	products recent interviews FastScripts archive about ASAP Sports

Our Clients:

Browse by Sport

Find us on

Subscribe to RSS

Click to go to
Asaptext.com

View our
e-Brochure

NHL STANLEY CUP FINALS: OILERS v HURRICANES

June 7, 2006

Craig MacTavish

RALEIGH, NORTH CAROLINA: Game Two

Q. A lot of times this year your goaltending let this team down, was this a case of your team letting your goaltender down?
COACH CRAIG MACTAVISH: There were some pretty crazy bounces on the goals, so I am not going to say that at all. I thought we, you know, we were guilty of overaggressiveness early in the game, and we just -- I think we're all trying -- a lot of us are trying to do too much and it's a situation right now where we have got a bunch of players, they are all trying to be difference makers, and we need a more predictable game out of a lot of our players.
And, you know, the thing that they have done to us in the first two games is they have won the special team games. And the 5-on-5 play has been pretty even, but they are more opportunistic at this point in the series than what we have been, and it's been -- I think we have carried the play at times 5-on-5. They have capitalized on their power play. Their power play has been more effective than ours. We'll have to turn that around at home but I think we're so excited and everybody wants to be such a factor that at times that's being a negative for us.
But I won't say that our team let the goaltender down at all tonight. Maybe in the third when we're taking a bunch of penalties, but those things happen and in the Finals when the game gets out of hand. I thought we came out in the third, our mindset was still we were going to win the game in the third period. We came out in the third, had a great shift and a half, through the 1:30 of the period, and had a number of chances to score, and then Sergei ends up can't get out of the way of Ward, and we take the penalty.
And then at that point we started running on our penalty kill then all of a sudden it's 4-0, and for all intent and purpose, the game just -- the game is over.
Q. Coach, you mentioned trying to do too much. Are there times when you think maybe your forwards are looking for too much of the perfect play in front of Ward or do you think he's in --
COACH CRAIG MACTAVISH: We made it easy on him today. Don't get me wrong, he played a very good game and I don't want to take anything away from the way that he played tonight. But we had to get the puck up, and Stillman's goal was a great example of just that. You get that opportunity, you get the puck up and it's in the back of the net, and we were in tight on Ward and we were unable to get the puck up in the air. We were just shoveling the puck into his pad.
So we have got to find a way to draw it back and get the puck into an area where we can get it over him. The defense at times were guilty of joining the play and it seems like every time we get an odd-man rush early in the game, we give them one back, almost immediately, and we don't want to be that generous and it's plagued us in the first two games of the series
Q. They seemed to be blocking fair number of shots, their goalie is playing fairly well. That combination is tough to overcome, and what do you do when a team is blocking shots and a goalie is playing well?
COACH CRAIG MACTAVISH: You have to move the puck and create another option up top so they can't get in the shooting lanes. They blocked a lot of shots, but we had a lot of shots -- a lot of opportunities as well. And I mean, at the end of the day we don't score any goals, and we have a fair amount of opportunities. I don't know that they outchanced us. Certainly through the first two periods I would argue that they didn't. We have to find a way to get the puck up and get it in the back of the net, and turn the series around.
Q. Through the first three series I think the hallmarks of your team's game was the discipline and composure. Are you at all concerned because neither of those elements were there tonight?
COACH CRAIG MACTAVISH: Well, I thought through the first two periods we were a disciplined team in terms of the amount of penalties that we took. As I mentioned, the lack of discipline ends up being the same seduction into the offense and that we have to reel that in. But as I said before, it's a product of guys trying to do too much.
In the third, I mean, you can call us undisciplined, but at the same time we're trying to be physical. It's been our mindset, and our strategy throughout the series that we're going to have to get in, we're going to have to take the body.
I mean, there were a couple of questionable calls. I thought Laraque's tripping call was questionable; the guy tried to jump out of the way. When he got the five on Ladd, I mean, that wasn't -- that wasn't questionable, but that was, you know, that could have been two. But at the same time, he's the guy that's taken our goalie out, so you know there's going to be -- our players obviously, if you get a chance to finish your check on Ladd, you are going to do that.
