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NHL STANLEY CUP FINAL: CAPITALS vs GOLDEN KNIGHTS

June 7, 2018

Gerard Gallant

Las Vegas, Nevada: Game Five

Capitals - 4, Golden Knights - 3

THE MODERATOR: Questions, please.

Q. After that game goes down the way it goes, what is your message to your team on the entire year?
GERARD GALLANT: We had an outstanding year, but it doesn't feel like it right now. Obviously we'll get to that in a few days' time.

I didn't talk to the team after the game. They don't want to hear me after the game. They're pretty disappointed and dejected obviously.

We worked hard tonight, we competed hard. Just couldn't beat that team. It was a good hockey team. They deserved the Stanley Cup. They were the better team in the series and they played great hockey.

Q. You said it's hard, but is there anything you're most proud about this team that they've accomplished this season?
GERARD GALLANT: Yeah, I mean, nobody expected us to be here. We worked hard. We competed hard. Again, it will feel a lot better in a few days. Tonight is a tough loss.

We battled hard. We played a great hockey team. We got to the Stanley Cup Finals, showed everybody what we're made of.

Like I said, in a few days it will feel a lot better than it does tonight.

Q. Is there anything you have to say about what happened in the third period?
GERARD GALLANT: The game is over. They were the better team. They won. They deserved to win. They played great hockey.

Q. A lot of the players talked about how emotional that final salute to the fans was at the end. You talked about how great they are, but talk about that moment they shared.
GERARD GALLANT: Our fans are outstanding. That's been from day one. They've been unbelievable for us. They supported our hockey team.

Again, tonight, like I said, we had an incredible run. Everybody worked hard and competed hard. We were playing till, what, June 7th. It's been pretty amazing. It's been fun.

Like it said, it doesn't feel that great right now. Our fans have been just terrific for us.

Q. Deryk talked about how proud he was to have been able to play with this group, then he quickly said, Now we know what this feels like, what it takes to get here, we'll try to come back right away.
GERARD GALLANT: I think they believe in themselves. They believed in themselves all season long. Even coming into the game tonight, we were down 3-1, honestly at practice we felt great. Before the game we felt great. We didn't think we were going to lose tonight.

We felt coming into tonight's game we had a chance to win that hockey game. We win the hockey game tonight, we go back to Washington. It didn't happen.

But I'm proud of our group. They worked hard. They competed hard. They did the best they could.

Q. Is this the best job you've done personally of coaching a team?
GERARD GALLANT: Well, I'm the head coach, but we got a lot of guys that worked hard. Our manager and staff worked hard. All my assistant coaches worked hard. We had an easy group to coach. They were good people. We talked about that at the expansion draft. They come to the rink every day. It was a phenomenal year, unbelievable year.

Like I said, I know in a couple days we'll feel good about it. Any time you see that Stanley Cup, you're that close to it, it's going to hurt for a while.

Q. What did you learn about yourself this year, what did you learn about your team?
GERARD GALLANT: I learned a lot about my team. I think the guys competed every night. They never quit on each other. The few times in the year when we had the couple of tough spells, they were resilient all year long. They had fun.

We had a great time this year. We had an unbelievable home record. We had an unbelievable fans. But every day was fun for us.

THE MODERATOR: Thank you, coach.

GERARD GALLANT: Thanks, guys. Appreciate it.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

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