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NHL WESTERN CONFERENCE FINAL: DUCKS VS PREDATORSMay 21, 2017Randy CarlyleHampus LindholmKevin BieksaAndrew CoglianoAnaheim, California - Practice Day Q. Did Patrick and Ricky also make the trip, and how confident are you that they'll be able to skate in the morning? COACH CARLYLE: Patrick and Ricky did not make the trip. It wasn't a positive response from Eaves in skating yesterday. So we decided we'd leave him at home. And Rakell wasn't ready to skate today. So both players are not available to us. Q. What about Gibson? COACH CARLYLE: Gibson traveled with us, and we'll do a reassessment tomorrow morning at our morning skate. Q. If it comes to starting Bernier, you obviously have the experience, and he had that really good run there, in particular, late in the year. If it comes to having to go with him, how do you see him? Address what would be his first-ever Playoff start. COACH CARLYLE: I think Bernier has proven to us and to the hockey world that he's a quite capable goaltender. And I think he went -- I think it was 10-1 down the stretch for us when Gibby got hurt, I think it was 21-7 and something. He had a pretty impressive record. He's a veteran guy. He pays attention to the details and works hard in practice to stay ready. So that gives us a lot of confidence in his abilities. We stated right from day one that we felt we'd have a 1-A, 1-B tandem if we needed it. Q. When you look back at the game, did anything jump out at you? COACH CARLYLE: I said it last night: I reviewed the game on the plane on the way here. And there was far too many opportunities for Pekka Rinne to play the puck. And I didn't think we played that poorly until the last half of the second period. We seemed to run out of gas. And we didn't have much offense in the third. And it was one of those periods where we were flat. And they had more energy than we did. Q. Do you avoid Rinne from playing the puck, is it just hard around highs that he can't use the stick, or waiting (indiscernible). COACH CARLYLE: I think a lot of it has to do with what we're doing in the neutral ice versus what they're doing in the neutral ice. They play somewhat of a system that's a little unique and a little different. But we played against it before and we've been able to get through there. And we felt in the earlier games that we got the puck and we put it into areas. It's not to say he didn't touch the puck. He did touch it, but not as many times as last. In the first period alone he had eight plays on the pucks and you can't give him that type of opportunity. Q. I know you weren't here, obviously, before this year. But how do you -- of course as we've gone through the course of the Playoffs, how do you like how your team seems to have handled -- I don't know if it's comfort level, or do you feel like they're comfortable dealing with situations like this where it kind of becomes sort of an all-or-nothing type of deal? COACH CARLYLE: Well, it seems like when the pressure has been applied we've responded in the proper manner. I would expect the same. And we're focusing on things that we've got to do to be effective and I'm sure they're doing the same thing. And we know we can play more of a complete game than we played last night. Q. It's obviously going to be quite an atmosphere tomorrow, and they know that they're one win away. And the Campbell Bowl will be in the building. How much maybe can you playoff of that? And maybe they might have some pressure to make the fans happy and give them the night that they want to have? ANDREW COGLIANO: Yeah, the pressure, the pressure is on them to win. They are one game away, which is pretty special for a team to move on. For us, obviously our season's on the line. So we're the desperate team. But at the end of the day, I think, they're at home. They're going to lay it all out there in terms of trying to win this game in front of their fans and move on to the Stanley Cup Final. But we're confident -- I think we're a confident team. We've been confident all year. We faced many adversity and times of -- tough times actually. So we're very confident playing tomorrow. Q. Are you more comfortable this year in those scenarios than previous years? And if so what's may it so? ANDREW COGLIANO: Yeah, I think so. I think with our team there's things that stack up against us all the time. I think there's things that, for whatever reason, haven't gone our way, but we continue to push on. And I think Randy's done a great job in terms of keeping us pushing in the right direction when things kind of get sidetracked. And there was no perfect example other than the game against Edmonton in Game 6, getting blown out and then we play probably one of our best games in the Playoffs the next game. So, like I said, we're 100 percent confident that we can come in and win this game tomorrow. Sometimes, and with our team it feels like everyone's against us in a lot of ways. And we're a really close team. No one wants our season to end tomorrow. And that's how we're going to approach the game. Q. Why do you think everyone's against you? ANDREW COGLIANO: I just think there's times where we fight through a lot. I feel like that's always been our team. I think we've always been a team that's done things the hard way for a reason. We have always taken the long route around things, and, so, I think we're in a position tomorrow -- like I said, we're the desperate team. But also they're the team that has to close us out. So it's on them to beat us in their building. But we're a group that has gotten really close this year, I think much closer than the previous years in terms of how we've competed and how bad we want to win. So we're going to be ready. Q. Carlyle and Bieksa were talking about getting