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NHL EASTERN CONFERENCE FINALS: SABRES v HURRICANESMay 24, 2006Daniel BriereChris DruryRyan MillerBUFFALO, NEW YORK: Game Three Q. Daniel, Lindy, kind of challenged your line to do better and said he was going to put it in your hands to do better, you guys responded, your thoughts on that. DANIEL BRIERE: I don't think Lindy needed to tell us after the way we played the second game in Carolina. We knew, especially our line, that we didn't do the job, weren't moving our legs, waiting for the puck to come to us. Sometimes it's -- just games where games like that where you come out flat. We knew we had to improve our play. Obviously Lindy came out and also said that, but it something we knew before coming into tonight's game that we had to play better and to make a bigger difference than we did the first or the second game in Carolina. Q. Did you talk amongst yourselves too with those two guys, Danny? DANIEL BRIERE: Yes. Q. Did you get together without Lindy there? DANIEL BRIERE: Yes, we did. We watched our game, the tape of our game, our shifts in the second game. We talked to ourselves and obviously they do things differently a little bit than some other teams, where they collapse hard in the front of the net, they like to cut off our play behind the net as well. We had to switch it up a little bit, change some things and it worked in our favor tonight. Q. Chris, did you feel like it was challenge to all the forwards tonight? CHRIS DRURY: Defensively, especially how we got outshot so bad in the second game. Even though we did have three power play goals, it was a 5 on 3 and the third one was with two seconds left, even on the power play we knew we had to pick it up. Q. Chris, Lindy said that the second period for you guys tonight might have been your best period all season, feel the same way? CHRIS DRURY: Yeah, we were moving pretty good. The crowd was into it obviously. We were moving our feet. We're a completely different team when we're moving our feet. Like Danny said, in Game 2 we were just flat-footed and waiting for pucks to come to us. Tonight we were going to get them and winning the battles. Q. Daniel, what is the secret to this team's ability to turn around and bounce back from bad performances and come away with something like this? DANIEL BRIERE: I don't think there's a secret. It's just the way it's been for us all year. We have had key injuries, we had a little slump in I think November, and everybody thought we were fading. We came back strong, went on a tear and then we had that little slump again at the end of February or March, and again people thought that, there you go, they are finally done, and we came back strong again. In the playoffs, a few times there were challenges, Ryan got challenged a few times, us tonight, I don't know what it is. We just have that confidence that we know we can bounce back from bad outings, from bad games, from tough breaks. It's not something you can teach. It's just in there and we believe in ourselves. We have the same guys that have been around since Day 1 of training camp and there's no new faces around. It's everybody working and finding that chemistry again. Q. What was it like in that second period from your perspective? RYAN MILLER: I just tried to worry about myself. It's fun watching the guys go out there and doing their thing and playing the way they want to play. But I just have to worry about the next puck coming at me. If I can help out on playing the puck, I am not getting caught up saying, well, pretty play. I am sitting there still reading, trying to talk as much as I can over the crowd. It's a long way to yell if they are sneaking a guy in the neutral zone. That's how you stay in the game, just try and talk, try and communicate and play the puck. As the second period wore on, they got a couple of shots in there and you just have to be awake. Q. Ryan, they seemed to be getting in pretty tight. Think they were trying to intimidate you a little? RYAN MILLER: Been the same all playoffs, and that's their style. They got guys that are willing to take the puck to the net and I am willing to stand in the way. I mean, they are going to bring the puck and I have to cut it off. It's part of my job. As long as they are not taking real cheap shots, I am not going to react to it, but it's part of the game, it's something that's going to go on this entire playoff and it has happened, so just deal with it and just try and play it. Q. What did you think of Jeff Jillson's tonight, his play? RYAN MILLER: He stepped in there, did a great job. I thought stepping into the power play there especially he had a few good looks, passing-wise and he's a really solid player and I am happy he has got the opportunity, unfortunately it's at the expense of Teppo, but he did well. He stepped in and made a difference. Q. Talk about your goal what you remember, how you think it lifted the team. CHRIS DRURY: I think it is a real nice play by Derek, kind of brought it up and made a little drop pass to Al. He kind of set a soft pick without drawing a penalty, that was pretty smart. We all know Al has got a great shot. He let a quick wrister go and I was able to get a tip on it. Q. That last minute seemed like maybe three minutes, did it seem like. RYAN MILLER: I was trying not to look at the clock. You start thinking about time ticking away and that just tends to go with the thinking that, please, don't let them get a shot through when it's my job to be there for the shots. So I have to expect shots, I have to play and I have to be a part of the hockey game. I can't just say, it is there and hope we block shots, they miss the net and time runs out. So I just keep my eye off it, and just trying to battle through it. They had a lot of guys in front, we had a lot of guys in front and it was definitely scrambley. That's what we do pretty well. We're good at collapsing and being desperate when we need to be. It worked out for us. Q. Are you surprised, Danny, or again the fact that another guy steps in and Jillson tonight just like the list has been all year, a new guy steps in and seems to be like nothing is missing? DANIEL BRIERE: Not at all. Novotny played really well up front. The great thing about Jillson, he made some big plays on the power play. But the rest of the game you barely saw him, which is a good sign, didn't make any mistakes, didn't turn the puck over; I thought he played a solid game. It's important for us to have a guy like that to step up and be a key player as well. We have had some tough breaks. We find ways to keep bouncing back, but we have to give a lot of credit to those guys who are playing a lot more minutes, and are also having a lot more responsibilities out there. Q. Winning this game tonight it's always silly when someone says one playoff game is bigger than another. (Inaudible) was this a critical victory for you guys? CHRIS DRURY: It was critical because it was the next one. Friday night is now the biggest one to date, but I see your point, if we get down 2-1, but we have been through a lot adversity and bounced back and lost two in a row down at Philly and bounced back there, so I don't think anyone was really panicking.
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