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NHL EASTERN CONFERENCE FINAL: CAPITALS vs LIGHTNING

May 18, 2018

Brooks Orpik

Washington, D.C.: Practice Day

THE MODERATOR: Questions, please.

Q. You've mentioned a few times you think the fact you guys have been playing without pressure has helped you. Is that harder to do right now with the series lead lost or can you continue to play free?
BROOKS ORPIK: Yeah, I don't think so. I'm one of the guys that doesn't really believe in momentum in the playoffs. I think especially with the one-day breaks in between the games, you turn the page pretty quickly. Besides the result from last night, I think we were pretty happy with how we played. We got to find a way tomorrow night to bring the same approach, but obviously find a way to win.

Q. You have been 2-2 in each of your previous two series. Does that help you at all in preparing?
BROOKS ORPIK: Yeah, we're 2-2, just got here different ways. Obviously being down 0-2 in the first one. But, yeah, I mean, none of that really matters once you get to here. I think everybody just kind of views it as a best-of-three to get to the Finals.

Like we were saying this morning, I think anybody from the start of the playoffs or the start of the regular season would take that in a heartbeat. I think guys are pretty excited about the opportunity.

Q. Ryan can never remember at any level being four games into a series where a home team hasn't won. Can you remember ever being in something like this? Is there any explanation for it?
BROOKS ORPIK: I don't know what the explanation is. I think over probably the last couple of years, it kind of seems like that home ice advantage is becoming less and less of a factor. Yeah, definitely not to the extent it has been in this series. Yeah, I don't know. I can't really explain it.

Q. Does it almost feel more comfortable getting on the road?
BROOKS ORPIK: Yeah, I mean, like last night, I don't think we necessarily played poorly. We just didn't get the result we wanted. I don't think we were uncomfortable at all. We were frustrated that we didn't find a way to win.

I don't know if we're more comfortable on the road. We're definitely not uncomfortable on the road.

Q. The calling card for this team has been mental toughness, resilience. Is that something that you can lean on now, another hurdle you have to overcome?
BROOKS ORPIK: We're 2-2, so I'm not really sure.

Q. Losing two at home.
BROOKS ORPIK: They did the same thing, so... We're kind of at the same point.

I guess just because we were up two, I don't think anybody picked us to sweep. For sure nobody in here did, so... Everybody was betting against us to lose the series, too.

After winning the first two on the road, I mean, yeah, percentages are you're going to win at least one at home. It didn't happen. Like I said, this is where we're at. We just got to move forward.

Q. Do you embrace the underdog thing, that people have picked against you this year?
BROOKS ORPIK: It's not really talked about much. I think everyone uses that as motivation in a quiet way. I don't think it's something that collectively we rally around. I think everybody kind of used it as personal motivation to prove people wrong.

Q. Nick was pretty amped up to play last night. What did you see from him behind the scenes or on the ice?
BROOKS ORPIK: Yeah, he looked better and better every day. I think he got to the point where guys just stopped asking him how he was feeling, when he was going to be back. We knew he was getting pretty close, we just didn't know when he'd play.

Yeah, I mean, he looked like the same Nick Backstrom to me. I think the one thing that was really surprising, he won his first three faceoffs, which for me I thought that was going to be the toughest thing for him.

Q. Do you have an appreciation for him being at this stage? There's a lot of talk that Ovi has been through all the years in Washington, but for him to have that opportunity now?
BROOKS ORPIK: Yeah, I'm happy he gets the opportunity. That would have been pretty disappointing if the team finally kind of got over that hurdle, then he wasn't a part of it, with how big a part of the team he is.

I know he was pretty excited about it. You know Nick, he's pretty quiet, keeps to himself. When he was hurt, kind of just did his thing. He wasn't a distraction. Like I said, we all kind of knew we'd get him back at some point.

Q. You've said a few times it's 2-2. Is it easy to divorce yourself from the order in which the 2-2 happened?
BROOKS ORPIK: Yeah, I think we do a better job than some of the fans and media. I think we do a good job of blocking that out. I mean, we didn't have home ice advantage, that's what everybody called it coming into the series. If we have won two at home, lost two on the road, we'd be at the same point.

Like I said, it doesn't matter how we got here. This is where we're at. It's best-of-three to move on to the Finals.

Q. Is it more vexing that you've arguably outplayed them in three of the four games?
BROOKS ORPIK: I think it's frustrating that you didn't get the win last night. I think it's encouraging for the group knowing that especially last night we carried the play, didn't get the result we wanted. I think we know over the course of a seven-game series, more times than not if you play that way you'll win the series. Yeah, last night just couldn't find a way to complete it.

Like I said, I think there's games where you kind of give it away, you don't leave a dent at all. Last night we didn't get the result we wanted, but I think we wore them down quite a bit.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

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