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NHL WESTERN CONFERENCE FINAL: DUCKS VS PREDATORS

May 21, 2017

Anaheim, California - Practice Day

Q. What do you think of the welcoming committee you guys got here?
COACH LAVIOLETTE: It's awesome. Our fans are great. We'll need them tomorrow night. So I'm sure it will be crazy down there.

Q. How much trust do you have in guys like Freddy and Pontus that have come in, seems like they make an impact right away?
COACH LAVIOLETTE: Well, Pontus has been playing really well through the course of the year. And we called him up. I thought he played really well for us. Again, we're always juggling numbers.

And the last couple of stints that he had with us he was playing great and ended up getting in the lineup a little bit.

But, again, we're moving numbers around. And there's been a lot of things that have happened to our lineup. So I thought he played a really strong game last night. Not only on goal, but just the game in general that he played, I thought it was a real strong game.

Q. Is Pekka's performance even more impressive knowing, like, you probably needed him to only allow one or no goals if you were going to win that game?
COACH LAVIOLETTE: I think goaltending is so important. He's been dialed in all Playoffs. I think last night was just more of what he's been giving us. He gives us an opportunity to win games.

Q. And you said last night you think it's not necessarily a bad thing to let the potential outcome of a win drive you tomorrow. Do you need your team to think about that tomorrow?
COACH LAVIOLETTE: I think we're down the road here. The guys know what the next step is. And it's going to be a hard-fought game. So whatever pushes your buttons to make you realize where you're going to be at, then I think they gotta be dialed in for that game. So if that's one way of motivating, that's a good way.

Q. You alluded to the atmosphere, what it's going to be like tomorrow night, and you're getting a taste of it right now. Clarence Campbell Bowl is going to be in the building. Does that bring more pressure? Does that fuel you guys?
COACH LAVIOLETTE: No, I mean it's -- I think that the guys are dealing with everything really well. We're not the most experienced team. We've got a lot of young players, and I think they've handled everything really well to this point.

Guys know what's at stake. And we had a quick meeting this morning before we got on the plane just to talk about some things. But the guys will be ready to play.

Q. What's the secret to pushing the right buttons and making the right moves at the right time, like you guys have, you have during these Playoffs?
COACH LAVIOLETTE: I mean, there's always moves that have to be made. You see what happens to the lineup in situations and opponents change and that sort of thing. But really the credit goes to the players because once there is a lineup in place and there's a plan in place, the guys have to go out there and execute. They played their tails off last night.

And we find ourselves back here in a situation where we can, we've gotta do it again. We've got to put our foot on the gas pedal again and make sure we're ready to play.

Q. A little hoarse. Is that from yelling and celebrating or just the overall collective --
COACH LAVIOLETTE: It could be a little bit of everything, I think.

Q. Along those lines, some guys were saying your pregame speech last night was the stuff of legends. Could you share with us at least the theme of what you talked about before the game?
COACH LAVIOLETTE: I said last night, the players deserve the credit here. They're the ones that went out on the ice and played the game. And circumstances where you're missing a couple of players -- your captain, Mike Fisher, and Ryan Johansen -- you really need people to step up. And deliver a performance like that in Anaheim, their team is not easy to play against. They've got a good team. Their building is a loud place, and our guys went in there and did the job. So the credit goes to them. Like I said, we've got to make sure we do it tomorrow as well.

Q. First off, what do you think of the welcoming committee out here?
COLIN WILSON: It's pretty amazing. Since I've been here they've always supported us a lot during the Playoffs, and I think it's escalated a little bit being in the Conference Finals, so it's pretty fun hearing them cheer out there.

Q. Pekka said last night it's one game at a time, but it's not necessarily a bad thing necessarily to think what just happened -- how do you let that drive you tomorrow?
COLIN WILSON: Obviously we know what's at stake. It is one game at a time, but we know that our next win puts us into contention for the Stanley Cup. So it's something we're focused on, but it's just about that next game and getting the next win.

Q. How would you describe the group's effort last night? Coach Laviolette used the word "gutsy." Do you agree with that?
COLIN WILSON: I think it was a gutsy effort. Obviously we have a few key players out, but at the same time I mean we're going to have to have gutsy wins here on out. And I think we have the team that's overcome a lot of adversity and certainly shown a lot of strength.

Q. You've done a good job at tempering emotions during the playoffs, at least off the ice during the games and in between games. How do you get to point now where you're, we're one win away but it's still, we've got to get there, without being too high or too low?
COLIN WILSON: It's the same thing throughout the whole Stanley Cup Playoff's, there's going to be lots of ups and downs and we recognize that. Like I said, we've overcome a lot of adversity. And we've got to make sure you don't hit the pause button after a win like that.

Q. Does this give you a sense here of what this potentially could mean to the city?
COLIN WILSON: Yeah, we certainly recognize the amount of hype around the city, around our team and how much the city is supporting us, how big it is. And I think it's certainly something we have in the back of our heads while we're playing, and you see it coming home from the airport or at the game. So it's exciting for us and very exciting for the town.

