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NHL EASTERN CONFERENCE FINAL: PENGUINS VS SENATORSMay 16, 2017Nick BoninoPittsburgh, Pennsylvania - Practice Day Q. Nick, what are some of the things you guys did last night that you want to take away, maybe build on heading into Game 3? NICK BONINO: We had a lot of zone time again. We built on what we did in Game 1. It's hard to get to the net against these guys. They have five guys in the house. I thought we did a good job using the points, going low to high, and getting to the net. That's how we expected to score. It's tough to score against them on the rush. Phil's shot hit the leg, came right back to him, and was off quick, so I think that's great. We need to generate some more offense like we did last night down low and hope we get some goals that way. Q. Is that kind of an indication, the need to play patient? Especially you guys were fighting, clawing, scraping, and it wasn't coming through, and finally you break through with that goal? NICK BONINO: Yeah, you watch all their games, and you're going to beat them 1-0 or 2-1 if you're going to beat them usually. So that was our mindset. I think we don't care how we win. 1-0, we're fine with. We got a great game from Flower again. He's been doing that all playoffs. When you get goaltending like that, you only need one goal, and we were able to get it. Q. How important has your assistant coaching staff been with the changing styles of the opponents, Columbus to Washington and now to Ottawa, as far as making adjustments? NICK BONINO: Yeah, it's great. They're great on the bench. Tock is one of the most positive guys to have behind you. He's always helping you out, especially in the O-zone. I can't speak to Jacques. I know he's great on the PK, but he's down there running the "D." You saw last night, when we went down the five "D," he had them on a good rotation to keep everyone fresh, and that's what you need from your assistant coaches. Q. What additional responsibilities has (inaudible) had to take on (inaudible)? NICK BONINO: You've just got to help them, make it easy for them. I think, when some guys are getting in their first playoff games, when guys like Tanger and Dales go down, you just have to try to get back and help them break the puck out. I think it was a lot different against Washington. They had a heavier fore-check. I think, with the three guys high, we can outnumber them against Ottawa. We've done that pretty well, I think, especially last night. When we can get back and make it easy for the "D" to find lanes and find passes, that always helps them. Q. We were kind of talking about that. That style of play actually that Ottawa plays may (inaudible), you get to see it stand out, right, at some level for you guys? NICK BONINO: Yeah, it makes it important to make sure we're executing those passes if we do mispass it or screw up, they're there to counter, and they're there to capitalize. That's how they get a lot of goals and opportunities. If we're smart with the puck and make good plays, we usually can get out against them. Q. If you lose two guys like you did last night, how is that normal in that you guys have been basically dealing with situations like that all season? NICK BONINO: Unfortunately, that's the case. We've lost guys early in games a bunch of times. Just falls on everybody to pick up the load a little bit. We did a good job last night, you know, especially late into the third. We were playing a 0-0 game. Guys are playing different wings than they're used to. We had two centers out a lot for draws, and we were getting the pucks out. I think that's what you need. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports   |
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