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NHL STANLEY CUP FINALS: BRUINS v CANUCKS

June 8, 2011

Alain Vigneault

BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS: Game Four

Boston Â– 4
Vancouver - 0

THE MODERATOR: Questions for Coach Vigneault.

Q. One of the things that seems to be an issue right now is getting the puck out in your transition game. Do you see that as well? How do you correct it?
COACH VIGNEAULT: Well, I thought our transition game was good in the first period. I thought we moved the puck well, spent a lot of time in their end. We made one defensive mistake there in the neutral zone where the puck ended up in the back of our net.
Other than that, I liked the way we started. Unfortunately, you know, they got a second goal and we seemed to play on our heels a little bit after that, and we did lose some of our north/south and some of our transition.
But, I mean, we lost the game and we're going to get ready for Game 5 at home in front of our fans.

Q. Given the way the last two games have gone, what is your team's confidence level like right now?
COACH VIGNEAULT: It's real good. You know, if somebody would have told me at the beginning of the year that we could play for the Stanley Cup, best two-out-of-three series with home ice advantage in front of our fans, I would have taken those odds, I would have taken that anytime to play for the big prize.
That's what we've got right now. We're going to put these last two games behind us. We play real well at home. We're going to go and feed off the energy from our fans and give it our best shot.

Q. I know they're getting chances, but the Sedins have combined for two points in four games. What can you do to get them fired up and going?
COACH VIGNEAULT: They're fired up. They're playing for the Stanley Cup. They spent a lot of time in the other team's end tonight with no results to show at the end. But it's not from lack of effort, not from lack of playing the right way.
They did a good job. You got to give that team credit. You know, they're playing a smart game. Right now they've been able to shut us down offensively here for the last two games.

Q. Would you comment on the play and the behavior of Tim Thomas.
COACH VIGNEAULT: He's one of the best goalies in the league. I mean, he's up for the Vezina. He plays his own style and he's playing it well right now. He's giving his team a real good chance to win.

Q. Kevin Bieksa was saying maybe you're giving Tim Thomas too much credit, not getting enough at him, not getting to him enough. Do you see that to be the case as well?
COACH VIGNEAULT: Well, obviously against a team that plays the way Boston does, you got to get to the inside a little bit more. All those things that we hear when a team doesn't score goals, you got to get more pucks to the net, more people to the net, da ti da ti da ti da. That's what we've got to try and do.

Q. Is it harder to do that against him because of where he plays and the fact he's all over the place?
COACH VIGNEAULT: Well, he's obviously one of the few goaltenders in the NHL that plays that way. But his numbers are great. He has also in the past, for whatever reason, given up quite a few goals on certain occasions. He hasn't done that yet.
Obviously, we're maybe responsible partly for that. We haven't done a good job of getting to the net, getting the screens. We're going to talk about that tomorrow and see if we can't fix it.

Q. Does Keith Ballard have the confidence to be out there right now? On Louis, your thoughts on his confidence?
COACH VIGNEAULT: Louis is going to be fine. He's one of the best goaltenders in the league. We've got a lot of trust and faith in him, in his ability to play well.
Obviously for Keith, not easy to be put in this situation. But that's the situation he's in.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

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