Q. Is there anything their power play is doing or your penalty kill is not doing that maybe in the past you guys have done?
COACH CRAIG MACTAVISH: Well, in the third we gave up two power play goals, and it was just a product of us running too much and I don't think you know, I was critical of that for the fourth goal because there's still lots of time left in the game and we still got an opportunity to win a game. After that we were still running for the fifth goal, but good deflection by Recchi in front of the net. We were a little late on the second goal, Kaberle's goal.
The goal that really hurt us tonight, make no mistake about that is the third goal. 13 seconds left and we got a chance to get to the dressing room and we're in a two-goal lead, which we have come back at least twice during these playoffs, and we botch an assignment, then it's 3-0 and that makes it difficult.
Q. Do you think some of these players want to be a difference maker because Dwayne Roloson was exactly that for you and obviously he's out of the series?
COACH CRAIG MACTAVISH: I don't think so. I don't think that factors into it because we had the same mentality from a lot of our guys in the first game, before Dwayne was taken out. But it's just a case, you need some foot soldiers to play good 15, 20 minutes four defensemen, predictable hockey, and we're up ice a lot where normally a lot of those guys are normally back defending. We need to get back to that and we'll address that tomorrow.
But, you know, we have been in this situation before. It's a little more disappointing when you get humbled 5-0 coming out of the second game than what happened in San Jose when we were down 2-0. So we're a little more rattled from that respect, but we also have comfort and confidence knowing that we have come back before and we have got to win a game, and we feel like we're capable, but to this point we haven't put that game together.
Q. Does this series need to be more of a physical series going forward in your estimation, given the status --
COACH CRAIG MACTAVISH: We have got to be more selective physically, and we can't be running around and running out of position. I think we have got to do it when the check is there, go ahead and take it, when, you know -- we don't want to be running out of position to the length that we were tonight in the third period. But, you know, clearly we have got the more physical team and a physical game and a grinding game favors us. But, you know, that's going to pay dividends over the long haul in the series in Game 6 and 7, but right now, we got to do something to get a win or we'll never get to Game 6 or 7.
Q. Ty's confidence, you mentioned the other night after the game, was that the reason why you chose to go with this goalie and are you concerned now of your second goalie's confidence?
COACH CRAIG MACTAVISH: No, not at all. I really thought that Jussi played a fine game for us tonight, and you look at the first goal, you are analyzing that, goes off Bergeron's foot, tough break, for him and into the top corner.
Second goal it went through him. Goalies don't like that style of goal.
The third goal, you know, Stillman flipped the puck across -- up over the net and then went behind the net and retrieved it and put it in the back of the net. So that was tough.
The fourth goal was a crazy deflection off our defensemen's stick to Doug Weight, and off his skate.
Then the fifth goal was the deflection, so really, you can't fault him on any of those goals, with the exception of maybe the second, and it was pretty good shot. So I thought he played fine. He handled the puck and normally that's an indicator of a goaltender's confidence level. He came out, he handled the puck, he was comfortable in the game. That's all we could ask.
We got to do a better job. You don't win a lot of games, even if you get outstanding goaltending, if you don't score any goals. So he was fine tonight.
Q. I know before the game you said you were going to go with a guy and stick with a guy, but as the goals are mounting and they are getting more and more, is it become kind of a decision, do we leave him in there?
COACH CRAIG MACTAVISH: If it was Dwayne I would have pulled Dwayne, but Jussi, he's not all that tired and he can use the work. So it wasn't a fact that it was anything negative about his play. So we'll just keep him in there, keep him in the flow of it, let him see a bunch of rubber, which we did in the third, and he will an better goaltender going into Game 3, more comfortable goaltender. But he should be confident coming through this game, did he a lot of good things.

End of FastScripts...

ASAP Sports, Inc. | T: 1.212 385 0297