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NHL EASTERN CONFERENCE FINALS: CANADIENS v FLYERSMay 17, 2010Brian GiontaJaroslav HalakDominic MoorePHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA: Practice Day Q. Brian, there was, I think on a power play you got crushed a few times by a crosscheck on your back at one point. Is that something that maybe you're aware of or it's tough, maybe tougher than it was before in the Playoffs to go in front of the net? BRIAN GIONTA: No, I don't think so. It happened last series. It happened the series before. You know, I don't care who you're playing against, it's going to be a tough battle in front of the net. It's Playoff time, and it gets even worse in front of there. It's always the place you want to get to, to score goals and I think we need to do a better job of getting some more rebounds, some more traffic in front of Leighton. We saw a lot of stuff last night, and I think it's an area we need to improve on. But I don't think it's something that we're shying away from. Q. Yesterday after the game a lot of people mentioned and made similarities, comparisons between last night's game and the first game against Pittsburgh. But to what extent was this game also reminiscent to you of the game you played against Philadelphia just before the Olympic break? JAROSLAV HALAK: Well, you know, every series is a different series. So right now we are facing a different team than we faced in the first round and second round. So every team plays a different hockey, and we just need to make a little bit adjustments in our PK and our system. I think if we do that we should be okay. Q. How did you feel that game went for you personally last night? JAROSLAV HALAK: Well, you know, they didn't shoot a lot in the first period. You know, they got one goal on the power play. In the second period, they scored two more power?play goals or one more. So it was tough. But you know, it's Playoffs. You know, one game at a time, and we need to forget about this one and you know, make sure we are ready for tomorrow. Q. To whoever feels more comfortable answering, but teams can make adjustments in these strategic and technical aspects of the game. But when it comes to physicality and intimidation, the way the Flyers have come at you guys, do you feel like there are ways to counter that in the upcoming games? If you felt that? BRIAN GIONTA: I don't think that was a factor last night. I think, you know, obviously X's and O's didn't have much to play into it. It's a matter of winning individual battles. It had nothing to do with getting outhit or what not. We just weren't prepared to play from the start. We weren't skating. They've got a forechecking team that's going to get in and forecheck hard. We've got to do a better job of moving the puck quicker and tiring them out and making them skate a little more. If they're coming that hard on the forecheck, you can make one or two quick passes, you catch them quick and it kind of slows them up the next time. I don't think it came down to being outhit or something like that. Q. Did you feel that it was the first time since the beginning of the Playoffs that you saw a lot of traffic in front of you that maybe you had screen shot or a lot of bodies beside you? JAROSLAV HALAK: No, no, no, not at all. You know, we faced this in the first series and second series too. They tried to put a lot of bodies and big guys in front of me, and same thing happened against Washington and Pittsburgh. It's Playoffs. You know, they want to win the game as much as we want to. We just need to do a better job, you know, boxing guys out, and we should be okay. Q. Did you have a problem with how much traffic the Flyers were sending your way? JAROSLAV HALAK: Like I said, this is Playoffs, and they want to score the goals no matter what. And they will put guys in front of me again tomorrow, and I'm aware of that. Like I said, we just need to do a little adjustment and, you know, we should be everything -- everything should be okay. Q. You've proven a couple of times in these Playoffs that you can bounce back from tough performances. Can you draw on that? Does that give you confidence going into tomorrow? JAROSLAV HALAK: We'll see. Every game is a different game, like I always say. And well, it happened in both series before. But like I said, we are facing a different team. They will do the same thing like last night, trying to crash the net, trying to put guys in front of me so I can't see. So I need to do a better job of that too. Q. Just curious if a 6-0 loss can be positive in a certain way whereas opposed to a 2-1 overtime loss that maybe hides certain things? 6-0 you look at the tape and maybe there are a bunch of things you can't hide and say okay, next game we have a laundry list of things to improve on? BRIAN GIONTA: I mean, I don't know. A loss is a loss at this point in the year. They all mean the same things. But you always look back and try to figure out what went wrong, and obviously, being the first game in the series you know you have to look at things a little more deeply. But I don't think we're that far off. Like I said, it was a tough way to start. But I think it was mostly on ourselves. It wasn't something that they were doing special. Something that we can't react to. It was a matter of us being prepared to play and us executing what we wanted to do. None of that happened last night. There's kind of that perfect storm of things that went wrong for us. I have