NHL STANLEY CUP FINALS: SABRES v STARS

June 13, 1999

Stu Barnes

Curtis Brown

Michael Peca

Rob Ray

Miroslav Satan

Rhett Warrener

MICHAEL PECA: I think we have responded pretty well the whole Playoffs, whether it was a bad period or a game that we weren't happy with and one thing we have been able to do is use days off well; learn some things on tape and come back focused and ready to go so I don't think you can sugar coat last night. We knew we were outplayed and just looking to come out on Tuesday and come back hard.

MICHAEL PECA: The team is still very positive. It is a race to four games. It was disappointing to lose last night. We could have put ourselves in a good spot. We didn't have our greatest game. We lost 2-1. Guys are still positive. Obviously at this point of the season this is the greatest adversity we faced, but this team seems to thrive on that.

MIROSLAV SATAN: Yes, I do feel the pressure. I tried to respond the best way I can but right now they backchecking hard. There is not too much room, not only me, but the whole team has problems to create anything in their zone. I think that is the key why we have only 12 shots last night and why we are not creating a lot.

CURTIS BROWN: No question that is a great line for them so far. Definitely that was the difference last night. I think it is important -- doesn't matter who you play against, they have a great team and the big thing is to take away their time and space. I think at times we got a little too excited to try to make things happen in our own end too quick. If we are just a little more patient and do our own job I think that is going to pay off down the stretch.

RHETT WARRENER: I disagree with what Curtis said, I think if you can limit their time with the puck and make sure that it is not spent in our end, that is the key to shutting them down I think that they got in and forechecked us pretty good and work it down low. We got to limit their time down low with the puck and try and keep it out of our end.

MICHAEL PECA: I think our inability to create in the last two games is something that Lindy feels that if we shake things up maybe we will get guys going; put them in different situations and get them going a little bit. Hopefully we will have a positive result to it and we will see what happens. Our team guys love playing with each other; doesn't matter who we are with even though a lot of guys spend a lot of time with each other, hopefully something like that will work for us.

RHETT WARRENER: I am not sure of the status on Brett, so if he is out I guess that is a bonus for us. As far as Mike goes, you know he is a top-notch player in the League; any time he is on the ice you know he skates so well and handles the puck, you know he is going to create something. He is really flying through the neutral zone. He is coming into our end, good speed as defenseman and as a team he is tough to stop in that aspect. I think the same with Joe Nieuwendyk, if we can give him less room and less time with the puck it is going to be a lot better for us.

ROB RAY: Obviously if you had been here through the days when the Bills reached the Superbowl, I think there was a lot of excitement built up to it and then when they weren't successful that it was like a major let-down for the city. So I think for some of us that have been here for a while and experienced that, you know you are not only feeling the pressure of having to win for yourself within the dressing room, but everybody else when you are walking down the street because they are making such a big thing out of it and there is a lot of added pressure, I think from it, because this city has never been able to win a major championship so each time you get this chance and gets this close that you know you start thinking about it and they start bringing it up and that added pressure is there. It is something you just can't avoid because they don't allow you to avoid it.

MIROSLAV SATAN: I think they backchecking all the guys and there is less room in the offensive zone. They also holding up our wingers and they cannot go and do what they did other teams. Somehow to get the puck and last night we haven't been able to do that and they have been able to come out with the puck right away and kind of limit -- they limited our forecheck.

MIROSLAV SATAN: I think I am going to get some breaks. I don't think anybody is down. We are going to try to play best game we played ever in regular season or Playoffs; that is going to be on Tuesday.

MICHAEL PECA: Not even with the way he is playing with us, but even watching him throughout the Playoffs on our off days, he is a guy that still has a tremendous amount of energy and applies it each and every shift. When people speak of experience and stuff like that, I think the younger guys are always learning from stuff like that when you get a guy that is 39 that is still working his tail off and doing all the little things. He has not only been a great shot-blocker, he has done a great job for them killing big penalties at key situations.

MICHAEL PECA: Well, I think it is a combination of trying to get shots off a little quicker; making some better decisions, whether it is getting our head up and shooting it by blockers, you know, whether it is going to be a little wide and get guys in spots where we can get tip-ins or just fake shots, but I think overall getting the shot off a little quicker maybe not winding up for the big slap shot and just snapping them through and getting those going to the net.

CURTIS BROWN: I think one thing we do need to do better as a forward, we got to come back and be available a lot more for our defensemen - a lot throughout the game we are not getting back quick enough and our "D" have had a lot of times to make plays but we are not getting over the red line to give them an outlet. When you do that, by the time you get back, their forecheck is in place and neutral zone trap is in place; then it gets clogged up. I think we have to do a better job in hustling back and using the open ice while it is available.

CURTIS BROWN: I think that it is important that everyone understands there is rules in the game too and if you expect a team to go out and blatantly run a goaltender every time he goes out of the net, that is not just going to happen. I don't think that is playing smart. I think it is important that we get traffic in front of him; when we get shots towards the net try to distract him because if you know any goaltender in this League, if they see the puck, they are going to stop it. That is just the way it is. They are that good. I think it is important we just get some traffic in there and make it tough on them; that way whether it is through a screen or trying to get some tips.

CURTIS BROWN: I don't know if it's frustration factor. Definitely they do block shots well and I think all you can really do with that is, you know, get your head up and be a little more patient rather than just every opportunity bearing your head and taking a big slap shot or these types of things. I think we can maybe learn from them what they do so well is just get the puck through; sometimes it is a risk shot that looks pretty harmful, but by the time it gets to the net, they have traffic there and the rebounds pop up and I have seen them score a few goals that way.

CURTIS BROWN: I don't know. I think it doesn't matter who you face. They have a strong lineup and there is no question about that. They had most points this year in the regular season and it is not a fluke that they are playing well now. It is not like we are up against a weak team by any means. So I don't know if it matters really who you play against. I think it is just a matter of going out there and working hard and getting the job done and that is what we are trying to do. They just play a real good, solid defensive game through the neutral zone and we are going to have to fight through that.

MIROSLAV SATAN: I don't know what has been different. Seems like we didn't get too many shots on the net from the blue line. They blocked so many and few of them missed the net and there it wasn't too much for us during the powerplay. I think we could have used 5-on-3 last night and we were not able to do that. I think that costs us a little bit. I think we could have really used the 5-on-3.

STU BARNES: No, I don't think it caught us by surprise I think we went out and tried to play the same no matter what if Modano was in the lineup or not. I think the most important thing for us was just to play our best hockey and that is not what we came up with last night.

MICHAEL PECA: I think we have touched on a lot of things here today, you know, making better plays to the neutral zone, being available for our defense so we can come up ice and try to get our forecheck going. I think at times it is frustrating playing against their size system where we discourage and start going away from what we want to do. So we just got to convince ourselves to stick to it and things will happen. I don't think our team is discouraged although they have played a couple of tight defensive games, we are still a confident bunch and feel we can still score a lot of goals.

MICHAEL PECA: He had a wrist protector on, so it didn't matter if we whacked at it or not. But, yeah, he showed a lot. He showed what that team is all about. They are a group of guys that go out and work hard, despite any sort of drawbacks as there might be, whether it is an injury or a guy that is out of lineup for good, so, they have a lot of that experience and savvy and it shows with what Mike coming back and playing yesterday.

MICHAEL PECA: A lot was our first experience with the atmosphere of a home Stanley Cup Final game and so I am sure Game 4 at home, we are going to be a little more relaxed coming out little more patient with what we want to do.