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NHL WESTERN CONFERENCE FINAL: DUCKS VS PREDATORS

May 16, 2017

Peter Laviolette

Anaheim, California - Pregame

Q. What's the message to the guys back in your own building, emotions high after Game 2, just to keep that in check and come out ready in front of home folks?
COACH LAVIOLETTE: We're doing pretty good on our emotions and pretty good off the energy in our building too, so we don't want to keep it in check too much. We expect it's going to be a good game, a fast game, a physical game. None of that should catch us by surprise, but certainly we're glad to be back home in our building. And having taken one up there, it was important. And now we get to play on our home ice.

Q. With all that a lot of the local teams have accomplished here in different sports, this may be the biggest professional sport to take place in the city of Nashville ever. Do you guys feed off of that kind of stuff, knowing that no matter what happens you guys are making history right now?
COACH LAVIOLETTE: It's unbelievable how much the city has gotten behind our team and our fans. They've always been there, but they're even louder and more vocal and more visible now. And I think that's the Playoffs. The further you get, the more exciting it gets for everybody for a city who is maybe experiencing something for the first time and for our players and the media coverage and the build-up to the games and going from game to games and the wins and the losses. I mean, all of that adds up to just a great environment that makes our game so great.

And it's good for our, like I said, our city. And it's good for the state of Tennessee, our city, our fans, our players, our organizations. So it's all positive.

Q. You haven't lost two straight these Playoffs. What's been the key to bouncing back?
COACH LAVIOLETTE: I thought we played pretty good in the losses. It's not that we didn't show up and play hard, or we weren't ready to compete or -- we played good teams. The first round, we played good teams. And the second round, we played a good team in Anaheim. They've got maybe four losses in their last 28 or 29 games. They're playing pretty well.

So nobody should expect to go through the Playoffs and not ever lose a game. But I think the most important thing is how you bounce back from it, because there will be ups and downs, how quickly you can turn the page and focus on the next day and the next game. And our guys have been pretty good at that.

So while the losses are always tough, they haven't been losses where I felt like we were completely outdone. And we turned the page and we moved forward.

Q. Could you articulate a little bit more, because it's written and talked about a lot, home ice. Is it something just about the atmosphere that is an asset to your team, or is it something more concrete like you feel you get better calls; you get last line change? What is it?
COACH LAVIOLETTE: I don't know about the calls part of it. Talking, like, from like the referees? I think the refs do a good job. They try to do their best. The game moves so fast. I'm not sure that that factors into it.

But certainly the line changes, I think, are a positive. But typically when somebody talks about a home-ice advantage it goes through the atmosphere of the building and the energy that can come from a building. And ours, I think, is just terrific.

There's more of a European soccer match-type event with the chanting and the noise and the applause and just 100 percent behind us and it is an advantage.

Q. Looking at P.K. Subban playing for Montreal, it's a lot different than from what we used to see. He seems to be a lot more responsible, especially defensively. How much of that is caused by maturity, by peer pressure in the room or by coaching, either from you or from Phil?
COACH LAVIOLETTE: P.K.'s been -- he arrived pretty good defensively. It wasn't a lot -- we constantly work on things from all of our players. We show video and we teach, whether it's in a group, whether it's me or whether it's Phil Housley, who might take the defensemen in for video sessions, we are constantly trying to make the players better.

But I want to word it is that we're not talking about a project. It wasn't a project. He was a good defensive player when he got here. And, in fact, his defense, for me, and the way that he played defensively, the way he can break out of an end, the way he can hold off a forecheck and use his escapability, and his passing is elite passing. It's on the money and it's sharp. And those things have really shined, along with his offensive play. He's been a really good 200-foot, two-way player for us.

Q. James Neal has always has been a scorer. And you know with snipers it can kind of come and go at times. Is the stretch right now, is this one of those where the puck is finding him? And how important is it for a goal scorer to get hot during a Playoff run?
COACH LAVIOLETTE: I think you're right with your assessment. There are times when goal scorers probably see things better. The puck's on their stick. They're finding holes better. They have more confidence and typically they try to ride that as long as they can.

As for the importance of it, I think that speaks to itself. I mean, we're built on, the production of the guys in our room, we're built as a team. But inside of a team concept we need individual greatness. And I think James is finding it at the right time of the year. And you're right, he seems to be getting the looks and the opportunities right now.

Q. I think four times in this postseason Anaheim has come back to win games in which they trailed by multiple goals. That, of course, includes Game 2. Do you go over that with your players at all, just about how no matter how many you guys put up they're always going to come back?
COACH LAVIOLETTE: I think, again, it kind of goes back to that same message of when we were talking during the year about not having the first period, or getting out and scoring in the first period and scoring in the second period. We're well aware of Anaheim, that they're a good team and they're capable of scoring goals at any point. We try to play a 60-minute game.

The second period didn't work out for us the other night. We'll try to be better in that area. Our guys played hard in third period and did their best to compete for a win. I thought we had good looks and good chances and we couldn't get it done. So we find ourselves leaving there 1-1.

But our guys know that Anaheim is a good team and that they're capable of scoring a goal in the third period or two goals. And I think they're well aware of that.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

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