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NHL STANLEY CUP FINALS: SENATORS v DUCKS

May 30, 2007

Bryan Murray

ANAHEIM, CALIFORNIA: Game Two

FRANK BROWN: Questions for Coach.

Q. Your take on the Pahlsson goal?
COACH BRYAN MURRAY: It was a great shot. He got Corvo turned around. He tried to do something with the stick, got spun and he used Corvo as a screen and hit inside the post.
Great shot. Good play on his part.

Q. The play seemed to start with another turnover at the attacking blueline. Is that kind of the way the game went for you?
COACH BRYAN MURRAY: We played better. But we still made the - there were several of them, soft chip-ins that were picked off and trapped guys. And on that particular play, we turned the puck over just inside the blueline, and Alfredsson couldn't put a stick on Pahlsson. He was on the backside on a step. We tried to pressure the puck to the outside.
When he got that step, then he had the chance to attack one-on-one, and made the play that he made.
But that's been the key for them really is our turnovers and creating offense for them. And I'm not sure why we're doing it, but we're trying to create some offense and we're not getting much.
And I suppose the players are trying to be a little creative, and in this case it burned us.

Q. Bryan, what's happening that they're limiting your shots, not giving you many chances? Do your guys have to do a better job perhaps fighting through this stuff?
COACH BRYAN MURRAY: Well, they're keeping the puck on the outside very well. They stagger their D real well. If you do put it in, the forecheck - we had some good forechecks but we didn't get plays to the net off them.
But they're just doing a real good job. At home they got the matchups. It's what you're supposed to do is have a one-goal advantage playing on your home ice. We hope it works that way. But they've taken advantage of it. No question. Their matchups have been good. We got away a number of times in the game but couldn't take advantage and get a goal off it. But overall their D and their checking line have been stars of the series to this point.

Q. What's your message now that you have to win four out of five?
COACH BRYAN MURRAY: We just have to take advantage of home ice advantage, or home ice. We've done that. We've played well in our own building. We have to do it, absolutely have to do it this time. And give ourselves a chance to come back here and get one. The games have been - I don't know whether it was a close game or not. We had some chances; they outshot us. But I thought overall we skated better at least.

Q. Could you walk us through the philosophy of the line changes that you did, juggling you did through the game off and on?
COACH BRYAN MURRAY: Obviously I was trying to get Alfredsson with Fisher at parts of the game to get away from the checking and the pair of defense that they like to play against the Spezza line. That's basically it. To do that you have to move a couple people around.
We had some good shifts but obviously when you don't score goals it means very little.

Q. Can you talk about the five-on-three and just the second game in a row really you could have taken control?
COACH BRYAN MURRAY: Giguere made some stops. It's as simple as that. Last night - or the game, first game, rather, we didn't have any chances other than the first play. Tonight we had four or five real good chances at the net. We jammed at it. He made two stops, and then the puck came back to us again. We got another chance.
That's what the game of hockey is. It's create and hope that you can get one by. But goaltenders do play in this game and do have an important role. And in this case J.S. did a good job.

Q. What about taking apart that top line at the start of the game, just for a couple of shifts there to give your team just a little bit of a jump?
COACH BRYAN MURRAY: I didn't even tell the players until the lineup was handed in that we were doing that, just to give everybody a little bit of an edge to start, and I thought we got some great hits right off the bat. We had some tempo and motion and we skated better.
Unfortunately we didn't get many chances on goal, but there was some energy in the building and there was some energy in our dressing room.

Q. Are you concerned about Spezza and Heatley right now?
COACH BRYAN MURRAY: When your top players don't score - their top players haven't scored neither, as much, but definitely we're counting on a couple of guys to be big-time players for us.
And they played better tonight. But they didn't create much in the way of offense. I'm hoping we get home, we can do a little juggling, and it will come.
But, yeah, I'm concerned. They have to help us win games on the road as well as at home.

Q. Coach, this team has faced some adversity in these playoffs but arguably this is the most adversity you've faced. How do you think they'll handle it?
COACH BRYAN MURRAY: We'll find out. I know one thing. We'll work hard. We'll play hard. We'll be competitive. Our fans are great in our building, and I think that they're so supportive that they'll give us a lot of energy going back.
We've got to get skating the way we did at the stage in this game, and if we do that, then we'll handle it fine. And I remember the last time I was in Anaheim we lost the first two games, came into our building and won two. So this is a team that's very capable of doing it.
FRANK BROWN: Thank you, Coach.

End of FastScripts

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