NHL WESTERN CONFERENCE FINALS: AVALANCHE v RED WINGS

May 21, 2002

Scotty Bowman

COACH BOWMAN: I don't think so. It's been like that. We've scored 47 goals in the playoffs, and I think we got 27 from different situations, defense or, you know, the players that are scoring more, like Holmstrom's got five. You're always concerned how many more they can get. So far, we have been getting goals, enough goals, from other guys, until the last couple of games. Their top six have got -- the six guys that play a lot for them -- Sakic's got a goal, Hejduk's got a goal, Tanguay got two, and Forsberg and Drury got one each, and Reinprecht got a couple of big assists. We may make a few changes in our lines just to see if we can jumpstart some of the guys. I don't think they're doing anything -- it's not a matchup game or stuff like that. We're not really matching up one player against one. Usually each team has a couple of lines, and we're -- you know, last night there was seven goals, but it was there was only two well-executed goals; you know, the last one and the power play goal. All the other ones, you know, we kind of got a couple of real good bounces that you don't get a lot of. We got the bounce on the backboards to tie the game, and the Devereaux goal was a pretty good shot. It was quick; it was fast. The other goal, Maltby picked it up before Patrick could get back in. I'm not sure if he knew exactly where he was. Maltby was coming full steam. It wasn't an executed goal like their goals, it was a couple of guys, they get inside the zone and pass it around. The last goal, three or four of them touched the puck and stuff like that. The chances have been pretty even. We had good chances. Sergei made a good drop pass and couldn't get it through, and late in the game Shanahan had our best chance at four or five minutes left, it came quickly, so he shot it right away. The power play, we got some goals in the power play, but we were kind of fortunate on them. We were only one power play goal behind. I think we're 2 for 8, and they're 3 for 9 something like that.

COACH BOWMAN: I said last time, we have to shoot the puck a little bit. We missed the net a couple times. Probably on the entries we'll switch something around in the power plays to see if it will work. That's what we're talking about, getting the puck in. We're not getting it in as much as we can. It doesn't look that bad. We got 2 for 8, but the goals weren't -- you take any kind you can get, but they're not classic, power play goals. Especially Lidstrom. He took a shot and hit the backboards.

COACH BOWMAN: I don't know. We probably played a little bit more in our own end than we wanted to, especially if they gain speed and get in your end, we've got to do a better job. You know, San Jose got a -- they got a few breakaways against them. They didn't have a lot of onslaught returns. We've got to be a little more swashbuckling in our attack and bring defense into it. We're playing six defense, not four. Our defense, I think maybe we can do a better job. Sometimes when you change venues, it changes the style of the play too. Some teams play a little more open and many play a little more tighter. It's hard to tell. San Jose won a couple of games in here, and so did LA. Home ice is 56 percent right now for the league, so it's not like we're -- we're already 4 and 1. We've got a better average on the road than we do at home. These are things we're not thinking about; we're just coming into play the game.

COACH BOWMAN: He's going to skate today. We have to see how he feels after the practice. We do have an extra day before the next game on Saturday. You can't hold guys out now at this stage of the series. Every game is an important game. Also he can't play if he's not feeling up to it. Jason Williams hasn't played much. We probably would like to play him a little bit. We've got some guys that we think can play a bit more. We have been using a lot of guys a lot. Shanahan has been averaging -- like yesterday it was 23 minutes. Robitaille was 10. It's a bit of a disparity. I have to do a better job on that. Yesterday there was more power plays than penalty kill. There was about 17 minutes in the game, that's a little high. You never know how many power plays or penalty kills you're going to get. We had 7 or 8, and they had about the same. If you're not on the penalty kill, that takes a lot of time away from the guys. Robitaille and Holmstrom have been playing pretty good. Holmstrom's only averaged 10 minutes. That's a pretty good record, if you think about it. I'm not saying if he played 20 minutes he would have 10 goals, but Draper's line can stand a little more. But they're very strong defensively. We haven't had the lead a lot, as everybody knows. We came from behind three times last night. We never had the lead at all really, and in the first game it wasn't much either, so that's something we have to just adjust to. I think you know the Datsyuk-Devereaux-and-Hull line have scored a goal each game. Hull scored one and last night; Devereaux scored another. They look like they're pretty steady. We wouldn't do much with that line, I don't think.

