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NHL EASTERN CONFERENCE FINAL: PENGUINS VS SENATORSMay 15, 2017Guy BoucherMark StoneKyle TurrisPittsburgh, Pennsylvania - Pregame Q. Coach, are you able to tell us a little bit about your roster for this evening? GUY BOUCHER: Same. Q. No Viktor Stalberg? GUY BOUCHER: No, not yet. Q. Guy, you've always stated your disdain for morning skates, but you never really gave up on them completely. Why now? GUY BOUCHER: We did all year, sometimes yes, sometimes no. Like I said before, we got nothing to practice now. It's been over a hundred games, and our players have had a lot of games to play and a lot of guys are banged up. It's not time to do more. It's time to take the energy we need, just like we did against the Rangers. Q. Coach, can you ask you a little about the team's overtime record? The team's overtime record, six wins. Not only have you won those games, but you've played so well in the overtimes in general. Any idea why that is? What it is about the team that makes them so successful in those situations? GUY BOUCHER: Yeah, it's the most boring answer. I'd love to give you a really bright one and something you could write about, but the answer is we just stuck exactly to what we normally do. And very calm about approaching an overtime because it's another period, just like the first, second, or third period. I think our players feel comfortable with the way we play and they believe in it. So there's no reason to go into overtime and start being fearful of the consequences. I think we're aware of this great opportunity that we have, and the players love playing together. They love -- you know, I think the soul that this team has now, and I think the players are just showing that on the ice, whether it's the first, second, third, or the overtime. Q. Guy, Pageau seems to be a player you're comfortable using in virtually every situation. How would you articulate what he means to your team? GUY BOUCHER: I think he's meant -- the whole season, he's meant the same thing. He's exactly that, a versatile player, a perfect soldier. What do you want me to do, Coach? We needed to improve defensively with this team from being last to being in the top ten. He's one of those first guys that really bought into that, and he knew that he could be really good defensively. We used him, and we used him all year against the top players, and he really took pride in that and, I think, inspired a lot of our players to become better defensively and better two-way players. And as you can see, him becoming a real good defensive player didn't take away from his offense. He's definitely one of those guys in the playoffs that demonstrated that he could be a great two-way player, and then you have a tremendous impact on the game when you do so. Q. Guy, the Penguins said they want to see maybe a little bit more movement on the power play, a little bit more shot volume. As they make adjustments on the PK, what is the most important thing you guys want to do to keep the success going? GUY BOUCHER: Certainly, I won't go into specifics about how we're going to -- yeah. One thing's for sure is their power play comes from everywhere. That's where it's tough to figure out who's going to shoot, who's going to pass. So when you scout them, it is a little scary to see that they got so many tools and terrific players that can hurt you at any moment. But I think in general for penalty kill, you've got your own way of playing, but it's all about being in the shooting lane. It's all about blocking shots, recuperating from the pucks, and making sure that, when you have the puck, it's really clear, and you're not giving it back to the opponent. Those basics are the same for everybody. And then the rest becomes specifics, I think, that you do, and specifics against an opponent that has their own tendencies. But down to the basics, I think it's about that. Q. You looked like you defended really well in your own zone in Game 1. How did you feel about neutral zone, in particular, preventing zone entries for the Penguins? GUY BOUCHER: We had our normal game. I think we've -- I thought we played well all around. We didn't want to give breakaways and two-on-ones. That was the main thing. And I thought we did a very good job with that. Those are the freebies that will kill you. It was really tough against the Rangers. They had just like Pittsburgh, a lot of speed, a lot of straightaway speed. The minute you forget that, you're in trouble. So obviously, for us it wasn't so much about the neutral zone. That's what everybody talks about. We don't talk about it. For us, it was about us being in the offensive zone. Whenever there was a transition from offense to defense, we had made some mistakes in the series against the Rangers that hurt us, and we don't want to make those mistakes. We just need to be faster at transitioning and not just from having the puck. We defend it well into offense, but the opposite transition, after we've lost the puck offensively in the O-zone, there was a lot of sniffing, especially in the third and fourth game against the Rangers. We wanted that goal right now, and there was impatience there, and it killed us. I think the fifth and sixth game and the game we just played now, we've been much better transitioning from offense to defense. So basically, that's not the neutral zone, that's starting in the O-zone, and that's where our mistakes were, and that's where our focus was. Our D-zone hasn't changed, whether it's the Penguins or anybody else. We've been doing the same thing. Q. Mark, I just want to know what you guys learned from the Rangers, especially Game 3, about pushback and what you can expect tonight because of that. MARK STONE: I think they kind of adjusted to us a little bit in that last series, just trying to pick up a two-game lead. It's going to be the same thing here. They're going to try and tweak a little bit to get around us. And they're going to play us with desperation, so we need to match that. Q. Guy just talked about he thought you guys did a good job of transitioning from offense to defense. For Kyle, I'm curious how you thought that went. Didn't seem like you gave the Penguins that many freebies or odd-man rushes at all. KYLE TURRIS: Yeah, I think our system is set up to make teams work, to get through the neutral zone and get into our zone. Even getting into our zone, make them work to get inside, to get quality opportunities. And Craig tries to help us out when they do. For the most part, we try to limit that. Teams have a hard time with it, and that's the way we have to keep it. Q. Kyle, I just wanted to ask you about Erik Karlsson. A couple guys said they've really been impressed with how he's matured into a leadership role. Has there been a moment in this playoff where he's gotten up and said anything, kind of rallied the troops for you guys? KYLE TURRIS: I think in his play he's done that. He hasn't really had to say much. I mean, playing with the hurt foot like he did spoke pretty loud to all of us, like he's doing this with a broken foot. We've got to follow him because he's going to lead us, and he's done a great job. Q. Question for Mark. (Indiscernible) power plays, pretty much struggling, 0 for 16, the last five games. When you have a guy like Erik Karlsson as the quarterback, how do you explain that happening? MARK STONE: I mean, it's tough. Obviously, when you have success in your power play can be a game changer. You look at the last game, we had some really good zone time. We got some looks but weren't able to execute. But I think it gave us a little bit of momentum. It didn't really hurt us. Whereas in the past, I think, sometimes some of our power plays really deflate the bench a little bit. So we're just going out there with a game plan trying to execute it, and if it goes in, it goes in. But at worst, we need to at least generate some momentum. Q. Kyle, I'm just wondering, you guys aren't skating very much these days other than playing the games. What benefit is that for you as you try to recover between games? KYLE TURRIS: I think it's been huge. This time of the year, everybody on every team is beat up and worn down, and energy is key. So to be able to just have a full day to recover the day after a game -- I mean, we didn't skate this morning either. So it just really maximizes the recovery opportunity we get, just kind of allows us to fully recover, but also motivates us to keep it that way so we don't have to skate moving forward. Q. Kyle, just a followup to that. Is it implied that you have to perform well, or is that kind of a deal you made with Guy, like, look, give us time to recoup, and we'll play well. KYLE TURRIS: It's kind of an unspoken understanding. If he gives us the time out, he expects us to come out with a lot of energy. Otherwise, there's no point in doing it. I think we understand what we have to do. Obviously, it's the conference Finals. We're taking advantage of it and trying to put our best effort in every night. Q. Can I ask you guys what you did on your day of rest? And I'm curious if -- I think Pittsburgh is a pretty good sports town. Did you get recognized on the street? Did anybody approach you? Did anybody say anything? MARK STONE: I didn't really leave the hotel. Just kind of stuck it out there, relaxed, watched the final round of The Players, and then went for dinner with some of the guys. KYLE TURRIS: No, nothing. Went to a movie and just went for a couple of walks. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports   |
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