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NHL STANLEY CUP FINALS: PENGUINS v RED WINGSJune 4, 2009Sidney CrosbyMarc Andre FleuryJordan StaalPITTSBURGH, PENNSYLVANIA: Game Four Pittsburgh – 4 Q. If you'd take us through the shorthanded goal and what it meant for you to score it? What it felt like? JORDAN STAAL: Well, it felt pretty good. I have to say it took me a little while to get another one. You know, Max made a great play. I saw Lidstrom and Rafalski both kind of flat footed. And I just kind of buried my head, went for it and kind of snuck it in. Q. Can you talk about your two games here at home. And Sid and Jordan can you both talk about what Marc-Andre's done for you this series? MARC-ANDRE FLEURY: I think just two great ones, you know. It's tough to start a series down by two wins. You know, it was great to see the character in the room to be able to battle back and tie it up. And, it's just good to be home. It's good for the confidence to make some saves and to get some wins, too. SIDNEY CROSBY: Yeah, these last couple at home have been desperation, you know, from us. It's going to be like that all the way through here. But you need your goaltender to be at his best. And Marc's provided that for us. He's been steady. He has that feel. He knows when the important time is to make you a big save. And he's been huge for us. JORDAN STAAL: Yeah, same as Sid, I guess. Flower's been there for us throughout the whole season. And, you know, it's great as a player to be confident in the way he's playing. He always seems to find a way to win games and make those big saves at the right time. And that's what good goaltenders do. And Flower has done a great job of that so far. Q. Did you sense that Henry Zetterberg's really worn down? That you're wearing him down a little bit? SIDNEY CROSBY: Doesn't feel like that. No, I'm just trying to battle. That's what it comes down to. It's tough to get any space out there for both teams. Both teams are pretty committed defensively. You know, you just fight for those chances and when you get them you try to take advantage of them. And you've just got to make sure that each time you're out there, you're battling to gain ice, and to create chances and that really is what it comes down to. He's a great player. And he's battling, too. Q. Sitting a couple hundred feet away, what did you make of Malkin's goal celebration? Just kind of the level of excitement that he seemed to get to there after? He draws the penalty and scores the goal, and then that celebration? MARC-ANDRE FLEURY: Yeah, I think that's him, you know. That's how he is. He always plays with a lot of emotions. You know, it was a huge goal for us. You know, I think every time we can get a goal on these guys it's very cool. So it's always fun to see him go like that. Q. Did you have a sense that it was only going to be a matter of time before you broke through with a goal in this series? And if I could follow it up with how you felt after Letang hit you pretty good there? SIDNEY CROSBY: Yeah. No, yeah, any time you're getting chances and it's not going in, you've just got to stick with things. You don't want to change a whole lot. You've got to just bear down and focus and keep getting those chances. If that happens, hopefully they're going to go in. I was happy to see one go in. Didn't expect Tanger to come that hard. He was happy for me. And it feels good to see it go in for sure. Q. Do you feel like you've seen the puck better as this series has gone along? And was there a type of miscommunication on that second goal with Billy Guerin? MARC-ANDRE FLEURY: No. They still come to the net pretty hard. I saw a lot of their guys in my crease, right on top of it. And I think on the second goal I think it was just really try to stand with the puck, stop it, I think. So it was a bit of a screen, but that's fine. We came back, so it's no big deal about it. Q. You talked about knowing eventually you just keep going with the chances you get. But it seemed that you had better chances today, a chance for more passing and things you were able to do. Did it seem like there was more space at times to create some more better chances? SIDNEY CROSBY: Well, really, it just felt like we executed on the chances we got. Sometimes you get those chances and you hit skates or, you know, a couple games before that I've had chances right around the net. Hit a couple of posts. Puck lands on Osgood's back in Game 1. Those are things that happen. But didn't feel like there was tons of room, but it felt like we just executed on the chances that we had, whether it was an odd-man rush, or quick play to the slot. We made some good plays and executed well. That's what it comes down to. But it didn't feel like there was a ton of room or any more than usual, no. Q. I'm wondering where that goal ranks among all that you've scored in your career? And also, if you knew that was Rafalski and you knew you could kind of just slug him off like that? JORDAN STAAL: Yeah, it's obviously one of the biggest ones of my career so far. I think you can't beat a Stanley Cup Final goal. And, you know, to try to change a game like that, it's pretty exciting. I don't think it really changed for any player. It wouldn't really matter. I just tried to get my body in there as best I could, and I got a lucky bounce to get in front of the net there. Q. Can you talk about Jordan's goal and what it meant and how important it was? SIDNEY CROSBY: No, it was huge. They had a little bit of momentum at that point. They had gotten a couple power plays right in a row. I think it was three minutes before he scored that goal, straight power play time. So, that was a huge momentum shift for us to get that. You know, to get that kill. That first one, and then for Jordan to score. And then we bounced back right away after that. And, you know, that was a big momentum shift in the game. You don't expect those, you just want a kill. But that's a bonus, for sure. That was huge. Q. Wondered were you surprised by the Maltby slash? And do you two have any, for lack of a better term, history, just because of what happened in Game 1 and now in this game tonight, Game 4? SIDNEY CROSBY: Yeah, I was surprised. No history though, no. We're both just battling out there. Q. After Jordan's goal, the place went off. Talk a little about the environment and almost like the feeding frenzy that followed up there for six or seven minutes offensively, and just the shift that presented? SIDNEY CROSBY: Yeah, when you're at home, you have to use that to your advantage. We see them use that energy, and the fans are great here. Being home team, you have to take advantage of that as much as you can. And I thought that goal gave us a boost. And our fans were into it even more than they typically are. You know, they felt it, and as players we wanted to respond. Q. After the second period the other night, you guys pretty much said it was your worst second period of the playoffs. Did you feel like you owed Marc in the offensive period. And Marc, how nice was it to see all the action at the other end of the second period this time? SIDNEY CROSBY: Yeah, we want to make sure we make life on him as easy as possible. We don't always do that, but you know, we try to. We did a good job of putting a lot of pressure in the offensive zone and creating some good chances. That's a big key for our team. That's where we want to play. But we definitely owed him a good one, for sure. MARC-ANDRE FLEURY: Yeah, I thought it was a huge period for us. It took a lead 2-1 early in the second. And to see my teammates respond, and get three goals against that team in the second was huge. After that, we both were doing well, so it was a good period. Q. A lot was written and said after the first two games about you being outplayed. Now that this series is even, do you feel a sense of vindication at all? MARC-ANDRE FLEURY: I don't know. I prefer my team, I prefer my teammates. No matter what people say or write about me, doesn't matter. Every night I'll try my best. I'll try to stop pucks. And, you know, there will be some tough nights. But the most important thing is to forget about it as quick as possible, and to start over again in the next one. End of FastScripts |
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