Q. Does that add pressure at all?
COLIN WILSON: Depends how you take it. For me personally it's pretty fun. You've got to embrace it, enjoy it. And these fans have been great to us. And you certainly want to get them wins, but at the same time, I think, it's just gotta embrace it.

Q. Can you put this into context in terms of your experience in Nashville? Like is this bigger? Is it crazier? Is it --
COLIN WILSON: Oh, yeah, it's the craziest it's ever been. The crowds have always been pretty big outside, but I don't know if I've ever seen one like that. You see it around town. You see it on social media. You can't really get away from it. So it's exciting to see this hockey town turn into even more of a hockey town.

Q. So you're walking off the plane, when are you able to hear what's going on?
ROMAN JOSI: Right when we walked off. Yeah, you could hear people, there's people standing over there already, so you could hear them already.

Q. What does that say to you?
ROMAN JOSI: It's awesome. I mean, it's unbelievable. Like we said all Playoffs, our fans are unbelievable. I mean, just coming here for them, like on a Sunday afternoon supporting us, it means the world to us.

Q. You don't want to get ahead of yourself, but Pekka said last night it's not a bad thing to let it drive you tomorrow. How do you -- as far as what could be at stake tomorrow if you win -- Pekka said you let that drive you for tomorrow?
ROMAN JOSI: Yeah, it's a big game. I think every game in the Playoffs, the further you go, the bigger the games. And we're excited to play at home and, I mean, we know we need our best effort tomorrow.

Q. Roman, how important has Pekka been, obviously with Johansen and Fisher out last night, having him in the net and the confidence he gives going into tomorrow night?
ROMAN JOSI: He was great last night. He's made unbelievable saves, he's been great through the Playoffs. The team has so much confidence in him. It's awesome playing in front of him and he's been unbelievable.

Q. Your team has used 18 forwards, which is a record in the postseason. You've talked about the depth before, but to see a guy like Freddy come in, Pontus gets his first career goal, a game winner. How special is that to see?
ROMAN JOSI: It's huge, especially in the Playoffs. You need that. You have so many different guys contributing on the offense and it's huge. It's been huge for us. A lot of guys scoring goals and it's huge in the Playoffs.

Q. Considering the Ducks' body of work in the Playoffs, They've come back, they played a Game 7; you don't want to take anything for granted, I'm assuming, going into the game tomorrow?
ROMAN JOSI: No, definitely not. We know how good of a team they are. They're never out of game, never out of series. So we gotta make sure we're prepared for tomorrow.

Q. Roman, you want to wrap it up. These fans obviously want you to wrap it up on home ice. Is there extra pressure that comes with that?
ROMAN JOSI: No. I wouldn't say pressure. We're all excited. It's so much fun. It's been so much fun in the Playoffs playing in front of our home fans. And we know that they'll be loud tomorrow. I think it doesn't matter if you play at home or away, you're up in the series, you want to get that fourth win.

Q. Pontus, what do you think about the welcoming committee you guys had out there?
PONTUS ABERG: It's great. It's pretty cool. You're not used to that when you're down in Milwaukee. But it's a really good feeling stepping off that plane.

Q. I'm assuming yesterday's game, the assumption maybe was the offense might not be there. But Pekka Rinne knew he needed to be at his best. To see him come out of this game with just one goal, to be able to win it with two (indiscernible). How critical and crucial is that to see a guy that can do that kind of in a tough spot?
PONTUS ABERG: Pek is there for us every night. We know we can count on him. And it's up to us to score more goals than they do. And he keeps it tight back there. So it's huge for us to have him back there.

Q. You guys have used 18 forwards in the postseason, which is a record. You get your first career goal. 10 different players have scored game winners. I know this has been your first true test, but to see all these different guys step up, how special is that?
PONTUS ABERG: I mean, it's fun. It's a lot of guys. We can play together from down in Milwaukee too. To see Freddy step in there, play a hell of a Game 2. Like you said, 18 forwards is pretty impressive.

Q. It's one day after. Does it still feel as magical as it was when you hit it last night?
PONTUS ABERG: I mean, it was a great goal to score, for sure. But it's a new game tomorrow. It's only one goal. Gonna keep moving forward here and try to do good things out there.

Q. Is it really easy to keep it that even tempered? I mean, you get your first Playoff goal, and it's the game winner on the road to get it back here for a chance to go the Stanley Cup.
PONTUS ABERG: But it's also only a goal. I mean biggest goal I've scored before. But I scored goals before and I'm pretty good at putting that behind me and look forward to the next game.

Q. How is the noggin? Did everything check out okay?
PONTUS ABERG: It's fine. I lost my tooth there. So it wasn't any problems with the head at all. So it's good.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

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NHL WESTERN CONFERENCE FINAL: DUCKS VS PREDATORS

May 21, 2017

Peter Laviolette

Roman Josi

Colin Wilson

Pontus Aberg