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NHL EASTERN CONFERENCE FINAL: PENGUINS VS SENATORS

May 20, 2017

Guy Boucher

Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania - Practice Day

Q. What changes will be made for tomorrow, if any?
GUY BOUCHER: I don't think there's adjustments to be made, to be honest with you. We haven't looked at the tape yet. I might change my mind on that for tomorrow's talk with you guys. But I just think you look at the last four games, there was no luck involved. Two games we won, we deserved. Two games they won, they deserved. That's to be expected.

It's the same as the other series. The other series is going the exact same way as ours. It's very simple: The last four teams are giving everything they got. Going down to the wire every game. They're tough games because there are tough teams that are there for a reason, they deserve to be there.

Q. What are some of the things you didn't like last night?
GUY BOUCHER: Puck fumbling. I found obviously on the power play, previous games we had done well because we had possession in the offensive zone, we just didn't score. We had long possessions.

Yesterday our entries weren't good. They put a lot of pressure, and we didn't manage it well. But also five-on-five, particularly the second period. When you look back, I thought the first two periods weren't as good as I would have liked. It's just the second period, maybe because they scored, then after that it deflated us a bit. I don't know.

Or because they were just who they are. I mean, it's the Stanley Cup champions, the best team in the league. They're going to make some pushes. They're going to look good.

Second period wasn't what we would have wanted it to be. The first was fine. The third was very good. All around, if you want to win, you need those 60 minutes to be a bit better.

Q. When you see a little bit of the sloppiness creep into the game, do you second guess not practicing or the opportunity to take the ice?
GUY BOUCHER: Did you think that in the third game?

Q. Yeah, no.
GUY BOUCHER: Did you think that the first game?

Q. No.
GUY BOUCHER: There you go (laughter).

Q. Okay, no practice today (laughter).
GUY BOUCHER: It has no effect. You've played enough, practiced enough. Whoever goes on to make a few passes, it's just for the mind. It's not to be sharper.

The other team is such a good team that the minute you're not doing perfectly, they're taking over. The minute we're doing great, we're taking over. That's just how it is. The play is so fast, it's down-to-the-minute details, fractions of seconds. That's what it is.

You look at the other series, the exact same thing. Both teams are really good. You think, Oh, they played a great game, so the next game they're going to win. They don't. It's just because the other team has pushback. It's all about desperation at this time of the year. You got desperation for 10, then they got it for 10. It's back and forth. That's what it's all about. That's why this sport is so great. That's why the Stanley Cup Finals are so fun to watch.

Q. You coached Sidney Crosby years ago. Anything you see early in a game from him when you realize it's going to be his best or even tougher than normal?
GUY BOUCHER: He's always good. He's always good. It's just sometimes we defend better against it. Sometimes, you know, he gets his look, and he will. I mean, those types of players, they got three superstars on that team. At some point or another, they're going to get their looks. It's really tough to defend against that.

That's where I give all the credit to our guys for having done already what they've done to be here. Obviously the first series was tough. The second series was tough. This one, the Stanley Cup champs, it's the best team. It's the best. It's really tough on our guys to be able to defend those guys.

You know that at some point or another, even if you defend well, they're going to get their looks. We hope they get the least possible. But it's Sidney Crosby, it's Malkin, it's Kessel. That's what it is. That's what we have to face.

When you look back on what's going on right now, I don't think a lot of people thought it was going to be 2-2. Our players have got a lot of respect for what they've done, what they're still doing, the opportunity we have. It's 2-2. Stanley Cup Conference Final. Let's go back to September, saying that's where we're going to be, we would jump on it. That's why it's a great day today.

Q. What goes into defending him well?
GUY BOUCHER: He can twist you. He's obviously fast in a straight line. But I think probably his biggest asset is you think you have him down low, all of a sudden he's gone. He forces himself in. I thought that's always his biggest asset. It was the same in junior. People thought they had him. He'll twist you and he's gone. He's just so powerful. His lower body, center of gravity, is so low. He's bending down as he skates, he twists, makes it really hard to handle.

Stick on puck is really important against him. You have to make sure when he's twisting, you don't get lost on the outside. He's good at everything. But if you ask me what I think his best strength is, I would say that's his best strength.

Q. You said yesterday you weren't overly concerned about the power play. Can you not use some momentum from it now?
GUY BOUCHER: Oh, for sure. Every series you need one game where your power play gets you the game. We had that the first series. We had that the second series. Definitely at some point or another we're going to need one of those games where the power play makes a difference.

To be honest with you, at the end of the game yesterday, I thought six-on-four. But we won the faceoff. There was a little miscommunication there. They ended up in our zone. We came back and got a scoring chance. If we would have had that 35 seconds in the zone, could have been the one. You never know when it's going to happen.

What I didn't like about it yesterday is that we didn't get the O-zone time and the puck control we did in the previous games. It wasn't just about the end result yesterday. It was more about the zone, handling of their pressure. We didn't do that very well. That we'll need to do better, for sure.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

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