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NHL WESTERN CONFERENCE FINAL: DUCKS VS PREDATORS

May 14, 2017

Randy Carlyle

Anaheim, California - Postgame

Anaheim - 5, Nashville - 3

Q. Randy, talk a little bit about Nick Ritchie. Has he become a stealth weapon? This is the second time we've seen him pick up the puck and rapidly shoot it into the net?
COACH CARLYLE: Again, we've talked about young players and their skill set and the things that they have historically been able to do but not at the NHL level yet. And Nick Ritchie is a guy that has scored a lot of games similar to tonight, a shooter, and in junior hockey. And that's what our project is, is to continue him into a power forward and to have that release and that weapon that he possesses become more evident to the hockey world, because he -- we feel that he has offensive instincts and can score.

Q. You guys have proven there's no such thing as a must win. Sure, you can lose the first two games here and you can come back. You can fall behind, etc. Having said that, how important was this game for you guys to win tonight?
COACH CARLYLE: It was huge. I don't care. In sports, it's always, it's critical. We don't want to put the pressure that you people would put on it, the exclamation mark you would put on it that it's end-all.

We know how important these games are and everyone gets more important as we go forward. And tonight's response after getting down 2-0 is a character builder for our group. And we believe that we can go in any building and play with the teams that we're up against and give ourselves a chance for success. I'm not saying we're going to have success, I'm just saying we can give ourselves a chance for success.

Q. Can you speak about dressing Jared Boll over, say, (indiscernible) or any of your other wingers?
COACH CARLYLE: Well, what we found -- and the temperament of the game changes -- and when you play aggressive teams, that that element is a detractor to allowing the other team to feel that they can take liberties on our players. And you guys have witnessed the games. They're very physical and they're very high paced.

We just feel that in certain situations and where we play that we need that element. And Boller has been a great teammate. He stood up for this hockey club all year. He went out and he's been physical and disciplined. And he understands his role.

Q. You were talking a little bit before about young players and expectations and all. What about Kase and what have you seeing from him under pressure. Stepping up in the NHL is up and down. Where is his game now and what do you like from him?
COACH CARLYLE: With Kase, I think it's more of an understanding that there's certain things that you can do in the American Hockey League that you can't do in the NHL. There's certain things you can do in playoff time or non-playoff time versus playoff time.

But the one thing that's been consistent with him, he's been a type of energizer bunny, can play with pace, can make plays in small areas, can create space for himself, and he's not afraid to go into those areas.

So we think that moving him up and down in our lineup gives us some flexibility, because he's a fearless player for his size. And he goes into the areas and can make plays with good players.

Q. There was a scary moment with about five minutes left in the third where it looked like Gibson made about nine saves there. The replay showed he only made two. All his teammates were blocking shots; they weren't getting into him. It was kind of a theme throughout the third period. I wanted your thoughts on the execution of your team's defense as you were holding on to that lead?
COACH CARLYLE: Well, I think we received a little bit more than any coach would like from that standpoint, that you have all your players having the blocked shots. I didn't think we executed in a couple of those situations. But, again, that's what playoff hockey is. It's the will over the skill in a lot of those situations.

And when the opposition comes with five and Nashville does that, they come with five, and you saw more of it in the last ten minutes of the third period of coming and involving their defensemen, not only joining the rush but leading the rush, making short changes off their bench and coming to our fire blue and that type of stuff. And we kind of got into receiving mode and we'd rather not be there. But that's what we did. But again it's more important that we're putting ourselves in a position that people are going to sacrifice for the good of the team.

And that's what playoff hockey is all about. And that's what happens when you continue to have success in the Playoffs.

Q. Getzlaf has played with a lot of guys on his line particularly since Patrick went out. Has he gotten to the point where he's the type of center, if you put almost anybody with him that player's game is going to be elevated?
COACH CARLYLE: Yeah, I think that with Getzy he's a world-class player, and I think at times we probably overuse him. But, again, as a coach, when you have that element on your bench, it would be hard to pass him over. And it's as simple as that.

If you have that option, you're going to go to him. But Getzy's been a real strong player for this hockey club for a good part of this year and he stepped it to another level in the Playoffs. So I don't want to downgrade anything that he's done for our team. He's our captain and he's our go-to guy.

Q. Lots of goals tonight. Not bad goaltending, but not air-tight goaltending perhaps on both sides. To get by Pekka from a way's out. What is it like to be a coach in the Stanley Cup Playoffs when you're getting most of the saves but not all of them. Does it change what you have to do or how you treat your team?
COACH CARLYLE: I don't think it changes dramatically. You have to live with the ebbs and flows that take place. And I'm sure that we look at it as, okay, we were down 2-0 and we found a way to come back in the hockey game. And that's a character builder for us. And I'm sure from their standpoint they're looking at it, saying they gave up a 2-0 lead. And that hasn't happened to that hockey club very often.

So, again, for us the goaltending part of it is one element. And the deeper you go into the Playoffs and the more games you play, you're going to see that there is going to be inconsistencies. I don't think every goaltender can have a save percentage of .950 and above for extended series because the players are too good and too many variables that take place.

Good goaltenders, elite level goaltenders, it doesn't matter. It's all based upon the will of your team to get to the front of the net, to the dirty areas, and make the goaltender see pucks that have to see through people or around people and get deflections, second and third opportunities. That's what the NHL is all about.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

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