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NHL STANLEY CUP FINAL: PREDATORS VS PENGUINSMay 31, 2017Peter LaviolettePittsburgh, Pennsylvania - Pregame THE MODERATOR: Questions, please. Q. Peter, you talked about how you liked the effort the other night in Game 1. Looking at the film, talking with the team, do you feel you need to change much going into Game 2 tonight or can what you did the other night carry you? PETER LAVIOLETTE: There's things that we can do better. We know that they're going to be better. That means we're going to have to be better, as well. But I think there's some positives that we can draw from yesterday. Yesterday we tried to look at some of the things we can do better. Today we looked at some of the things to reinforce what we were doing well. Look to bring that back to the ice tonight. Q. Any lineup changes? PETER LAVIOLETTE: We don't go into that. Q. In Game 1, you didn't appear overly concerned with the matchup. Everyone was talking about who is going to match against who. Didn't seem to concern you too much. What is the thinking behind that? PETER LAVIOLETTE: I think at times if we can get something that we like, we get it. Coaches do it different. Some coaches will pull players off the ice all the time to get matchups. I guess it just depends on the philosophy that you're looking to play with. I think we have a game plan on what we're trying to do. We also have a lot of trust in all of our lines, all of our D, to go out there and execute and do the job. Q. What is Phil Housley brought to your staff? PETER LAVIOLETTE: I think he's a very smart guy. He's been great to work with. I said it yesterday, somebody asked me about Kevin McCarthy, same can be said with Phil and all of our staff. I think generally coaches learn from each other. When you work with somebody new, there's always things you pick up. He's a smart guy. He brings a lot of experience as a player. He brings good experience as a coach. He's detailed. He runs good meetings. He has the attention of the players. I think his game, his background, the player that he was, the hockey sense that he has, the way that he's able to communicate to the players, is one of his biggest assets. He's a smart guy that does a very good job communicating that. When you're talking about his meetings, the defense, players, our team in general, I think he's a guy that has a good mind about him. He communicates it well. Q. If you look at the Stanley Cup champions over the last 10 or 15 years, maybe longer than that, almost every one of those teams had a superstar center. What is the challenge for you to win a Stanley Cup without one? PETER LAVIOLETTE: Well, I mean, I think at this point of the year -- you're saying because Johansen is not here, correct? Q. Right now. PETER LAVIOLETTE: Well, right now it's by committee. That's not by choice. We wish that all of our players were healthy. Kevin Fiala was playing excellent at the time of his injury. Ryan was doing an unbelievable job for us. We miss those guys. We are who we are. We've got to find a way to do this. Colton Sissons has moved up in the lineup. I think he's played terrific. I thought he was one of the most noticeable players on the ice the other night. That's what has to happen when injuries occur. Our group is our group. We've got a lot of confidence in who we are with those guys back at home in Nashville, we have a lot of confidence with who we are. Q. The closest to this might be Anaheim when Andy McDonald, a young Getzlaf were their centers. They had Pronger and Niedermayer. You have something similar to that. PETER LAVIOLETTE: Think we're by committee. I think if you look at the lineup, we've tried to put four lines out there that can play. That gives us the confidence, I think, within sight of a matchup, especially on the road, to be able to play those four lines, know that we're going to be okay. Just the way it's come down with the injuries, I think that's the way that we've rolled as those injuries occurred. We've been banged up, like all teams, through the playoffs. Going into that Chicago series, we were missing some players. We just tried to put four lines out there that could play. Q. In regards to Ryan Ellis, are we at the point now where small skilled defensemen are like small skilled forwards, size isn't a factor any more? Do you think about that with matchups? PETER LAVIOLETTE: I think it depends on the player. For us, it's not an issue for him because he has terrific hockey sense and he makes great reads defensively. He uses his body and his positions well inside the game. His talent is there. He can shoot the puck. He can pass the puck. He's a competitive guy. But I think the way he plays defense and the way he handles really anybody, based on size, it's not an issue for him. Q. But in general? PETER LAVIOLETTE: I can't speak for everybody. I can't speak a general statement about skilled defensemen that aren't 6'3", whether or not they're good defensively or not, whether they make good reads or not. But he is. He's a guy that it does not seem to affect him. Q. Does that speak to his talent? PETER LAVIOLETTE: I think he knows how to play the game. Q. From an X's and O's standpoint, what was it you guys did in Game 1 that stopped Pittsburgh from getting shots for so long? PETER LAVIOLETTE: No disrespect, but I'm not going to go through X's and O's with the media. Sorry. Q. Can you speak in more general terms? PETER LAVIOLETTE: I'd rather not. Thank you, though. THE MODERATOR: Thank you. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports   |
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