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NHL EASTERN CONFERENCE FINALS: LIGHTNING v BRUINS

May 17, 2011

Claude Julien

BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS: Game Two

LIGHTNING Â– 5
BRUINS - 6

THE MODERATOR: We're joined by Claude Julien. Questions.

Q. In a 6-5 game you don't often talk about goaltending but Timmy obviously came up with some huge saves, especially late. Talk about his performance, especially in the third period, there, holding on.
CLAUDE JULIEN: I think, to me, it reminded me a lot of that Montreal game where we had that 3-0 lead and then they got a couple of goals to get them back into the game, and in the third period, he just stood on his head and made the big saves at the right time.
And Tim did that again for us tonight. He made some big saves at the end and allowed us to win that game.

Q. Just talk about Tyler's game and the excitement he brought to the bench. A lot of players said it was exciting for them to see him catch fire on the ice.
CLAUDE JULIEN: Yes, he was extremely good tonight, no doubt about that. One of our best players out there. And he used his speed very well tonight. He challenged their Ds with it. Did a great job.
And it was nice to see him respond that way. He's competed extremely well, and you know he's been an excited individual waiting for his opportunity, and he's certainly making the best of it.

Q. Could you also just talk about, with Seguin, building off the other question, the chemistry he had with Ryder and their ability to feed off one another, it seemed like it was clear tonight.
CLAUDE JULIEN: It was. And I think you can't forget Kelly in there either. When you look back at before Bergie got injured, there was Kelly, Ryder and Peverley on that line that seemed to do extremely well. And Kelly seems to fit really well also with Ryder. But those two guys, big games. Four goals between the two of them, and a certainly big reason why we won this game tonight.
But Mike played well. And like I said, Tyler was really, really good for us with just going out there with lots of confidence. And it was nice to see. And that's the part that we expect out of Tyler moving forward and hopefully that continues.

Q. Dennis Seidenberg logged over 31 minutes for you tonight. What does he do that gives you so much trust in him?
CLAUDE JULIEN: He's a solid defenseman. When you look at the end of the game, we probably used him a lot because of the way we finished the game. We didn't do a very good job in the third period. And those first wins in the Playoffs or in every series is always the toughest, and we got that under our belt now and hopefully we get better. Just because we won the game tonight doesn't mean we're happy with it.
I thought we did a lot of good things without Bergie. Our fast-offs were much better tonight. We played with the puck a lot more. We did a great job, like I said, the first couple of periods at putting a lot of pressure on them in their own end. But then again, I don't think anybody in that dressing room is extremely happy with our game because we got sloppy at times and we turned pucks over and we weren't strong in the third period. There's no doubt we were hanging on, and thank God time was on our side. And we came up with the win.
So we need to regroup here and take the win for what it is in the Playoffs and know that we've got to get better.

Q. You just touched on how guys aren't completely happy with the game. Turned into a little bit more of an open game than maybe what you would expect from these two teams. Were you okay with things opening up a little?
CLAUDE JULIEN: Not the way it opened up to the point where there was breakaways and Tim made some big saves on those breakaways again and they stretched us out and we stretched them out. And I'm not sure about what their feeling is about that. But when the two teams start the series and they are two of the best defensive teams in the Playoffs and then you see a game like this, I don't think anybody's happy.
We want to score goals. There's no doubt there. But the way we've been giving up goals is not something that we're proud of right now and we need to be better in regards to that.

Q. It was kind of a weird play. They didn't blow it with Timmy's mask off there. What explanation did they give you, if any?
CLAUDE JULIEN: They gave me the right explanation. You're supposed to blow the whistle when the goalie's mask comes off. But if they're in the scoring position, the referee has the discretion to let it go. And they felt they were in the scoring position. And then so they didn't blow the whistle.
So for me it was understanding it, because when you look back at the replay, the helmet's off for a while, and I was hoping that they would have blown it earlier, but it was the right call.