to the neutral zone better so that you're not dumping pucks and getting really a chance to play (indiscernible). What are the keys at doing that well? ANDREW COGLIANO: I think sometimes you've got to slow it down and have your guys come back and support each other. I think that's the one thing. I think they do a good job of that. We've had that success against them throughout the series, but that's something we need to be better at throughout the whole game. You can see, with eight minutes left, you couldn't get through. Now, is it different because that's the time of the game, maybe. But I think those are the situations where you've got to calm down and really have a plan in terms of where guys specifically need to be. And I think that's when you're not dumping as many pucks and you're coming with more speed. Q. Forgive my ignorance. Why is it hard to get through? Like, what system do they play that makes it difficult? ANDREW COGLIANO: They play the 1-3-1, and what makes it specifically difficult is when you limit -- Rinne is so good at stopping the puck. So, a lot of goalies can't get out there and those rims get past and you usually have a guy that's able to get on the forecheck first. But he does a good job of stopping pucks and creating time for defensemen. And with that system there's a defenseman already back. So the minute that puck gets stopped they already have the possession. So that's where it's tough. Q. It's almost being a second defenseman back there? ANDREW COGLIANO: Exactly. Q. Or three? ANDREW COGLIANO: Yeah, he's almost another "D" man back there. So if you're not dumping the puck in at the right times and with speed, you know, they're just breaking out the cleat. Q. Were you guys trying to go high around, and it still didn't work? (Indiscernible)? ANDREW COGLIANO: Yeah, you have to try to go high around the class on him, but he does a good job at stopping it. It's more, I think, if we can get soft-side dumps on him, so keep it away from him a little bit. And also it's more about having guys move through the neutral zone. Sometimes when you get stopped, it's over. There's no way you could get in there. It's more about having guys with speed. Q. You haven't had Patrick. You're not going to have Ricky again. How much more of a challenge is it to be -- particularly to create offense because those two guys that have created a lot of offense for you this year? And how much does it come down to whether yourself or proven guys to deliver in a scenario like this? ANDREW COGLIANO: Yeah, that's what Playoffs is about. Obviously they have a major injury themselves, but we've got a couple of guys that are very key players for us as well. So, but you're right, I think when it comes down to these games, I think you're going to have your best games from our best players because that's what they do. But it needs to be other guys that step up. And hopefully that's the case, where guys like myself and guys that are lesser in the lineup and lower in the lineup and maybe not prominent scorers, because those are the guys usually make the difference. So hopefully it's one of those nights where you just play the game without having any regrets afterwards. And I think that's something I will do and hopefully you come out and have a game and a good win and contribute. Q. You guys have handled obviously adverse situations already. How comfortable are you guys with that, when it gets to be all or nothing and win or else? HAMPUS LINDHOLM: Like I said, we had some adversity before and we know what's on the line there, and we know what we have to do to be able to come out on the winning end. So I think that way we are well prepared. Q. Why do you think -- Randy said the other night, in these situations he asked each player to bring, give five or ten more percent, that each player is able to do that. How do you guys do that? How do you dig deeper or dig deeper in order to bring your best? HAMPUS LINDHOLM: I think it's more will out there. If you can try to work as hard as possible to win at least one little puck battle out there, I think a lot of times it's more of something in the head than your body not being able to do it. You just have to go out there and try to work as hard as you can. As I said, it's usually something more mental than physical. Because I think most of the guys there, we know what we can do out there. But we just have to as a unit of five out there -- you work really hard. That's when you help each other create scoring shots and that's how we get offense and then play good defense. Q. How much does it matter that you guys have proven that you can win here; in a scenario like this how much does that matter? HAMPUS LINDHOLM: Of course we know we can win here. But, as I said, we've got two games now. And this first game here, we gotta come out and play the way that we can and go out there and go after it. Q. Bernier starts, what are your thoughts? HAMPUS LINDHOLM: I'm comfortable with both goalies. I'll try to block the shots whoever is in there anyways. Q. I want to ask about special teams. Maybe too often you guys have been on the wrong side of the special teams battle, both power play, penalty kill, whatsoever. How much more critical does that become even in just a one-game scenario to be on the right side of it? HAMPUS LINDHOLM: No, I think that's definitely one point I can really help us get success. If we win special teams tomorrow, and that's something we have to go out and execute. But last game I thought the guys came out, really showed they want to be out there in power play and do some good things. And even the PK, I don't think they had really too much going on before they got the goal there. So we just have to stick to stuff we do well. And, as I said, you can't relax for even one