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NHL EASTERN CONFERENCE FINALS: HURRICANES v PENGUINS

May 18, 2009

Dan Bylsma

PITTSBURGH, PENNSYLVANIA: Game One

Penguins Â– 3
Hurricanes - 2

SCHUYLER BAEHMAN: Questions for Coach.

Q. Can you talk about the game Boucher had. He was the guy that came in when Gonchar was hurt, and hasn't had a goal in the Playoffs for over five years. Can you talk about the fact of what he had to go through to get to this point?
COACH BYLSMA: I think throughout the year you have stories similar to Philippe's situation with injuries where you have to fight your way back into the lineup. He's a guy who has a lot of experience. He's in a situation where we won a lot of hockey games with him out of the lineup. As he got back to being healthy, we were making a push for the playoffs with the six defensemen.
But you know, he's a capable guy. He can play on the power play penalty kill, he has a physical presence. You're not adding a guy experience and he's been ready, stayed ready, worked hard, and tonight he didn't get a lot of minutes, but he cashed in, and had a goal and an assist, and proved that seven defensemen is an all right thing, I guess.

Q. Are you becoming a fan of seven defensemen, and can you talk about how Satan has flourished since you went to that look, and he's getting more quality minutes if not a preponderance of minutes?
COACH BYLSMA: I think in the situation that we're in, it makes a lot of sense. I think in a perfect world, six is a situation I prefer more. But rarely are we in a perfect world in playoffs. So we're in a situation where we can insert a guy who can take away some minutes. He can play on special teams. I think our power play with another power play guy who is a better fit for the power play.
But he's also a guy you can count on to battle. And you can count on him to be mentally ready. He's experienced, and been in a lot of different situations. If he's not getting a ton of minutes he's still going to be mentally sharp like he was tonight. That's a comfortable thing to be able to add.

Q. Can you comment on Marc-Andre Fleury's performance, please?
COACH BYLSMA: I think he was, both goaltenders played really well tonight. Their guy made some big saves and big stops and our guy made big saves and big stops. The game ends up 3-2, but both teams probably can have, there's a couple of chances both teams think oh, we could have had another one there. So their guy was good, and our guy was very good. Played well, made a couple of key saves for us at different times in the game when Carolina was carrying the play or had good chances. That's the time of year you need from that from your goaltender, and certainly Marc-Andre gave that to us tonight.

Q. Some coaches have an odd relationship with their goaltenders. Do you try to get a sense of where he might be at going into a game? Did you sense anything from him going into tonight what you might be getting from Fleury?
COACH BYLSMA: Well, I felt comfortable in the situation there was some focus going into the game about our goaltending situation from outside. But there's not one from inside.
He's a confident kid. He often has a smile on his face, and he's been scrutinized a lot for a young goaltender. He has done enough inside our room to answer all those questions and more. You saw that coming into this series. But there was certainly no lack of confidence from the coaching staff and from the players. We know who he is and what he can do. He played a good solid game for us tonight and made huge saves.

Q. Last year you had to deal with a lot of explosiveness offensively with their players. Talk about how maybe Carolina doesn't present that, but they have that will and tenacity offensively, and what type of change that presents in terms of difficulty?
COACH BYLSMA: Well, I think the strength of their team. You pinpointed a couple of key factors: The will and the tenacity, and their team and the work ethic. They're relentless. You saw them track back and lift up sticks a couple of times tonight along the wall. They battle extremely hard. Keep pucks alive. Keep pucks in. And they did a great job tonight.
I think if we didn't know what we were in for, which we did. They showed us tonight the way they battled and played and kept coming at us. At times they were able to dictate the game.
You know, if we weren't completely aware, they showed us what kind of team they are and they played tonight. That's something we have to focus on. Be a little more better on the walls and more sure on getting pucks out and getting pucks in. And then in those puck battles on both ends of the rink, we can be sharper, because we know they're going to be.

End of FastScripts

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