NHL STANLEY CUP FINALS: DEVILS v AVALANCHE

June 4, 2001

Scott Gomez

SCOTT GOMEZ: Well, I mean, I guess kind of -- I mean, I think everyone had to pick up their game. Once, Arnie, you know, we figured out he wasn't going to play right away, I think everyone just had to pick it up. You look over there and Colorado is a perfect example. Forsberg goes down and they all had to pick up their play. And we lost Arnie. And yeah, but you know, it's just a matter of time. Alex, hey, you know, is a great player, you can't keep him out 15 games.

SCOTT GOMEZ: It's been good. We have been winning. That was so -- that was a great part, but at the same time especially me and Alex, we know we had to take pressure off Patty and Arnie and Bobby Holik, all you want to do is contribute. That's all you can ask for. We weren't -- you know we weren't doing really much. Our game is offense and I thought Jimmy did a great job, created a lot of space for us. We were able to move out there. That was a big part of it.

SCOTT GOMEZ: It is huge. That's a great team over there. A couple of bounces here and there. Marty doesn't come up big, it's a different hockey game. It is just like any other team. You know, we got a little edge right now and we want to put them away. The fourth game is definitely going to be the toughest. We are going to have to go out like there is no tomorrow and hopefully win it in Jersey.

SCOTT GOMEZ: Well I think later on in the game they were down, hey, they got an offensive team too. When you got Blake and Bourque out there all the time they are going to jump up and maybe we just caught them, maybe we caught a couple of lucky breaks. Kind of getting mad and Patty and Syky, hey that happens, you know, they are an aggressive team. If you get a lucky break here and there you never know what could happen.

SCOTT GOMEZ: Did they? Who knows. That's their game plan. We will see what they do.

SCOTT GOMEZ: I think the older guys stepped it up. Once Tanguay scored it was like you know maybe there was a little letdown on the bench but Dano, Scotty, Bobby, those guys really just, hey, we knew -- we knew we weren't going to win 1-0 so you got to keep playing and we just stuck to our game plan. Larry, Carpy and Slava, you know, they just really stuck the game plan in our head and we have played it for 60 minutes and got a little lucky at the same time.

SCOTT GOMEZ: We have learned from the past. Toronto series we were up by 3. Pittsburgh we were up. We just go back to the basics. I know everyone talks about the trap and all that but it really is not like that. We just like to keep playing aggressive and I think that's the main thing. Once you start letting down you are giving the other team a chance. Once we get the lead we just want to keep pressing and pressing and we are them out.

SCOTT GOMEZ: Hey, Alex, he has got one of the best shots in the League. He set up the play and coming down I gave it to him and earlier he had more time with it, he let it go. I mean, we knew it was going to come. He had a great two games. He is really opening things up for all of us. Yeah, always had confidence in him.

SCOTT GOMEZ: Only thing we really talked about I owe him some money because I bought a laptop from him. We lost the bet on the basketball game. That's basically only thing we talked about. Hockey, no, I thought he would forget about it but he remembered. That was the thing he told me on the bus. He was feeling the stick, he said -- I said I got a passer; he said I got a shooter, that's all we said.