Q. Krejci obviously had a better night in the faceoff circle. How much of that is support from his wingers, two of the more scrummy faceoffs and what a big deal it was for you guys. The other thing is going back to the sloppiness, how does the game morph from being an aggressive, emotionally packed game into that loose cannon kind of thing that gets you in trouble with all these trading breakaways and layups what do you do to fix that, maintain that front foot posture when you head down to Tampa?
CLAUDE JULIEN: Well, which question would you like me to answer first?
I think as far as the faceoffs are concerned, David was good on faceoffs on his own to start with. But we talked a lot about our guys.
That's why as a group we were better on faceoffs tonight. We needed everybody to jump in and help out on those loose pucks. I thought we did a better job than that. Our centermen for the most part were pretty good on their own.
We got better because we had some help around us. Sloppiness, I think as I mentioned, both teams seemed to fall into that trap, and there was a couple of quick goals and momentum changed and the other team opens up and gives you opportunities where when you turn the puck over, you get those opportunities and just evolves into that.
But we certainly wanted to tighten up in the third period but instead of tightening up, I thought we got a little bit sloppy and not very cautious.
We let them stretch us out and got caught with guys down low. So I don't think we responded well in the third period to how we should have responded when you have a three-goal lead.

Q. How would you describe the team's power play tonight?
CLAUDE JULIEN: Well, you know, obviously when you score a couple of goals, I thought our power play was good tonight. Our penalty kill was really good, especially early on in the game.
And I think when you look at what we've been talking about the last little while, special teams tonight were much better than we've seen in the past. So that's another positive thing for our hockey club.

Q. Could you just talk about the net front presence that you guys had tonight? Seemed like Lucic especially in the first period was concentrated on kind of moving guys around there and creating havoc?
CLAUDE JULIEN: I think that was part of our -- we talked about it openly, that we didn't do a very good job in Game 1 of getting some traffic in front of those guys. And in front of Roloson. And you know, consequently, he's a really good goaltender. And everybody knows that. He's a guy that I think everybody has respected for a long time for what he's done and how his career's evolved, and when you give him an opportunity to see the puck, he's going to stop it.
Tonight, personally, I think we did a great job in front of him. I don't think I would fault him at all for the goals more than I would say we did a great job in front of him. Certainly he's played well for them. I'm sure he's going to continue to play well for them, and we're going to have to keep challenging him if we plan on continuing to win some games here.

Q. Tampa had been undefeated in these Playoffs when they scored first up to this game. Obviously just a number. But it's a nice streak to build. How do you build on to this going into the next game going down to Tampa?
CLAUDE JULIEN: I think we've done it two, maybe three times now, with tonight where we've come back from letting the team score first. I really thought we played a great first period.
We were the better team. There was no ifs or buts about that, and they got that early goal. And I thought we kept going at them. And we tie it up on the power play. And it's another lucky goal with six seconds going off Boychuk. So I think it was important for us to make sure that we didn't get down on ourselves because of that. Sometimes it shows your character when you're able to not let those kind of things bring you down.
And I thought we showed great resilience tonight and come back in the second period and getting the lead back.

Q. Just to kind of follow up on that, the bottom line you talked about this morning about how important it was to get a win, despite the sloppy play at times what have you, the thought on getting the win and maybe the possibility of getting Patrice back along the way as you go down to Tampa.
CLAUDE JULIEN: I think when you look back at the game, certainly it wasn't the perfect game that everybody would like to see. But we won a hockey game and right now the series is tied at 1. We know we've got to get better. And the win is what you should be looking at right now.
And hopefully we get Bergie back, but in the meantime, I think our guys, especially tonight, a lot of guys that have stepped in, and Ryder scoring a couple of goals, Tyler obviously playing without a doubt his best hockey of the season.
So those are the kind of things you need in order to succeed when certain guys go down.
THE MODERATOR: Thank you.

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