NHL EASTERN CONFERENCE FINALS: PENGUINS v DEVILS

May 15, 2001

Mario Lemieux

MARIO LEMIEUX: Yeah, he kept us in the game. He's really giving us a chance to win in every game. That's all you can ask.

MARIO LEMIEUX: Just skating a little bit better. Putting some pressure on their defense. Putting some pressure on their game and creating some turnovers. As I said, any time you put pressure -- (inaudible) -- going to make mistakes and that's how you have to play.

MARIO LEMIEUX: It didn't look too good the first 20 minutes, but we came back and we were up upset about it, obviously and made some adjustments and started to skate a little better. Playing the zones better. They are a very talented team. Was.

MARIO LEMIEUX: It seems to be at the right spots. We just made a two-on-one, a shot on them. Obviously, got some confidence now that you can play with these guys. Once again, they are a great team. They are the champs and they are going to be tough to beat. This is only one game. I'm sure they will adjust well and come back in our building.

MARIO LEMIEUX: We don't yell at each other. Maybe in January or February, but at this time, everybody is saying the right things to help each other and say something that really matters to the outcome of the game.

MARIO LEMIEUX: Yeah, you can't do that against these guys. Luckily, it was towards the end of the game.

MARIO LEMIEUX: Yeah, obviously, it's a grind. We're tired physically, mentally, and you've just got to recharge your batteries as much as you can, eat as much as you can and try to keep up your weight.

MARIO LEMIEUX: Any time anyone makes a big save and gives you a chance to come back and regroup, that's always very motivating for the team.

MARIO LEMIEUX: Not really. You just react to the situation. And actually Morozov made a great play, covering my point and -- I'm sure they didn't expect that. Went up two-on-one, got a shot on them and hit it in the right spot.

MARIO LEMIEUX: Yeah, I saw Madden come off the bench and the puck was bouncing. We tried to get it out of the zone but they kept it in .

MARIO LEMIEUX: That's all I saw yesterday an ESPN was "no shots on goal." But there were no chances, but they have guys there -- (inaudible) -- you're going to have long periods of time where you can't get it, but I think I got one or two .

MARIO LEMIEUX: They have four good lines. We know they play four lines, and you play three lines against that team; you are not going to be around for long. They are going to wear you down. And especially three lines, I have a chance to shoot the puck.

MARIO LEMIEUX: Well, even though we won, we are still going to make changes. These guys are going to look at the films and react to what we did and come up with a new game plan. We've got to do the same thing. We can't just play the same game. We've got to adjust and think about what they are going to do against what we could not do on the last two periods, and hopefully come up with a good game plan.