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NHL EASTERN CONFERENCE FINALS: FLYERS v LIGHTNINGMay 10, 2004Sami KapanenMark RecchiTAMPA, FLORIDA: Game Two Q. Mark, can you talk about the deferences in this one game from last Saturday when you said a lot had to change? MARK RECCHI: At the start of the game we actually played pretty good on Saturday but we really didn't stay with it. That's a team that's very strong on their sticks. They compete very hard. We had to be better in that area, and tonight we were. We took advantage of some breakdowns from them and we were very opportunistic. Q. Were you thinking shoot high the whole time, coming in on Khabibulin, was that part of any kind of adjustment or strategy that you guys wanted to make on him? SAMI KAPANEN: I was actually thinking this, making a play there, when we went down I had the corner back and I was going to make it blow past but ended up I saw a low side open there and decided to try to go higher. I guess it was more instinct than anything else. Q. You've played enough against Khabibulin, he's known to be a little bit streaky, if you can get to him early, you can get to him a couple more times in the game; was that a factor going into this game, thinking let's get a quick one on him? MARK RECCHI: We didn't really talk about it. We wanted to obviously be a lot better in the offensive zone tonight, and we accomplished some things. You know, we got the first one and the second one not far behind. They started to open up a little bit and then we were able to take advantage of some opportunities, and then, you know, he was left to dry in a couple of them. You can't really fault him on a lot of them. He's a good goalie and he'll put this one behind him and he'll be back to himself on Thursday. We have to keep trying to do a lot of the same things. Q. Can you talk about the defensive contributions, you had three goals from the defense tonight? SAMI KAPANEN: Well, obviously, I don't know if you can call my goals as a defense when I was playing forward, but it looked like the defensemen were -- a little more today and we got a little more chances and great shots. I mean, it just all helps and there's just no way the goalie is going to stop it. I don't think that is something that we are looking for too much, the defensive scoring of goals but it happened tonight and it was a big help for our team. Q. Did the decisiveness of this game mean anything in terms of making a statement to turn the momentum? You're almost ahead by four or five goals; does that make a difference in this? MARK RECCHI: Well, we wanted to come in here and get one game, especially after losing the other night. We wanted to go home 1-1. You know, we talked yesterday that every night is a must-win for all four teams that are playing right now. And we really wanted to set the tempo tonight and we really wanted to prove that, you know, we can play. We're going to compete and we're going to be a very hard team to play against. You know, this is just the start of a long, long series and you know we are going to go home and we're going to get a couple of days off, rest our bodies and we'll try and do a lot of the same things on Thursday. Our tenacity and our enthusiasm, our competitiveness has to be at an even higher level on Thursday if we are going to come out with a win. Q. You all went through New Jersey and Toronto, so you already knew in a sense how you could respond to being down 0-1. They have had an easier way, will you be interested to see how they react? MARK RECCHI: Yeah, I mean, it will be interesting. I think against the Islanders, I think it was 1-1 after two games and then they went up to the Islanders and beat them twice. They have some veterans that have been around a long time and that will calm things down and their coaching staff seems like they are very relaxed, and I know Craig Ramsay is a very relaxed person and he'll keep things calm there. You know, this is one step in the process. If we take a step backwards on Thursday and don't come out with the same tenacity, then it will be a different story. We have an opportunity to go home now and do some damage. Q. Sami, could you just explain how your goal developed? It looked like maybe the puck hit one of their players going into the bench, and it just sat there and had two-on-one develop; how did you see it? SAMI KAPANEN: Well, I think it hit one of the guys going off the ice. I saw that we had a chance to get maybe two-on-one if I could just get it by, I think it was -- and put it off the board and try not to get hit there. I cut through him and wanted to make a play to finish but the defenseman wanted to slide on the ice so I had to take a shot. Q. Mark, you've seen what LeClair has gone through this year; with did it mean to the bench when you guys saw him score? MARK RECCHI: We were all -- I mean, obviously, I think you guys have to understand something about John. He was happy and probably we were more happy for him than anybody. This guy, we know he's pressing a little bit no, question, but he never, ever shows it. He's a perfect team guy. He just comes and plays hard every night, he doesn't complain. He competes for his teammates, and, you know, we all wanted him to score more than anything, because he's a great teammate and he's a great friend for everybody and we were very happy. It was a terrific shot and a great goal for us to get us on the right step. You know, he had a terrific game tonight for us, and he's been playing hard for us. It's nice to see him finally be rewarded for his efforts.
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