NHL STANLEY CUP FINALS: STARS v DEVILS

June 2, 2000

Jason Arnott

Claude Lemieux

Randy McKay

CLAUDE LEMIEUX: Not really. People make a big deal of the ice surface there, but it is not going to be any worse than it is here or any other building at this time the of the year. I know they have been working at different things trying to make it better, but it is going to be the same for both clubs.

JASON ARNOTT: I think we played a simpler game on the road. When we are coming home, we have tendency to turn the pucks over in the neutral zone, make little mistakes that we don't normally make on the road. I think we played a more relaxed game in keeping it simple. I think that is basically how we play on the road.

CLAUDE LEMIEUX: That is just the way it has been. I think we play, you know, a more sound game, less turnovers, and just a real sound game on the road. Maybe home, we are nervous if we don't do well, our fans are going to leave, so -- but no, seriously I think we have been playing very well. We are just going to keep taking that same approach to Game 3 and 4 in Dallas. It is a great building to play in, very much alive. If you are not awake there, the fans will keep you awake. It is a fun place to play.

RANDY MCKAY: I think they did a good job. They played a little bit better in the neutral zone. It's a matter of what we do too. Sometimes we would keep it simple. That is what we are going to have to go out there, keep it simple, make sure we get the pucks deep. They have some people that can score if we turn it over. We've just got to be aware of that and stay focused and just play together as a team, and that way try to continue with our flow and our skate, and that is the -- (inaudible).

JASON ARNOTT: I think right off the bat we want to establish our pace. We want to go out and do the things that we want to do, and definitely try not to worry about what they are doing. I think we just got to get back to the basics, keeping the puck deep and using our speed to our advantage and fighting for that puck when we have the chance. We have to be a little more aggressive. And like we were in the first game, we were hungry for the puck, and we got away from that. But on the road hopefully we will get back to that.

JASON ARNOTT: I don't know. I still think we had opportunities to score last night. It has been fun playing against them. It is definitely a challenge out there to go out and play against two guys like that. I think we were a little off our game last night, and we can go better as a line, and especially in the turnovers I think it cost us last night. And we realize that, and it is just something we got to fix and keep going and stay positive as a whole unit.

JASON ARNOTT: I don't know. I mean, you stick anybody against us, we just have to play whoever plays against us -- whether they stick Modano against us or one of their checking lines, we are going to have to fight through it and play good defense as well, because a lot of their guys can score. And you got to be aware of all of them. For sure, when Modano is on, you have got to be more aware of turnovers in the neutral zone and defensive zone.

JASON ARNOTT: Not really, because they have been playing great defensive hockey. They have been their top line, Modano and Hull, it didn't surprise me at all. We played a little bit against them in Game 1. And like, I guess, they wanted that matchup a little more in Game 2. Game 2, they got the bounces and we didn't. But we will be better in Game 3.

CLAUDE LEMIEUX: Obviously, Colorado, when I was there, we knew each other a lot better than they know of our club. And after you play a round or play each other eight, nine, ten times in the Playoffs and regular season, you get to know each other better. You get better a matchup or that type of stuff. But I don't think -- I don't think it is that much different. I think they are a big, strong team, and with quality players in different areas and we are built the same way here so I think it is a good matchup and again, as Jason said, they got some bounces for themselves and that first goal last night off side by a few feet, that is going to happen but that is going to happen once every 50 games, maybe, and it happened for them last night. So now we got to go out and make our own breaks and get the job done.

JASON ARNOTT: We have been disciplined through this whole Playoffs and last night we got away from that a little bit getting into the scrums and whatnot and we don't need that. That is not our game. We got to hit, initiate and get away. They are trying to muck it up a bit, get us off our game and do the little things to try and slow us down and for the most part I guess it worked a little bit. We weren't as disciplined as we usually were; got into too many scrums and I think that is something that we have got to learn about and fix and just get in and initiate the next game and get away.

CLAUDE LEMIEUX: Obviously you got to be at the right place at the right time. You got to be on a team that is good enough to win. I think we are similar in some ways. We can bring different things that are needed in the Playoffs and our style of play, our all around game that we can contribute in different areas and they both have been, Keane and Carbonneau, great competitors over the years and always known for their Playoff performance and how they chip in and then shut down some of the other teams' best players and that type of stuff. I have been able to do the same thing. So one of us is going to get a fourth Cup and I just hope it is myself. I think as we talked earlier, we know what we did wrong and we are on a mission and we are going to try to accomplish that goal in Dallas and go out and play the hockey that we can play.

RANDY MCKAY: Definitely I am a little frustrated not burying the chance I had last night, but the one thing I have got to look at today, last two games I probably had five or six of some of my better scoring chances in the whole Playoffs, so, that might be coming because maybe my timing has come back or something has come back; now it is just a matter of time, I am not going to get chances like that night after night and continually be stoned. I just got to go in. I have got to work hard. I have got to do the things that gets me my scoring chances and that is working hard and hitting and making things happen eventually, you know, I might end up with just a tap-in, open net, sooner or later. But I have got to stay positive. If I start getting too frustrated right now I will get worse.