confidence that we'll rebound no problem and be able to come back and with a much better effort tomorrow night. Q. Just the fact that you guys have been able to do that so far in the Playoffs rebounding has been something you guys have done give you confidence? DOMINIC MOORE: I think whether you win or lose you want to take something from the game that you can improve on in the next game, and I think that's been our focus as a team throughout these Playoffs. So maybe maintain that even keel is something that is important. Q. What challenges does that Philadelphia power play pose for you and like that Pittsburgh series, you guys gave up some power-play goals in those first games and made some adjustments stacking up against Philly, how do you feel you can do that? DOMINIC MOORE: I think we need to make a few adjustments certainly on the breakout. It seemed like teams always play a little bit differently as far as what their focus is. Their guys on the half wall got some clean shots, had a little bit more room than maybe we would have liked. So we'll make those adjustments, hopefully, and see how it goes. Q. From the fan point of view it was a tough one, 0-6, you guys are out. So they're worried today. What do you say to the fans? Don't panic? What do you tell the fans? BRIAN GIONTA: Well, we're the ones that -- we want to win more than they do, I guess. We're not happy with the start we had. But ultimately that's what the Playoffs are. You have a game, you have a day to regroup and correct things that need correcting or get prepared for the next game. Momentum shifts so much throughout the course of the game, throughout the course of the series that, you know, it's the first game. There's a lot more to this series left. Q. They came in after playing a series and you guys had a couple days off. Does that make a difference either way? DOMINIC MOORE: I think it could go either way. Sometimes it's rest, sometimes it's rust. I think both teams are playing with a lot of confidence getting to where they were, where they are. I guess you kind of analyze it after the fact, but you never know how it plays out. Q. It's rather uncharacteristic that you and Cammy are limited to one shot during a game. Is there something that Philadelphia defensemen did particularly well to keep you outside and unable to shoot? BRIAN GIONTA: No, I think it's just a reflection of our overall game last night. Things just weren't connecting all the way around. You know, obviously we had a few opportunities where we missed the net as well. As far as getting them on net, we need to do a better job of creating for sure. A lot of it is coming up together with more support through the neutral zone and being able to enter their zone with a little more support. When you don't do that, you're not able to get on the forecheck as easily. You can't get in sustained pressure in their defensive zone. So when you don't do that, your shots are going to be down for sure when you don't have that kind of sustained pressure. Q. You're certainly one of the members of this club who is I guess part of the leadership by committee as it has been this year. When you guys lose a Game 6-0, is there any occasion for this unofficial group of leaders to get together and to talk and to sort of figure out what this is and then communicate what you believe the problem was to the rest of the group in the room? BRIAN GIONTA: Yeah, I mean, I think you do that regardless of what the outcome of the game is, what the score was. You always look back and analyze it. But there's also a fine line between analyzing too much and worrying about too much instead of forgetting about it and going out and getting back to what's made you successful. We knew we got away from that last night. It's just a matter of regrouping and making sure that we don't analyze too much. Sometimes when you're thinking too much on the ice, you're not reacting. We just need to go back to basics and just continue to react and play the game like we know how to play it. Q. I was wondering if you could talk a little bit. In the game last night it seemed like you guys had a lot of trouble getting a cycle going, getting sustained pressure. When you did have a chance, it was one and out. If you could talk maybe why that was so difficult to sustain and maybe what you can do in Game 2 to make that work a little bit better? DOMINIC MOORE: I think we were a bit detached on the forecheck. We maybe could get one guy in there, and the second guy was maybe a bit late, or maybe the first guy was a bit late, and that kind of breaks down the forecheck there. We've got a lot of team speed with our forward group, and that's a strength of our team. You know, we've got to support each other and come together and hopefully we'll get some more sustained pressure. Q. Maybe a comment on the fans chanting Ole, Ole in Philadelphia. Did you hear that? How did you react to it? BRIAN GIONTA: We heard it. I don't think anyone reacted any which way. It's Playoffs, the buildings are full. We've gone through two buildings already that have been pretty electric. It's no different coming in here. The fans are known for being supportive of the Flyers, and as a competitor, you embrace that kind of thing. You have a lot more fun in a building like that where they're against you. Obviously, last night everything came together for them. It wasn't very good for us. The fans are going to be behind them. End of FastScripts |
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