NHL EASTERN CONFERENCE FINALS: RANGERS v FLYERS

May 20, 1997

Terry Murray

Q. A little helter skelter there in the third period, maybe too much for your liking.

COACH TERRY MURRAY: A little too much for both coaches's liking. It got bizarre. Anything could have happened out there, with the turnovers on our side of it, skating over the puck to give the goal to Gretzky. But we come right back. It was a nice next shift. We got a turnover in the neutral zone. I thought Podein made a tremendous pass to Klatt to be able to get in and score the goal. It was just a lucky break, I think. Because, you know, the puck was flipping up in the neutral zone, deflected off one of the Rangers' players' hands, and it happened to land in the right place and the way we wanted. It was strange, but it was a good win for us.

COACH TERRY MURRAY: Yeah, I would like to say a lot of things about Eric Lindros. I think he showed tonight the kind of great player that he is. He played with intensity. The first period that he played was just outstanding. I think the team, the Flyer team was a textbook first period. The way we come out to get the lead the -- not giving anything up. And we wanted this game tonight real bad. We knew it was going to demand a lot of intensity in our desire. And I think the first period showed that. But Eric battled hard. He showed a lot of discipline, a lot of poise. Just an outstanding effort.

COACH TERRY MURRAY: That was very important for our captain to show that with our team tonight. I think the 4-minute penalty kill we killed off except for that minute at the start of the period and they scored. We have a goal disallowed, two goals swing right there. You know, it is a time that with some young guys in particular, that you could start to fall apart a little bit. But Eric is talking on the bench, goes out and gives us some real big shifts and helps us get our feet back under us again. And, you know, the leadership and the composure that he showed, it is just another example of the maturity that he is starting to show as a player.

COACH TERRY MURRAY: I haven't seen the replay on it. Couple of the players that did see it said yes. But that is not the responsibility of the replay, is he in the crease or not. That is the decision, and so be it.

COACH TERRY MURRAY: Bill McCrary (ph) did a real good job tonight, outstanding job. He set the tone early. He called the penalty right away. It was a good call. Wasn't a soft penalty. It sent a message, I think, to both of us. There were a couple of little scrums in the early part of the game. He came over to the bench, told us that if there is anything out of there, anything more like that, we are going to start calling the differentials. And, again, both teams heard it, and I think he established the game plan immediately.

COACH TERRY MURRAY: I don't think so. I think Bill is a very good referee, senior guy. He is one of the best in the league. He knows what he is going to call. I don't think that the game that he watched in Philadelphia had any kind of intimidation factor on how he was going to make the call for his own game.

COACH TERRY MURRAY: We sure did. I think in the second period we showed some of that lack of discipline in our defensive game. We were losing our second guy -- our third man, rather. The Rangers were showing a lot more movement through the neutral zone. Couple of great offensive opportunities they had. And our defensemen were not keeping the players in front of them. And as we get into the -- you know, between periods, that was about all we talked about is we got a 2 nothing lead right now guys, we got huge penalty kill for a minute and 6 seconds, and we have got to play real good defensive hockey from here 'til the end of the game. And, I don't know, we get caught up in it. They turned it up. They played good. We got a few more breaks than what they did at the end and win the game.

COACH TERRY MURRAY: I think it is just the overall attitude about what is happening, how do you control your emotions, what is dictating the way you react to things that are happening in the game right now. There is a lot of stuff that are outside of the control of the players or the coaches. I think as you mature and you understand that, the better you are going to be as a hockey player. I think that the stuff that Eric is showing right now is what happened in the Playoffs two years ago, what happened in the Playoffs last year, what more and what better can we do in this kind of scenario. And, you know, the stuff he is saying and then going back out on the ice and having huge shifts, grabbing the puck and doing with it, being aggressive, getting the feet going, getting back on the attack, I think that really settles things down. And the next group comes right back and does the same thing all over again.

COACH TERRY MURRAY: We talked about that before the game, before game 1. Before the series started we believed that we could score on Mike Richter. We think we are a different type of team than what the Florida Panthers are and the New Jersey Devils. We are more of an offensive minor team. We are one of the top scoring teams in the League. Got big bodies. Like to get traffic to the net and puck to the net. And Mike Richter is a first stop goaltender, no doubt about that. But there is plenty of rebounds lying around. And if you are doing the right stuff with the puck and away from it, you are going to get some opportunities.

COACH TERRY MURRAY: No, I didn't. I didn't. It was a -- in fact, I don't know how that all came about, whether the linesmen thought there was a goal and asked for a review on it or if there was just a phone call coming from up top. I don't know.

COACH TERRY MURRAY: They ruled up top?

COACH TERRY MURRAY: No, I am not surprised. I mean, it was a great play. Lindros was real strong on the puck coming around the net. And if it is a save, it is a save. It is a great save, because he had to come from one side to the other. But I was not surprised whenever they did announce a goal.

COACH TERRY MURRAY: Yes. It was in by a good 15, 16 inches.

COACH TERRY MURRAY: On a line change. Joel Otto was chasing Brian Leetch behind the net and got caught up behind the Rangers on the attack and came to the bench. On the line change Brind'Amour jumps on and again a turnover. At the top of the circle the puck comes to the neutral zone and away he goes. He made a great play. I think a rolling puck to settle that thing down just before he gets a shot. It is a strong play.

COACH TERRY MURRAY: Biggest thing he did was show the discipline and show the patience and the poise. I think after game 2 there was a reason for him to come back and do some stuff that might have been a little bit over the line as far as, you know, hitting late in the play or retaliating to what happened at the end of the game in game 2. The most important thing and the biggest thing he did was that poise, that discipline; go out and play a solid game, not get distracted by the same matchup that was causing problems in game 2.

COACH TERRY MURRAY: I don't think -- no. I don't want him to cut down on that sort of stuff. He did nothing wrong in game 2. He took a lot of abuse in game 2. He is a big guy. He is going to answer the bell. He is going to hit back. He is going to get his opportunities in the game where he has got to do his stuff also. He has got to play on the edge. That is fine. He is that kind of player. I am not going to try to take that away from his game. But I think the key is that you don't step over the edge. You don't go over the boundaries so that you are going to put your team in trouble all night long. That is what he showed tonight.

COACH TERRY MURRAY: Sure. It is a fine line if you are going to go out and hit and you are going to play the game real tough, real hard. I don't think that the referees are going to take anything away from a player that plays that kind of a game. You are going to retaliate. If you are going to just take -- just use your body the wrong way to obstruct, to pick, to hit from the blind side, whatever you want to do, it is illegal and it is going to be called. I think that is the line that you have to walk. And you have to use good common sense and judgment in your game.

COACH TERRY MURRAY: He played very good tonight. Actually played a great game, I thought. Coming in here the fans seemed to love him. And they are always calling his name. So to handle that kind of welcome, I think, you know, in a conference final, he showed the kind of game that we needed from the experienced. Came to the surface and made a huge save. The one that I really remember is I think it was on Lidster, the second period. I don't know how he saw it. Maybe it was just a reaction. It was a high to the left top corner, glove side. He got his arm up, shoulder up, just outstanding stop. Thank you.