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NHL STANLEY CUP FINALS: FLYERS v BLACKHAWKS

June 2, 2010

Claude Giroux

PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA: Game Three

Blackhawks Â– 3
Flyers - 4

JAMEY HORAN: We'll take questions.

Q. Claude, take us through your goal there as you saw?
CLAUDE GIROUX: I think I won the face-off and Kimmo passed me in the middle and passed to Briere on the side, and Matt Carle joined the rush. He's a great player. He can see the ice pretty well. I was trying to get a stick on it and it trickled in.

Q. Could you just talk about the range of emotions? You guys had that review and you didn't get the goal. To come back just a few seconds later and get that?
CLAUDE GIROUX: Anytime you think you score an overtime winner, it was huge for us. It wasn't in, actually. So we were a little disappointed.
But we stayed in there, and it was a big game for us. We really needed that win. I think it was a team effort tonight.

Q. Claude, Peter was just up here talking about how he had a talk with you about relaxing, taking it easy going into this game. Did you feel a little more comfortable? A little more relaxed into this game? Is that how you kind of approached it, and is that part of the reason why you had a big night?
CLAUDE GIROUX: In Chicago I don't think we played good. We didn't play even close to what we should have been playing. I think tonight, third period, that was our game. Just skate. We had a lot of chances. I think we plugged out 60 minutes. We were going to give ourselves a chance to win. I think that's what we did.

Q. How about you personally?
CLAUDE GIROUX: Our line didn't play very well in Chicago. Actually me and Ash and Carcillo, we talked together and we wanted to have a big game for our team. Anytime you're not producing or playing well, you are just going to keep it simple and go back just working hard. I think we did that, and we tried to win as many battles as we could.

Q. Claude, Peter Laviolette has been pretty passionate about his belief in this team. Do you feel like this team has really taken on his personality? And in what ways?
CLAUDE GIROUX: What do you mean by that?

Q. What I mean is, do you feel like you feed off of the way he approaches the game? I know he's big on motivational speeches. Do you sense that in the Final?
CLAUDE GIROUX: Yeah, anytime we have a bad game, he finds a way to get us going again. Like you said, he always finds a way to motivate us and try to find a way to win. I think our whole team just we just believe in our inner self. And maybe that wasn't the case in the first two games. Tonight we showed we played with a little more confidence. I think we got to keep that mindset.

Q. Can you talk a little about the resiliency of the players in the room. You guyed faced so much adversity in this postseason, even in this Series.
CLAUDE GIROUX: Anytime we get adversity we find a way to get it done. I don't know, we just got a lot of character in the room. Guys really want to win.
So I think when the guys are on the same page, it's a lot more fun. We're having fun. When you have fun, you play good, so...

Q. Claude, it's a few years ago now, but did you and Clarke ever talk about when he forgot your name at the draft table?
CLAUDE GIROUX: No, we didn't. I don't know if you remember that, if he even remembers that, but I didn't really care. I thought it was pretty funny.

Q. Claude, as a team, is there any more room to elevate your game going into the next game? Or are you guys playing pretty close to the ceiling?
CLAUDE GIROUX: We're playing well right now. I think we're not consistent. I think we can play better the whole 60 minutes, play better defensively as a team. Obviously, tonight we played our best game in the Series. I think we have to find a way to just play the same way.

Q. Claude, you were dangerously close to being down 3-0 in the Series. What does this window for the team's confidence now?
CLAUDE GIROUX: It's huge. I don't think guys want to do a comeback again from 3-0. So it was tough losing the first two games. If we want to give us a chance to win the Series, we need to win this game tonight. The message was pretty clear before the game, and guys showed up.

Q. Claude, I know you don't play this game for individual goals and this is only one game, but what does it feel for a kid like yourself to jump in the Playoffs and score an overtime goal in the Stanley Cup Finals?
CLAUDE GIROUX: It's huge. My buddy -- I was taking a nap, and my buddy texted me. He doesn't usually text me a lot. He said I have a feeling you're going to score the overtime winner tonight. I texted back and said you're crazy. I'm going to call him now. It's obviously a big goal. It's probably my biggest goal in my career.
I'm happy I was able to do that. As quick as we can put this game behind us and be ready for game 4, it's going to be huge. There's a lot of emotion tonight. But I think it's important that we just focus and be ready for game 4.
JAMEY HORAN: Thank you, Claude.

End of FastScripts

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