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NHL STANLEY CUP FINAL: BLUES VS BRUINS

June 7, 2019

Alex Pietrangelo

St. Louis, Missouri - Practice Day

Q. One win away; what's the excitement level for you and for the team?
ALEX PIETRANGELO: We know what Sunday is, but the group is calm and we've done a really good job of refocusing after games. I don't really get a feel from anybody that the emotions are too high right now.

Q. Much has been made of the fact that you guys have been better on the road than at home, but all three of your series clinchers have come at home. Has there been a common denominator? Is there a reason you've been able to be so good clinching games at home?
ALEX PIETRANGELO: No, even if those games were on the road, I think we just played the game we wanted to in those clinching games, so we're looking for the same recipe on Sunday.

Q. You're also 7-1 now in Games 5, 6 or 7 in these series. Do you feel like you're wearing teams down and your depth is playing out over the course of these --
ALEX PIETRANGELO: I think so. I think we've wanted to do that in every series. We've wanted to build as the series goes on, and like you said, wear teams down. We've done a good job in this series of sticking with that game plan regardless of what the score was. It's a good recipe to have. But we know they're not going to be pushed over lightly on Sunday.

Q. You said you know what's at stake, but none of you have ever played in this game. Is it possible to stay in a routine for this game given what it is?
ALEX PIETRANGELO: Yeah, I'm not going to change my routine. We've all played in big games at some point in our career, whether it's the Olympics, World Cup or Junior or whatever it is. All of us, we've played Game 7 against Dallas, Game 6, and we've had some experience in these Playoffs. I know it's not this stage, but it's a pretty level-headed group we've got.

Q. Officiating became an issue again last night. How do you as a captain and as a team handle that?
ALEX PIETRANGELO: We've gone through it, too. We just worry about what we can worry about. We've done a good job of knowing we can take care of and what we can't, so we're just moving on.

Q. Is that part of your mental toughness, when things go wrong in a way, officiating, bad breaks, do you think that's a big key in surviving?
ALEX PIETRANGELO: Well, I don't think you get here without being mentally tough. We're at, what, 106, 107 games now. There's going to be some adversity, you've just got to kind a way to get through that, and our group has been able to do that all year.

Q. What do you want to do better in Game 6?
ALEX PIETRANGELO: I think we need to start better. I think they took it to us there in the first, so I think it's our job on Sunday to turn that back on them.

Q. Obviously you took a great shot last night, their best shot, and if there's a Game 7 -- you guys have to, I'm sure you want to set the tone, set the intensity tone?
ALEX PIETRANGELO: Yeah, that's the goal at home. They tried to do that last night. I think both sides are going to give their best effort. I don't think you're going to expect any less at this point.

Q. With them setting the tone early and kind of having the early momentum, how key was Binnington?
ALEX PIETRANGELO: He was pretty impressive, especially in the first. That was a lot of shots put towards him, and he did a great job of limiting those second opportunities and rebounds, so it was a heck of a game by him.

Q. If you don't have Barbashev, what will you be missing? What does he bring?
ALEX PIETRANGELO: Well, he plays in all situations, right. He's been big for us on the penalty kill. You guys have talked about how big that line is, too, so we know what he is. He's been great for us. But we'll deal with that if that's what comes.

Q. You guys have one more game where you can shut down the Bergeron line?
ALEX PIETRANGELO: Well, we've done a good job of it. It's been a collective effort, on the road especially. We've had to use everybody in that situation. It's not just a couple guys. It's been a collective group effort. We've done a good job against tough lines all Playoffs, so we're going to do the same thing on Sunday.

Q. With each round, have you felt an energy in the Enterprise Center cranking up, and what kind of atmosphere do you expect Sunday?
ALEX PIETRANGELO: Yeah, it's pretty cool to get in there. I mean, it's the best. It's always good, but this is at a different level. Just driving to the game, you can see the fans, it's pretty special. We're going to make sure we put on a good show.

Q. How much have you gotten out of your penalty kill the last two games? You've been able to keep them at bay on the power play.
ALEX PIETRANGELO: Yeah, they've been pretty dangerous all Playoffs, so we've been aggressive. We've forced them to make plays that they don't want to play, and it's kind of taken their skill guys out of it early.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

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