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NHL EASTERN CONFERENCE FINAL: CAPITALS vs LIGHTNING

May 22, 2018

Barry Trotz

Tampa, Florida: Practice Day

THE MODERATOR: Questions, please.

Q. (Question about this team.)
BARRY TROTZ: The way it's grown, the way it handled adversity, the way it handles a whole year of roadblocks, expectations, all those things that just came about. We had a big turnover in our roster, I think nine guys. You're trying to piece it together. Our start in the year, I think we were .500 after 20 games. Sort of built from there.

This group as grown. Just seeing them grow as young men to a group that likes to hang out together, go into battle together. This group is one that has a little special element too it.

Q. Jay Beagle was talking about Ovechkin saying right from training camp he noticed a change, a different Alex. Did you notice anything?
BARRY TROTZ: I did. I was over in Russia. I talked to Alex about just changing a little bit what I saw as a coach. Being in the league for a while, you know, as you get older, those opportunities, things you did when you were 23, you can't do when you're 33. That's just life. You have to change, you have to grow.

I think he was motivated. He had a little bit of an off year last year. He was motivated to show everybody that he still is a great player in this league. I think he had maybe one of his more consistent years that he's had in some time.

Q. For a guy who has been through a lot, past playoffs, what does this opportunity mean?
BARRY TROTZ: The opportunity is not only for Alex, but for everybody. Everybody that gets a chance to be in a Game 7 which will allow you to go to the Finals, it's exciting, it's fun, it's all those things. It's a life experience. It's a professional experience. There's 650 other players that want this experience and they're not going to get it.

For everybody on our team, everybody on Tampa, the coaching staffs and that, those moments are fairly rare. You take that opportunity, you put your best game out tomorrow night. When it's all said and done, you don't want to have any regrets that you left anything in the tank.

Q. Is there something about a Game 7 that reveals the mental strength of a team?
BARRY TROTZ: I don't know about Game 7. I think a year. One game, one moment in time, doesn't define you. I think the longevity of stuff that you have to battle through. As I've said to you all year, toughness is not the one moment. Toughness is getting up from many moments that maybe don't go your way. That's to me mental toughness. Grinding through stuff.

This team has done that all year. You look at our playoffs. They've done that all year from being down two games in round one, coming back and playing. We've played five overtime games. Going to Pittsburgh, losing top guys to injury, suspension, all those things. Piecing it together for an elimination game, come through, then go right to Tampa Bay. This group has dealt with lots of stuff. They're ready to deal with it tomorrow night.

Q. The physicality you played with in this series, and last night, do you hope to reap the benefits of that in a Game 7?
BARRY TROTZ: I think it doesn't matter what series. We've been fairly physical in all the series. The first series was that way. The second series was that way. This series hasn't been any different. We've got a team that can play that way. We can play a few different ways. That's one way that we can play.

Q. Is that when you're at your best?
BARRY TROTZ: When we're at our best is when we're moving our feet, when we're playing on the puck, when we're pressuring the puck, when we have lots of detail in our game, lots of pace in our game.

Q. You've relied on four lines throughout the playoffs. Are you hoping to use all four lines in Game 7?
BARRY TROTZ: You have to use them. Everything is situational. Some guys have roles on certain special teams. Some guys are better in certain situations than others. You have to adjust to the game. You just can't necessarily go all four lines, go, go, go.

Ideally, if there's not a lot of penalties, you want to go as much as you can with your four lines. A lot of times that gets broken up with matchups, TV timeouts, all those things. The game gets broken up into three segments every period because of the TV timeouts, what have you. Then there's power play and penalty kill, gets chopped up even more. That ice time is doled out according to situation more than anything else.

Q. Do you want your guys to think about what is on the other side of tomorrow night?
BARRY TROTZ: No, I don't think anybody needs to. Everybody knows. If you don't, you're pretty blind.

I think you don't have to say anything. Everybody knows about this game. We're going to try to earn the opportunity to continue to play. That's what we've said when we started the year, when these playoffs started, see if we can continue to play.

Q. Do you take gratification of being one game away from the Finals considering the adversity, ups and downs?
BARRY TROTZ: Yeah, some. I haven't really dwelled on it a whole lot. Maybe in a few weeks we'll look at it. Right now I'm not. I'm just worried about tomorrow night.

Q. Is there any lesson from last year's Game 7 that you can learn to apply to tomorrow?
BARRY TROTZ: Yeah, win.

Q. What makes Jay, Chandler and Devante effective together?
BARRY TROTZ: They all compete. They all got some weight to their game. They're always hard on the puck and they're hard on the people around the puck.

Q. How much did you think about last year's Game 7 last summer?
BARRY TROTZ: Well, I think there was more than just the game. There's more to life than one game or whatever. Had lots of things to think about this last summer. That was just a little small piece.

Every time you go into a game, it's an opportunity. You either win or you lose. This is another opportunity.

Q. How do you juggle going all out because it's a Game 7 with staying in the moment, not any further than that? Is it a difficult jump?
BARRY TROTZ: No, not at all. There's something right in front of you. Before you can move that something that's in front of you, you have to sort of go through it.

Yeah, no, I think it's pressing against your nose right now. There's nowhere to go but push through it.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

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