COACH BOWMAN: What we have to do, as I said before, we have to improve our own attack. That's the best way to do it is try to -- try to put a little more pressure on them. They're playing four defensive for the most part. The other guys are playing maybe 4 or 5 minutes a game. You would maybe want to try to play a little more on the attack, you know, that's I think is the way to play these games, and, you need a lot of energy for that, and obviously you can't do it with a short bench. So I look for some of our guys to -- we're not tired, because we have had the week between games, we had the two home games; travel is not a factor. Last big trip we had was three or four weeks ago into Vancouver. There is no excuses there or things to concern yourself with.

COACH BOWMAN: From which way?

COACH BOWMAN: No, I think he's one of our stronger players. I'm not sure how it works, but they warned us after Game 1, the League warned us that they thought he put the stick on Blake when he had his breakaway. He swung it pretty hard. He didn't touch him. I don't know, if you remember, that in the second period -- it was in the first game. They were ahead 2-1. It was just before Hull's goal after Hejduk's goal. They broke out of our end, and he came back pretty quick. He got back, and Blake -- that's the one that Blake had a pretty good shot. I don't know if he felt him coming or whatever happened. He was trying to put it in the top corner and it kind of went off his stick a bit. Fischer took a swing at him and he missed him. Then Blake went behind the net and shook his right hand, but nothing happened. There was no penalty on it. He didn't get him. They told us they were going to be watching him. He got three penalties last night. One was pretty easy to call, the one on Hull. Forsberg, he was tripped up. He tried to support himself and put his hand on the stick. Kasparaitis was pretty smart. He looked like he was going to interfere. He pressured him and pulled away and got his stick on there. He got the interference call. Fischer is not rattled, I don't think. He's skating strongly. He's got a lot of endurance. I don't think he'll be shaky at all. He's really improved a lot. As far as the penalties are concerned, I think it's one of those things he got caught up in a couple of situations, and we -- you know, the penalty on Hull was not a bad penalty. We killed it pretty easily. In fact, I think we scored on it too. You can't look back and say this was the real costly play.

COACH BOWMAN: Oh, yeah, he's resting from that. He's not hurt from that. He got hurt last week in practice in kind of a freak accident. It's not going to keep him out.

COACH BOWMAN: I thought he was better last night. You get involved -- the games are tight too, there is always a one-goal spread or tie or a faceoff. He was good on faceoffs last night, but I think I can play -- I'm not sure about Igor. If Igor -- I can't play Sergei much more. He's played 23, 24 minutes both games. Maybe Datsyuk can play a bit more, and Williams; between those two. If Igor was back, obviously we could reduce his ice time considerably. Igor can play on the power play too. That's one area we have to address. We have to know if he's going to play or not. Igor is an important player on the power play. That's where we have been having trouble getting the puck in. We play Sergei on the point. And when you play the point, you don't carry the puck up as much. You get it and dish it off. We would like to get Sergei with the puck going through the neutral zone as much as we can.

Steve Yzerman? You sound like you may be concerned that you were overusing him?

COACH BOWMAN: Last night I thought we did. Last night there was a lot of circumstances. The game is tied, four or five minutes left. We want to win the game, but you're thinking about overtime when you're down to there. It's like overtime, if somebody scores late, it's kind of like an overtime goal. And we weren't hoping to end the overtime, you know, early. I think we were more looking -- I was trying to -- I mean, I said, look, let's play it as tight as you can in overtime. Sometimes you do it differently, but with no time-outs in overtime. I think if we get in a long overtime situation there is no TV time-outs and less chance for anybody to rest, so, you know, that's where our strategy was but it didn't work, because they scored the final goal.

COACH BOWMAN: Sure they're loud, but they can't play. It matters, I think, in certain situations. It obviously mattered a lot with Colorado with the seventh games playing at home. You feel when you're in that situation -- I don't know. I think the record is a little more pronounced for the home team in the seventh game as opposed to all the rest of the playoffs. There's been very few teams of late, the Devils one in '95. They had ten road wins. I don't know how many we had in our two, but we must have had quite a few. You can't -- it's not like it was when I first started. You can't just figure -- there is very few series that go straight four wins for the home team, three for the visiting. It doesn't happen very much anymore. It means there is breakthroughs. I don't know the reason. I really don't know, because the crowds are noisier now than they ever were. The crowds are whipped up with all the music, fanfare, and all the stuff that goes on. I'm sure the buildings are noisier than they were 25 years ago, but for some reason -- I don't know, teams bounce back, and they're good on the road and they get their backs against the wall and they win some games. I have no reasons for it. Everybody would like to play at home. But as I said, it's 56 percent. It's still a bit of an edge. It's 56-and-a-half percent in the playoffs, and I think that's probably what it's been for the last ten years at least.