second out there because that's when the puck enters your net. Q. You're a top 5 PK team. Has it been discouraging that you haven't been as good as you wanted to be when it comes to the Playoffs? HAMPUS LINDHOLM: No. Like I said, the Playoffs, I think every game is different. It's about like after -- the next game is the most important one. So whatever is behind us, I don't really look at what we've done in the PK before. I look forward to what we can do the next game. That's what we have to be focusing on. The same on the power play. Whatever happened before doesn't really matter. All that matters is what we're going to do in the next game on the power play or PK. Q. Kevin, you know elimination scenarios, been through them. What is the thing, I guess, or the mindset or what is the thing that particularly stands out when you're facing it and you go into that type of scenario and dealing with it? KEVIN BIEKSA: You can't play like your life's on the line. I think you've got to play with the mentality of attacking. I don't think you can sit back and just hope that you make it to another game. I think we have proven to ourselves, when we come out and we attack, we have tight gaps. We hold pucks in. We're physical. I think we've proven that that's when we play our best hockey. We did it last time we were here. We had a great first period where we outshot them heavily and set up the tone for the rest of the game. So I think the mentality of coming out, not testing the waters, jumping right in, attacking. Q. When you looked at that game, what stuck out for you last night? KEVIN BIEKSA: They scored one more goal than us. So it was a tight checking game. There was times where we physically manhandled them, I thought. I though we were very physical. I thought we had a lot of chances where we could have scored. The one power play we had a lot of good looks. But these games are decided by one or two plays. And they got an odd-man rush at the end of the game there, but just before that we had several chances to score. So I don't think there's one particular thing that we need to do differently. We just have to be on the right end this time. We have to make that one big play, whether it be offensively or defensively. All these games have been tight. We know there's going to be a tight one tomorrow. Q. I'm sure you have faith in Bernier, but is there anything different with him, just the way he plays the puck or any adjustments to make to his style? KEVIN BIEKSA: No, not a whole lot. We had a lot of games with Bernie this year. So we're comfortable with exchanges and handoffs. We practice every day, too. There's not a big fall-off for sure. We're comfortable -- we're one of those teams, much like Pittsburgh, where we have two great goalies we have a lot of confidence in. Whoever goes, we play as hard as we can in front of him. Q. Are you looking at much video after even last night, or are you not looking at a whole lot of video? And if you are, is it covering the things that went wrong or looking at what you do right and further emphasizing that? KEVIN BIEKSA: Oh, that's maybe a question for the coaching staff. They're the ones that kind of decide on the video. But a lot of us watch our shifts after games. We have a lot of iPads. And anytime we have an Internet connection, we can access our shifts. Different guys will watch their shifts. There's a lot more talk about the neutral zone, how we can cut through the neutral zone maybe a little cleaner instead of putting pucks along the wall. And I think Rinne's proven that he comes out and tries to stop every puck that gets rimmed and he gets most of them. When he's doing that we can't get a forecheck in or can't get offensive zone time. It's up to us, the coaches, to figure it out. To answer your question, we should be watching a little bit of film in the neutral zone and figuring out how to be cleaner there. Q. Seems like you rim them high, try to make it hard for him to play the puck. Is that accurate? Is that not effective either? KEVIN BIEKSA: Usually, on most goalies, if you put the puck in the glass, the goalie will maybe come out and just swing a stick at it. But this guy is very aggressive. He comes out and he throws his body against the glass. And he uses his whole body to knock pucks down. You don't see many goalies that aggressive. If we could maybe get a bounce off the partition once in a while, maybe that would keep him a little bit more honest. But so far that hasn't happened. And he's gone out, he's played a lot of pucks. And he's good at it. One of their strengths, for sure. We've got to be a little bit smarter. But sometimes you get pinched off, maybe not put ourselves in those situations where we get pinched off and have to rim it, maybe if we attack through the middle of the ice, we have more options. Q. That's the goal, right, to enter with the puck and not dump it in -- KEVIN BIEKSA: That would be great. Easier said than done. That would be ideal. Q. You alluded to it, (indiscernible), and played virtually all of that, too. Do you just look at that or, say, even Game 7 against Edmonton, how you guys played that game and this is what we can do, this is what we can do, and you looked back at that? KEVIN BIEKSA: We're capable. We're capable of winning tomorrow. That's for sure. We've proven that time after time. We have the team. And we're against the wall right now, facing a little bit of adversity. So we come out and we play a nice clean road game and the crowd will be energized. It will be loud. And that's to be expected. We'll use that to our advantage. We'll try to keep them quiet as much as possible. But you just have to go out and win one. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports   |
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