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NHL EASTERN CONFERENCE FINAL: PENGUINS VS SENATORS

May 14, 2017

Sidney Crosby

Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania - Practice Day

Q. Chris Kunitz has been really strong for you guys this postseason. You've played with him before. What is it that he adds to the team in these situations?
SIDNEY CROSBY: He competes hard every night. And he does that during the regular season, but in the playoffs, I think he elevates his play, just like everyone else. Yeah, I think just that commitment and that compete level.

Q. What did they do on you and your line (inaudible) that limited what you guys wanted to do, which is play (inaudible)?
SIDNEY CROSBY: Yeah, they're good in the neutral zone. I still feel like we had our chances. We hit a cross bar, had some chances around the net. It's going to be tight. You're going to get a handful of chances, and you've got to find ways to put them in.

But they're a good defense team. They play well as a unit. We've got to make sure we find ways to create down low.

Q. In terms of your adjustments that you make from game to game, particularly for you personally, what do you think your adjustment has to be?
SIDNEY CROSBY: I think just keep going. I think there will be chances if we hold on to the puck just a little bit more. If I could hold on a little bit more down low and create some there, then hopefully the chances will come.

I think sometimes you just need to stick with things, and you don't need to change things too much sometimes. It's just a matter of execution.

Q. How do you spread them out and get them away from the net? They seemed to, even when you had the puck, they obviously dropped on you. How do you pull them away?
SIDNEY CROSBY: I don't think you're going to pull them away from there. They're committed to defending there. Whether it's shooting pucks or getting guys in that area to get rebounds, create traffic and screens and things like that. But I think they're pretty committed to protecting their net and being there.

We don't have to change anything, but we just need to make sure, when we get opportunities to shoot, we shoot it. And we need to compete for rebounds that are there and get our sticks on those.

Q. Sidney, you won a Stanley Cup last year, and you were practicing every three days or every day. Can you talk about the value of practice during the playoffs?
SIDNEY CROSBY: Yeah. I mean, as far as just going over things, when you play teams, you see certain tendencies. You get the feel for maybe certain opportunities. You might see a little bit more depending on how they play. It's good just to go over those things and get a feel for that.

Yeah, I think it's important you don't get a ton of time to practice, so when you do, you make sure you make the most of it.

Q. Just one game so far, but do you believe they were better defensively than Washington or (inaudible)? Maybe a different challenge?
SIDNEY CROSBY: Yeah, I think they just play different. You know, to get to this position, you have to be strong defensively, and I think that's a big part of their team. They have guys who can score too. They sit back at certain times and then look them by you at certain times. There's going to be swings in momentum and things like that, just like any other series, but they're pretty committed to keeping guys back.

Q. Sidney, what is that line between you're playing an opponent that you know is very disciplined, showing that discipline too much respect and trying to do some of the things you want to do in terms of playing fast as a team? Where's that line at?
SIDNEY CROSBY: Well, I think you've got to play the way that gets you here. We believe in the way we play, and I'm sure they believe in the way they play. So it's whoever's going to execute their game the best and most consistently.

Yeah, I think that we try to play the same way. We're aware of how they play, but we're not going to change anything that we do. We believe that we can get some speed, get some zone time, plant our toes a bit, and we're better served that way. We're not going to get into a game where we're sitting back waiting just like that.

Q. You mentioned that (inaudible). When you think back to some of your shifts, especially in the offensive zone, do you think there were times where you could have played more to draw a guy to you to be able to open up something?
SIDNEY CROSBY: There was probably only one where I looked back. One where I tried to make a move on Karlsson, and he escaped and ended up going the other way. Other than that, there were plays to be made on the other lines, some passes there. Rusty had a slot. Guentzy had a slot. A couple of times, points were open. I don't usually dissect my game that much. I'm not going to start now.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

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