NHL EASTERN CONFERENCE FINALS: PENGUINS v DEVILS

May 15, 2001

Scott Niedermayer

SCOTT NIEDERMAYER: I would have probably felt better if we had won. But I felt good. I didn't feel the best I've felt, whether it was because of the injury, or because I haven't been in a playoff game for 12 days. Probably a combination of everything. Hopefully it will get better for the next game.

SCOTT NIEDERMAYER: No. Not really. I just didn't feel like I was totally focused, like you can be in a playoff game. Maybe that was just the fact that I had not been used to playing, or probably from the injury, as well.

SCOTT NIEDERMAYER: Basically, a two-on-one right away. We had four guys up on the faceoff, and it was a bit of a scrum for the puck, and I don't know how it got up to one of their guys but it was a basically a two-on-one from their blue line all the way back. I cheated a bit on Mario, and that was the way Morozov was wide open. It deflected a little bit right off the stick.

SCOTT NIEDERMAYER: Yeah.

SCOTT NIEDERMAYER: That's how it goes. We had a big chance and he makes a big save, they come out and score a goal. That's where momentum changes a lot in playoff hockey. It's a pretty big part of the game.

SCOTT NIEDERMAYER: They have a lot of talented players. There's no doubt about that. I just think that we didn't do the things that we wanted to do today. Some of the chances we gave them were mistakes we made and whether we were in the right position or we didn't make the good pass. We can improve on tonight, as opposed to maybe the first game we played better.

SCOTT NIEDERMAYER: I feel good right now.

SCOTT NIEDERMAYER: With the talent he has, he can just wait for his opportunity and make a great play like he did. You know, you give him a two-on-one and he's going to do some good things, and he made a good pass on the other goal. So, that's how he plays. You can have a couple shifts where maybe he doesn't touch a puck, and then he gets the puck and he can make you pay.

SCOTT NIEDERMAYER: Larry was probably happy with the way things went in Game 1. We don't really discuss that. We just kind of go out with who he want us to go out with. I'm sure that was the reason. He just was happy with how things went in the first game, and I'm sure, you know, it changed actually early in the game with Daneyko.

SCOTT NIEDERMAYER: Yeah. I mean, I'll do the job or I'll try and do the job that they ask me to do. And we're going to be on the road now, so I'm sure that we'll see different lines. So it won't be as easy when you're at home to get the players out that you want; so it will be up to everybody.

SCOTT NIEDERMAYER: I hope so. I hope I'm going to feel better the next game. More focused and just more used to the game that's being played out there, the speed of it.

SCOTT NIEDERMAYER: Well, you know, I'm glad to be out on the ice. It would have been nice to have a win and come back here and be happy with the way that the game went, but that's not the case. We just have to -- have to refocus and try to play a lot better in Pittsburgh in a couple days.

SCOTT NIEDERMAYER: They were looking for a few days without any symptoms after working out or skating. That was kind of what we were looking for. Hopefully tonight, too. Hopefully I don't feel anything and go home get a good night's rest and get up tomorrow feeling good. If I do that, my confidence will probably be a lot better than maybe it was going into this game.