NHL STANLEY CUP FINALS: DEVILS v AVALANCHE

May 31, 2001

Patrick Roy

Joe Sakic

PATRICK ROY: The puck was loose and I wanted to help the guys and get it, but I was in the race with Elias and it -- he was a bit ahead of me. I tried to just push it behind him but it was the second guy and I think it is-- is a play that I shouldn't have tried.

PATRICK ROY: I don't think it could have really scored. It would have hit my pad, it would be in the net. But I was not pleased with myself to take that. I thought it was a bad decision of myself.

JOE SAKIC: I think really in the first period, we got into penalty trouble and did a great job killing the penalty, you know, killing those off for the most part except for the one goal. But second period, staying on it we had-- we rolled four lines and it just seemed like everybody had a jump and I think that momentum that we got from killing most of the penalties that carried over in the second and guys were skating, we had a lot of jump tonight. That's something that we needed to do. Played a lot smarter game.

JOE SAKIC: That was important, obviously, the way things turned out in Game 2. The way we played, we weren't happy with the way we played especially after they got the 2-1 lead. It is important for us to come out hard and play well and try and get the win. We got that, obviously. It is great to be up 2-1, but we know there is still a lot of hockey left and hopefully we can come out the same way in Game 4.

JOE SAKIC: They have done a tremendous job throughout the Playoffs. At this time of year you need all four lines playing well. Your whole team has got to contribute and definitely our second and third and fourth lines have played well, especially tonight they got a couple of good goals.

JOE SAKIC: I tell you we all know he can shoot the puck and you just have to give him some space, and fortunately I got the draw, got it back to him, he just went to the middle, just let it rip, that was a cannon.

JOE SAKIC: Definitely you want to go out there and do your best and we are in the situation now, we are in the Finals and you want to do whatever you can to win the Cup obviously. For Ray -- if Ray wins, that means we all win, so that's something that we strived for from the beginning of the year and I mean we still got aways to go. You have got to get two more wins against the defending champs. It is not going to be easy but hopefully we can find a way to get it done.

PATRICK ROY: I thought they made the difference tonight. They were outstanding out there. They blocked so many shots for us and it is a line that plays with a lot of heart and a lot of passion out there right now for us. And they certainly deserve a lot of credit for our success. Like the third goal by Danny, it was a beautiful pass by Nimo. It was a great team effort tonight.

JOE SAKIC: Only one, I got kicked out.

JOE SAKIC: Yeah, I felt really good out there. I felt skating-wise and on faceoffs, got some bounces. Obviously you need bounces on faceoffs to get some confidence, but it is not just centermen. The wingers did a great job when there were battles of winning the battles.

JOE SAKIC: Well, neutral zone, really, they have got a lot of speed, we said that before the series, that you have to be aware of that and not turn the puck over. But everybody did a tremendous job in the neutral zone forecheck, and obviously Marty, him and Patty are probably the two best guys that, playing the puck, you don't want to give them an opportunity to get that puck. I think everybody did a great job of their dumps, soft dumps and trying to keep it away from him.

JOE SAKIC: I don't really remember the penalty, but.

JOE SAKIC: Yeah, that was -- oh, that was a huge kill right there. We took so many penalties in the first period. I mean, like I said, penalty kill, special teams are huge this time of year. Our 5 on 3, you know, limited them to a few shots and getting that kill obviously is a huge momentum booster for everybody.