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NHL WESTERN CONFERENCE FINAL: DUCKS VS PREDATORS

May 20, 2017

Anaheim, California - Postgame

Predators - 3, Ducks - 1

Q. Pontus, earlier today, you were sitting up there, and nobody asked you a question. So I guess now you're the man of the hour. When this lineup came together, it was definitely makeshift. You're missing two top players, and it was going to fall on the depth of this team. How much did you put it upon yourself as well as the other players, the role players on this team, to step up in a game like this?
PONTUS ABERG: I mean, I just tried to bring my game up there. Like you said, we're missing two huge players for this team, and we played with really good players today, Fil and Siss, and it felt pretty good.

Q. P.K., can I ask you a couple of questions? First, I wanted to ask you, everyone says it's a gut check. I think we're saying it's a gut check. The players say, oh, we do this all the time. It's next man up, et cetera, et cetera. But you did lose two key players tonight, Ryan, Mike. What does it say about this team that you were able to come through? Not just compete, win in such a key moment?
P.K. SUBBAN: The key word that you said is team. That's what you need to win in the playoffs and to win in professional sports. We have a solid team. That includes depth. And you need that all the way from not just our hockey club in the NHL, but also through the minors. And you see players that have come up and been able to make the transition and come into our system and be able to play and be effective pretty seamlessly.

For us, we're confident with whoever we have on the ice. For the majority of the time, obviously, just like any other team, we try to get certain matchups, but we're confident with rolling four lines, and we're confident it all our players when they're on the ice.

I think for us it's depth to our lineup, and I've said this a lot during the playoffs, but a key word for our hockey club has been composure, and we've shown that all the way through the playoffs and showed that again today.

Q. What does it mean for you to be one game away from this ultimate contest, the Stanley Cup Final?
P.K. SUBBAN: Well, there's still a lot of hockey left to be played, and the momentum seems to shift, and the emotions seem to shift a lot. I mean, you think back to last game, we had an opportunity in our building, being up 2-1, to make the series 3-1, and it didn't happen for us. We fought back, extended the game into overtime and then lost in overtime. For them, I'm sure they felt great going back into their building. Now we've come in here and taken one. We have the series lead, and we're going back home.

For us, the focus is that first shift and having a good start. We're going to enjoy the win tonight and get ready for the next game.

Q. Pontus, how often did you play on the same line with Frederick Gaudreau on the ice with Milwaukee? If you ever did, could you imagine having a key role in this game tonight?
PONTUS ABERG: We didn't play a lot together. We played in the power play together. I know what Freddy can bring out there. He's a great player, a skill player, and I think he showed up today.

Q. You guys have had such a great on ice advantage throughout the playoffs the last few years. Obviously, the Ducks got one the other day. What is it about home ice has not been a major advantage for almost every team the last several years in the playoffs? How does that come into play for you guys here?
P.K. SUBBAN: There's a lot of parity in the league. I think more so now than ever in the NHL, and I think that's a good thing. The league is extremely competitive. At the end of the day, I think this is the first time this year that we've kind of entered the playoffs, and the whole kind of theme is we don't -- who's the favorite? Who's going to win? It says a lot about the NHL and the players that are coming up and the development of players.

But for us, I think our organization has done such a great job of developing players, and that seems to be the key. You see a guy like Pontus come in and score a big goal. He's a guy who, in my opinion, could have been playing on our team all year, but we have such depth and such experience and players that have paid their dues in the minors that it didn't happen.

I think that, for our hockey club right now, it's a great start for us today and pushing forward, and now we have an opportunity going back to our building.

Q. Pontus, correct me if I'm wrong, but did you have to get checked out for protocol after the goal? And if so, was that kind of weird to score a big tie-breaking goal like that and not be able to play for a stretch?
PONTUS ABERG: Yeah, they called me off of there, after I scored that goal. So I didn't expect that. It didn't hurt me at all. But the league called it in, so I had to. But I'm feeling good.

Q. (No microphone)?
PONTUS ABERG: No, it was before that. I kind of face planted there and lost my tooth, but it didn't hurt my hand.

Q. This is kind of a two-parter. I wanted to get your thoughts on Filip Forsberg, what he's brought to the table in the playoffs and tonight in particular? And what's allowed you guys to have such strong finishes, particularly these last three games, a really strong push in the third period in all three?
P.K. SUBBAN: Well, Filip, I said it earlier this year, I think there was a stretch of games where he had back to back hat tricks or something. He had 11 goals in two games. I remember after our game in Buffalo, I think he had scored the overtime winner. I said that, as of right now, he's the best player in the league. I look at Fil, in my opinion, you can put him in the category of maybe two other guys, top three guys in terms of his skill and what he can do with the puck every night.

That hasn't surprised anyone. I know that hasn't surprised me personally. But I way he's played away from the puck, his commitment to doing the little things, getting pucks in, getting pucks out, and his ability to elevate his game when we've seen our team go through adversity, whether it's guys or down or whether we're battling back into a game and we need a big goal, he always finds a way to be there. That says a lot about a player. In professional sports, we know that. That's why we pay the best players in the world is to step up and be difference makers, and he's a difference maker for sure.

What's the second part of that question?

Q. (No microphone)?
P.K. SUBBAN: Yeah, for sure conditioning is a big part of it. Our team is always a team that likes to play fast and push the pace, and our number one quality a team is our speed, right from the back end, and we want to bring that. It's tough for teams to keep up. You know, they're a fast team too, but we know that, when we're playing our game, we're really, really tough to play against, and I think that, as far as our strong finishes go, like I said, I go back to that word again, composure. I think we've done a great job of keeping our composure regardless of the scoreboard or where we're at in a game.

It's paid off for us. It's shown late in games for us to come up with big plays where it's a block or a goal.

Q. Pontus, we don't know much about you. How did you grow up? What did your dad do for a living?
PONTUS ABERG: My dad is a carpenter. He used to play hockey. That's how I started. Family with sports. My mom played handball back home, and that's how I started playing.

Q. First tooth you've lost in the game?
PONTUS ABERG: That's the fourth one, but they're all kind of fixed up.

Q. P.K., a comment on your goaltender Pekka, and, again, the impact that he had on your win tonight.
P.K. SUBBAN: Yeah, I got the asked in my post-game interview if Pek's got the Player of the Game chained, and my response is he probably could get it every game. He's the backbone of our team, and he's usually our best player on every night. When we win, he's always our best player.

So the expectations in the playoffs for every goaltender is to be like Pekka Rinne and give your team a chance to win every game. He's done that for us every night, and he's been solid all year. I've been very lucky to play in front of some great goaltenders in my career, but he's right there at the top of the list. He was our best player again tonight in my opinion.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

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NHL WESTERN CONFERENCE FINAL: DUCKS VS PREDATORS

May 20, 2017

Pontus Aberg

P.K. Subban