NHL STANLEY CUP FINALS: SABRES v STARS

June 18, 1999

Michael Peca

MICHAEL PECA: I think it even goes beyond that. We don't want to lose regardless of where it is because we want to win it. But certainly being at home we want to not give a team an opportunity to beat you at home.

MICHAEL PECA: I didn't really see it happen. I didn't notice the line change. I was taking a drink of water or something and then when the play happened I didn't see how it had gotten started, but obviously it is an injury that we probably would have liked to have avoided, but we got -- Darryl Shanahan has been probably one of our best defensemen all throughout the regular season and he is looking forward to the opportunity to playing.

MICHAEL PECA: Well, it can be frustrating because going on the first three rounds and having a lot of good fortune offensively to run into a team that plays very stingy and tough defensively, it can be frustrating but you have got to just keep your head up, keep working hard and hope your breaks come.

MICHAEL PECA: Just have more determination, I guess. We felt we are getting better at it as it is going on, so hopefully we will get a little bit more breaks that way.

MICHAEL PECA: I do and you can come in with me if you want and watch my weight on the scale. It is the same as it was during the regular season. But I think it is just a case where things get frustrating. When the things get frustrating, you try doing different things to break through instead of just sticking to what it is that you know brought success to you and the team, so we will look at things and come out with the right frame of mind and certainly doing the right things to get things going.

MICHAEL PECA: Yeah, we certainly still have that feeling. Yesterday if we had a couple of bounces go an inch the other way than the way they went, we'd get scoring from a couple of those guys. The breaks didn't go our way and we just got to fight harder to gain more breaks and have them go our way.

MICHAEL PECA: You have to stick with what got you here, but you got to do it for the whole 60 minutes. We can't, you know, try to avoid any swing of momentum in their favor throughout the course of the game. We got to try and dictate it the whole 60 minutes and, like I said, we want to just go out and convince ourselves to try and be aggressive, not sit back and play like we are worried about losing, rather go out there and play hard and strong and confident.

MICHAEL PECA: I will be honest with you. They are probably the dirtiest team we have ever faced. I guess part of the thing about experience is they know how to hide all those two-hand slashes and stuff. But certainly they have gotten a lot of whacks in and but that is part of the game. That is part of Playoff hockey. We just got to battle through it.

MICHAEL PECA: I think their level picked up because I don't think it was fatigue. We had a pretty strong third period as well. They weren't a team that was going to allow another period like that to happen so they wanted to come back with better effort and kept us in better check.

MICHAEL PECA: Yeah. You obviously want to say that you think will make a difference certainly, want to go out and do things that you think will make a difference.

MICHAEL PECA: Our success was coming from getting the puck through from the point and getting guys in front and it seems as though we may be a little discouraged in shooting the puck from high now, and their shot blockers have a little to do with that but I think we have moved the puck at times to get in position to shoot the puck, but I think overall all the last three games we have been at -- we have been at work on our powerplay and you are not going to score many goals if you allow four guys on the ice to outwork the five of you.

MICHAEL PECA: I don't know. I don't think you look at tape for two weeks and watch all the game tape and not come up with things you think aren't going to work. Obviously we feel there are things. There is things that we feel that will work. It is just a matter of working hard and executing. I think one thing we can do a better job is sticking our nose in front of net and hanging out there a little bit after the first chance and you know, look for rebounds and for second chance opportunities which we haven't been very good at.

MICHAEL PECA: Well, we have always felt very comfortable at home. I think getting on a roll early in the Playoffs certainly added to our confidence, the fans have been super, it is just a great feeling of comfort for a lot of guys here at home. We have been a strong team at home, last few years, so we are looking to have a very strong performance tomorrow winning that hockey game.

MICHAEL PECA: I don't know. That doesn't real matter. In that locker room guys don't feel we are; that is the only important thing.

MICHAEL PECA: Well, I mean he is a guy that every team would love to have, a big strong defensemen that plays nasty in front of their own net and the corners..... Obviously you don't enjoy it when you play against him; you want to complain about it when it happens to you.