June 3, 2000
DALLAS, TEXAS: Game Three
Q. That was a great game with probably as many scoring chances as a lot of people
expected to see in the entire series. Can you explain how that happened?
COACH ROBINSON: I don't know. On our part we talked about getting the puck in deeper.
We were guilty of a lot of turnovers last game. We knew that especially later on in the
period the ice wasn't going to be as good as we expected. However, I thought the ice
wasn't that bad tonight. But the thing is that when the puck is bouncing, it is better to
make a mistake down in deep where they have to go all the way back down to the other end
as opposed to the other way. But we certainly made life hard for ourselves. At the end, we
gave them a couple of great chances to score. I thought our penalty killing won us the
game.
Q. Along those lines, the double -- 49-second overlapping penalty, obviously, in the
first period, and you seemed to control the play --
COACH ROBINSON: I was a little upset. The reason I was up screaming and yelling was
they gave us a double minor. And right after that on the faceoff, Scotty Stevens gets
hauled down and there is no call. That is the only thing that upsets me. If you are going
to call it, you got to call both ways. It did upset me a little bit, but we were able to
ride the storm there. And Marty made some big saves for us. Scotty Stevens, Niedermayer,
our defense played strong. So it was a great game.
Q. Were you surprised that he shied away from the Modano matchup with the Arnott line?
COACH ROBINSON: I got enough trying to worry about who I get out on the ice without
having to worry who Hitch puts out there. That line, when they are playing, and the Modano
line is going, it makes for some pretty exciting hockey out there.
Q. How did you think Sykora and Elias responded?
COACH ROBINSON: Unbelievable. I told Patrik Elias after the game I was very proud of
both of them. I talked to them before, and I think nobody feels worse than they do that
they didn't come out and have a good game in Game 2. But it shows the true professionals
that they are when they come out tonight and just play a heck of a game. I thought the guy
that just was a dominant factor out there for us, played great, was Jason Arnott.
Q. How do you explain the team's success on the road in the Playoffs? This goes back to
1995 when you won the Cup without having home ice in any series.
COACH ROBINSON: I don't know. I don't know how you explain it. I think the possibility
that maybe our team tries to keep the game a little bit more simple. We don't maybe try to
do fancy things that we do at home. Maybe we feed off the other team's crowd. I don't
really have an answer for you.
Q. What were you thinking when Marty shot the puck over the glass with 4 minutes left?
You had things going your way?
COACH ROBINSON: Marty didn't think I had -- my hair was gray enough, so wanted to just
make it a little grayer.
Q. Did you think going into the game that it was imperative for the team? Did you say
anything to them about weathering the storm to get the crowd out of the game?
COACH ROBINSON: No. I think if you do it that way, I think you are kind of making your
team a little tentative. I think it is better that you just -- after you game plan and you
go out with your game plan, if you go out with the thought in mind: Okay, they are going
to come at us. We have got to weather the storm. You may -- I have a tendency to lay back
a little and just say: Here is the puck. We are going to play -- ( inaudible.) I think you
can do that. You have got to stick to your game plan. Have a game plan first of all, then
kind of stick to it, and see what happens.
Q. You said that penalty killing won you the game. Can you be a bit more specific about
the way in which the penalty killing did it?
COACH ROBINSON: They didn't let the other team score. Well, I think on that 5-on-3, I
think the biggest thing is that we tried to keep the puck on the outside as much as
possible. Certainly the two most dangerous guys are Hull and Modano. And you always got to
pay special attention to them. Also you need a little bit of luck. A lot of times your
best penalty killer is the guy between the pipes, and he made huge stops for us. He slid
across Modano; made a great save. I think that is the biggest part of it.
Q. There has been much upset, obviously justifiably, about Scott Stevens in these
Playoffs. Has there been enough said about the play of Scott Niedermayer who tonight
seemed pretty tremendous out there?
COACH ROBINSON: I can only think of maybe one game where Scotty was off of his game a
little bit. But since the suspension against Florida when he has come back, he has had a
tremendous impact on our club, and certainly when he is at his best, we are a much
different team, because he gives us a whole new dimension. He is a lot like Zubov on
Dallas, in that when they have the puck, they can control the puck. They are great skaters
and just seemed to open up the ice for everybody else.
End of FastScripts
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