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NHL STANLEY CUP FINAL: PREDATORS VS PENGUINS

June 10, 2017

Peter Laviolette

Nashville, Tennessee - Pregame

Q. I just wonder how you organize. You've had obviously a lot of these two days off to manage over the course of this series. When you lose a game the way you did the last game, do you change your routine? Do you want to stick to it? Where is the line you draw between over-teaching and not overloading them with information? How have you managed these two days off?
PETER LAVIOLETTE: I think we try to fix things. We go back and look at things early on, things we need to do better. We try to show some positive things as we get closer to the game.

Right now it's about making sure that your team is as rested as can be and ready to play a game. So as we sit here today, we have a practice today. We've got a skate in the morning, and deciding what's best for each person at that point. Guys play different minutes and different ages and that sort of thing, so I think you're factoring different pieces to managing the days off.

Q. With Pekka, he has such a great record at home. He's had success in Anaheim in the Playoffs, as well. Can you tell a difference in his demeanor whether he's on the road or at home or does he seem to be one of those people who sticks to the same schedule regardless?
PETER LAVIOLETTE: No, I mean, he's the same every day. He works hard every day. His habits seem to be the same. His demeanor seems the same to me.

You know, we've got to do a better job in front of him. There's so many things you look at and you go back and you watch the game and the way it was played, and we made mistakes in front of him. So I know there's things that we can do that can support our goaltender better.

Q. I was talking to some of the guys about wondering if there would be any residual carryover from the last game as far as the physicalness and the chippiness. Do you even talk to them about that?
PETER LAVIOLETTE: We talk about discipline all the time. I'm sure every team does through the course of the regular season, and as the Playoffs happen it even becomes more important. Every game becomes more important. Discipline factors into every situation.

That being said, there's still room for physicality. It's a physical game. Our guys need to make sure that we continue with that. We can play a fast, physical game at times. They were physical last game. I think all of that's probably going to continue, but discipline always factors into it. We always have conversations about it.

Q. When it comes to something like establishing the forecheck, without asking about the specifics of the X's and O's, is that a system thing, or when you look back on Game 5, was it losing races, losing battles, that kind of thing?
PETER LAVIOLETTE: It's probably a little bit of everything that you said there. Yeah, forecheck is a system thing. If you're not there first, if you're not quick to get there and establish that forecheck, then what happens is a breakout from the opposition. Probably a little bit of everything of what you just said.

Q. Has anything about this Cup Final been predictable?
PETER LAVIOLETTE: No. Well, the home team has won. You think about it, you're supposed to win your home games. They've been good in their building. We've been good in our building. Regular season and Playoffs, I guess that's somewhat predictable. You're supposed to win your home games.

I think every game is different. You know, the games have not been the same from our Game 1 loss to our Game 5 loss. It's not the same type of game. There's nothing that you can put two and two together and say, yeah, here's the common denominator, it's just -- I guess not.

Q. After the last game you said immediately after that, maybe it's good to hold on to a little bit of those feelings. Do you feel now that the guys have moved on and are kind of looking more positive and looking forward to tomorrow?
PETER LAVIOLETTE: Well, I think we're positive. Inside the room, it's positive. Inside the room, I've said there's a confident group in there. But it's okay to remember that you just went somewhere and you didn't play well and you got handed a loss. And I think it's good that that, I think, helps -- keeps you more on point at times, to make sure that the effort is better and that our execution is better and we do things at a higher pace.

Q. I'm just curious, why has this place in your view been so kind to your team in terms of getting results?
PETER LAVIOLETTE: It's a great atmosphere, especially for us. We know that our fans are behind us. It's loud in here. There's a lot of energy. I think we played well on the ice, as well, so it's kind of gone hand in hand. The play on the ice has brought out the best in our fans, and it seems to have escalated as the Playoffs have moved on here.

You know, that being said, we've got to make sure our game is intact and that we're on point with what we're doing on the ice. Our fans will be there for us, but it's a great environment to play in.

Q. How would you describe the attitude of your team right now, and is it similar to when you came back home down 0-2?
PETER LAVIOLETTE: I think -- I don't think our guys -- I know our guys don't sit in there and wonder how we're going to do this. I think we're an extremely confident group, and we've had a lot of success, especially down the stretch in the regular season through the Playoffs. We've had success. We've found a certain way to play the game with a certain identity, and when we do that, usually the wins follow.

You can go back through the whole series, there's really one game that we don't like out of five games, and that's Game 5. And even more to the point, our guys have always -- when we do not have the game that we want, usually our guys respond with an effort and a game that we're a lot more proud of. I would expect our guys to come out and give it a good, strong performance tomorrow.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

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