent on the new team. Does that sort of trend continue as the series moves on?
BOBBY RYAN: Yeah, I think it does. I think, when you get a chance to look at video, you get a chance to identify where they broke us down a little bit, and there's your 20 percent that you worry about them. The rest are adjustments that we're going to make.

I thought, for the most part, we did a good job not letting them get to the middle of the ice. I thought we had a couple spurts at the blue line, inside our blue line, where they were able to cut in and make plays. We want to take that away, that porch area as it's called. But most of the focus will be on our game and what we can do to give ourselves even more of a chance to go forward with it.

Q. This always happens when the system is working. What's going wrong when the system doesn't work?
BOBBY RYAN: Generally, it's a lapse in coverage. It's a lapse in position play. We did a good job with it, I think. When we did have breakdowns with it, that last man was there to make the pinch or step up and snuff out the play before they got to the net. They're going to get a few where they get in, and that's where Andy bailed us out quite a bit and stealing one for us last night.

Q. People talk about the system. I think they underestimate the counterpunch that you guys have.
BOBBY RYAN: Maybe a little bit. I think we're good in transition. We've got D-men that are mobile and can take a few steps. Oftentimes, when we transition, their forwards are circling back and trying to find some speed to get back. We've got guys going north right away. That helps when you have defensemen that can move it like that. We're pretty good with that.

Q. Bobby, you talk about the idea of redemption. What do you feel like you're redeeming? Is that an internal thing?
BOBBY RYAN: No, just a bad season.

Q. How important is it to stay on an even keel here?
BOBBY RYAN: Oh, huge. You look at everything surrounding it. You can't get caught up in everything except getting ready to go for tomorrow. We've got a veteran team. We've got a lot of guys that are good at that, and a lot of guys will be -- we're up together on it. We're keeping everything internal, staying away from clippings and all that kind of stuff. You just want to not get too high after one win.

Q. You and Pageau scored a similar goal in the 4-1 game. Did you work on that?
BOBBY RYAN: No, just a reactionary play. Right now you know Page is going to go to the net. That one was a little bit of a breakdown.

The one in New York was a little different. That was more of a set play. That one was more just trying to throw it to the front of the net.

Q. What can you say about the way Craig Anderson has played?
BOBBY RYAN: It's hard to describe, isn't it? With everything that's been thrown on him and his family this year, it's remarkable, I guess. I don't know what word left to use to describe it. He's playing like a man possessed right now, and he's giving us a chance every night, and he's stealing them for us. He's winning us games. He's been our MVP. You look at what Karl does as well, but Andy is the guy back there doing it.

Q. You just kind of think, when you think about Mother's Day and what his family is going through right now.
BOBBY RYAN: Yeah, I think it's a special day for him, absolutely. I'm sure he'll talk. I'll let him touch on it more. I don't want to touch on his business too much. I'll just reiterate what he's doing is remarkable.

Q. What's it like playing on a team that has this many forwards and the line switches so much?
BOBBY RYAN: It's different. Sometimes it's -- but you know he's going to get everybody involved. So at times, sometimes you get lost in the shuffle or you're moving down the bench and you're wondering who you're going with. I think it speaks to not only -- everybody's got a little chemistry, but within our system, everybody can play into any line, right? You know where you've got to be. It doesn't change much. The reads don't change.

To answer your question, it's different, but it's easy because of the way we play.

Q. So does he literally just call it out each shift and it switches?
BOBBY RYAN: Yeah. When he says just the center's name, you've got to look around at the other wingers to know if it's your original line or the line you were with last time. It can get awkward on the bench at times, but not bad. He's very vocal. So when he's calling the line, he's letting every single person know.

Q. (Indiscernible), it seems to have clicked pretty quickly.
BOBBY RYAN: Yeah, we've got some chemistry. He's easy to play with. He goes to work. He likes going to the corners. He likes going to the front of the net. And right now he's got the hot hand. I think we'll just try to keep finding him.

Q. I think this is the third game you three have played together. Does that feel like a lifetime?
BOBBY RYAN: I guess so, yes. We had some shifts through the first and the second with Brass coming in and playing with us. Got back into it a little more in the third and into overtime. It is kind of cool coming in and seeing your line on the board as intact from the game before it. It's refreshing.

Q. Do you really not know day to day who it's going to be?
BOBBY RYAN: Oh, no.

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