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NHL EASTERN CONFERENCE FINALS: LIGHTNING v BRUINS

May 17, 2011

Tim Thomas

BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS: Game Two

LIGHTNING Â– 5
BRUINS - 6

THE MODERATOR: We're joined by Tim Thomas. Questions?

Q. First two goals in the game, Tampa's first two goals, the timing of them and just how they happened can often be dispiriting, but you guys responded not once but twice. What do you think that says about the team's character, and what were your feelings when they happened?
TIM THOMAS: Well, I mean, each time you get some odd goals like that, you know it can put you on your heels, and it can -- the human tendency is to tell yourself: Oh, it's not going to be our night.
And the team didn't do that. And they fought back. They fought back after the first goal. We had really a pretty good first period and then we had another second goal there at the end of the first period which could deflate you. But being in the locker room in between periods, we were never deflated. We just were determined to stick with it in the second period there. Tyler Seguin and Michael Ryder stepped up and got big goals for us.
I've said it before, we know we've had character. We're battle-tested by now. But having said, that you have to keep stepping up every time you need to, and we found a way to do that today.

Q. If you could, talk about some of the big saves you made in the third period, and if it's the case there, as a goaltender, Stanley Cup playoff game, kind of putting the score aside and knowing that you need to make one or two or three big saves to win the game.
TIM THOMAS: I think experience helps in those situations. Just this year we're in a few games, I think we beat Philly 7-5 or something like that, and we had a similar game against Montreal.
And experience helps you to learn that each time a goal goes in, you just gotta put it behind you and you gotta start focusing on stopping the next one. If you start thinking about the goals that just went in, it's going to lead to other goals. And it's not going to be helpful.
So I knew -- with our big second period there, I knew we had a big lead going into the third period, and the plan wasn't to let them get close at all. But when it gets 6-4, 6-5, when you're a younger goaltender, it might be hard for you to keep your focus.
But I've been through enough situations similar to that. I was just trying to keep my focus and when it got 6-5 to do anything possible I could to keep it from getting 6-6.

Q. In the last minute game of like this, last couple of minutes, pulled the goalie, just getting hit from all sides. How tough is it not to even be able to look at a clock, those last few minutes time-wise?
TIM THOMAS: I personally don't like to look at the clock. I can hear it when they call out it's the last minute of the game, and that's the only reference point that I have, because it shouldn't matter whether there's 30 seconds or three seconds, you gotta have the same type of focus and the same -- try just as hard to stop the puck. So I really wasn't focusing too much on that.
Now, having said that, when Krejci took the ice down -- Krejci took the puck down the ice with 15 seconds left, I looked up at the clock then. And I was hoping he knew that there was 15 seconds left so he could eat up as much time as possible. And depending on the situation, if there's 40 seconds left there, he's probably gotta try to go for the goal, but when there's 15 seconds, you can kill some time in the corner, and that's what he did.
And in the last couple of minutes there, I was just trying to make sure that I could find any way I could to see the puck. The fifth goal there, I didn't see the shot coming from the point, the one that went off both posts. And I was just battling as hard as I could to see the puck, because actually the third, fourth and fifth goal were screens or partial screens.
And when that happens as a goalie, it's your job to find a way to see the puck. So I was trying to work harder to find that puck.

Q. Can you go through the save that you made on Malone, the breakaway in the second period?
TIM THOMAS: Well, he got the pass up the middle. I mean, basically I just saw a guy coming in on the breakaway with the puck. I was determined at that point to not let them score.
And when I -- I did have time to realize that it was Malone, and he did that -- he wound up for like kind of a fake slap shot, but I had to be on my toes to be ready in case he let that slap shot go because I saw him beat Fleury with it. But he didn't take it. And then when he got in on me, I was just trying to stay with him and get any piece of body I could on the puck, basically.

Q. And you make that save. Did you get a good look at Tyler going the other way on the rush right after?
TIM THOMAS: Yeah. I mean, well, yeah. I saw Tyler going. And he went in with a lot of speed. And I knew that was a good thing. I didn't know whether he was going to try to do the same exact thing that he did last time that scored, and probably neither did Dwayne Roloson, and that's probably part of why his move worked and he did such a good job with it.
But he went in there with lots of speed and his hands were quick enough to keep up with his feet. It was a huge goal for us.

Q. I see the nick above your left eye. Did that come from the Dominic Moore play in front of the net? And when your mask came off, could you go over the play?
TIM THOMAS: I didn't know Dominic Moore was the guy in front of the net or whatever. I think what made my mask come off was Adam McQuaid was trying to get across the crease and we just kind of ran into each other.
I'm actually -- I haven't seen the replay. I've been told that the puck went off my head. But I didn't even realize it. At that point I was trying to find it, I think.

Q. You got a lot of nice things going your way right now. You had a good game tonight. We saw the birth of the Tyler show tonight. You evened up the series, and there's a chance you may get Patrice Bergeron back. Are you guys feeling real good about going to Tampa and taking control of this series?
TIM THOMAS: Again, I haven't really looked that far forward yet. I'm glad we found a way to win tonight. In the Playoffs it doesn't matter what the final score is as far as -- as long as you're the one that has the higher number. So I'm not really worried about the fact that they were able to score five goals, because we found a way to score six, and it was a really good thing.
We found a way to win today and we deserve -- the guys on the team deserve credit for that. They did an excellent job. But we still haven't played as well as we can.
But like you just mentioned, that's a good thing with Tyler stepping up and playing well and possibly getting Patrice back.
The rest of us can step up our games and then I'll feel good about it going forward.
I'm happy we won, but we've still got a lot of work ahead of us, and we have to put the type of game that we want to play. We haven't done that yet in this series.

Q. As a goalie, if you see a player kind of get in a zone like Tyler was in tonight, making the moves or whatever, what's it like for you when you're watching that sort of unravel as a goalie, when you have to oppose him, I should say, if you've seen another player like that catch fire?
TIM THOMAS: Well, I see Tyler in practice. And he's got some speed and he's got some good -- some really good moves. He gets those opportunities. He knows how to score. It's hard to teach that. So I wasn't surprised that he buried the puck when he got the opportunities.
Those were big goals for us tonight. I don't really know what to say except for I'm very happy for him. I'm happy for the whole team because he was able to do it. But I haven't put -- I was too focused on doing my job, basically, to think about the aspect that you were just talking about. Maybe if you ask me tomorrow. Probably not, though. After the Playoffs.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

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