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NHL STANLEY CUP FINALS: OILERS v HURRICANES

June 12, 2006

Craig MacTavish

EDMONTON, ALBERTA: Game Four

Q. Could you talk about the way your hockey team played the first period and contrast thereafter. Was that adrenaline kicking out or carbon monoxide poisoning kicking in, what did we see there?
COACH CRAIG MACTAVISH: I thought we started the game really well, moved the puck well, and then we were the beneficiary of a number of power plays and lost some momentum through those power plays. And then again we're in the same situation as we were in the first game where we got a five-on-three, a lengthy five-on-three, and you know, I don't know that we had a shot on goal. Might have had one shot on goal on the five-on-three.
Then we started to get frustrated and the power plays kept coming and we got away from the structure that had made us a pretty formidable power play through the first three series, and I thoughts we lost the momentum and then it was just a product of, again, not getting outplayed, but just getting outcapitalized and they capitalized on their chances. And the three games that we have lost, you know, with maybe the possible exception of the second game, they have just been more opportunistic on their chances. You know, they had the one chance in the second period, they go ahead and then we pound the pucks at the net and we're not getting our sticks on them and we're not getting enough traffic in front of the net, so we can capitalize on some of those pucks getting to the net. But it's not a lack of anything other than a lack of finish right now.

Q. This is about as long a dry spell for your power play as you have had this year, almost, I think you are 1 in 25 or 1 in 26. I mean, and I know I asked you about it last game, but have you got any thought on it as to --
COACH CRAIG MACTAVISH: Yeah, I've got lots of thoughts on it, but I mean we have got to get back to doing and executing at the same level and we have had trouble with the pressure from Game 1, and it's the reason why we are down 3-1 in the series. If we got a couple power play goals in the series, a couple more power play goals, we're at least tied, at least tied.
We have been down this road before with our power play, where we start to get frustrated and then you lose your patience on the power play, you take your first opportunity, and when you are on top of your game on the power play, you don't take a mediocre opportunity when you are in your set-up. You have got the patience to explore a better quality chance. And now our first chance to shoot the puck, we shoot it whether there's shin pads there or not.
So we have just -- I saw some better signs in the second period on the power play, we did some things better in the second period and didn't get a power play in the third, but it's the reason we're in the situation we're in right now being down 3-1.

Q. Is there something positive you are taking away from tonight's game?
COACH CRAIG MACTAVISH: Just that I will continue to maintain that we're a team that's not getting dominated. I feel like we haven't -- I know we haven't played our best game in the series, so I guess that's a positive, that we can execute at a higher level and we're going to need to.

Q. Did it disturb you at all you had real trouble generating scoring chances after they took the 2-1 lead?
COACH CRAIG MACTAVISH: Well, I mean, every time we get the puck in their zone and get possession of the puck, we get it back to the point and we did a better job moving the puck, but there are five guys in front of the net. And I mean, it's a similar frustration level and you take your chances. We have got to be more efficient in front of the net. We have got to be more determined in front of the net, because quite clearly, they are protecting that area in front of net and they are boxing us out and we're not going to the net with enough conviction.
And you know, the point shots and then we get opportunity on the points shots and we're not getting it in the right area, even when we hit the net it's not in the right area. And we had a few that were in the right area, at least in the upper half of the net, and they ended up hitting him in the stomach.

Q. Could you talk about Chris Pronger's play tonight? He seemed to get a little frustrate out there with a couple of penalties.
COACH CRAIG MACTAVISH: They were very borderline calls, I thought, the crosscheck on Recchi. I think there was another hook in there, but I didn't think he got frustrated and I didn't think it manifested itself in him taking a bunch of penalties.
You know, if he's guilty of anything, it's not getting the shots through and we need, whether it's him or anybody else on the back end, we need the shots getting through to the net.

Q. Do you get frustrated when Hemsky passes up the shot as often as he does?
COACH CRAIG MACTAVISH: You know what I get frustrated with, I get frustrated with the question. I mean, you haven't been here all year, I get frustrated with the question. The guy has led the team in scoring. He's a playmaker. He wins a lot of games for us, every Tom, Dick and Harry is telling him how to play the game. The guy is a good player, a good passer, he makes plays.

Q. Did you look at possibly deviating away to what you have been doing on the power play, just throwing Georges out there?
COACH CRAIG MACTAVISH: Everybody has got an idea when the power play doesn't go well. Anybody else? I mean, everybody has got an idea.
No, I didn't think of putting Georges on the power play in the slot. We have tried a number of different things on the power play. We're frustrated on the power play but we have got to get back to the structure that works so well and in the interim in the effort of us trying to find the perfect scenario or the perfect play, we're getting away from what we did well and we got to go back to those same solid fundamentals. Where you get Ryan Smyth in front of the net, you work the top and you get the pucks to the net.

End of FastScripts...

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