NHL STANLEY CUP FINALS: HURRICANES v RED WINGS

June 6, 2002

Rod Brind'Amour

Kirk Maltby

Brendan Shanahan

Glen Wesley

Q. Do you feel that your line has to score for you in order to win?

ROD BRIND'AMOUR: Last time we didn't score and we won. It's not so much we have to score, I think it just depends on how the game is going. Obviously in a tight battle we need to chip in. You can't rely on everyone else.

ROD BRIND'AMOUR: We're never going to quit regardless of what is happening out there. That has been the earmark of our team all year. No reason for us to stop doing what we have been doing all year.

KIRK MALTBY: The trend continues, a lot of penalties here early, but we got to try and capitalize on our powerplay. And unfortunately we gave one up shorthanded. We have had some chances, but Irbe has come up big.

KIRK MALTBY: Yeah. Last game we got the second one, then we hit a post right after. I think we could have got that three goals and have a two-goal lead. We would have been okay. But they keep fighting, they keep battling back; that's to their credit. But we have just got to keep plugging away.

GLEN WESLEY: I thought we did a really good job. We had really an important kill and came up with a huge shorthanded goal that gave ourselves back even, really only time I got in trouble was turnover pucks in our end. That's the key to that period is making sure we're doing our own job in our own end.

GLEN WESLEY: They are a big key to our success, if they continue to do the job physically for us, they are going to get their opportunities, and fortunately they got on the board and hopefully that will give them some more confidence.

GLEN WESLEY: Absolutely. It's a big hole to be down 0-2, and we know there was going to be a sense of your urgency for them. We have got to come out and be better ourselves.

BRENDAN SHANAHAN: I thought we were a lot sharper and we didn't give them too much. They got a lucky break on the shorthanded goal, Brind'Amour made a great play, but other than that, we're pretty happy with the period. We think we can build on something like that, and we're looking ahead.

BRENDAN SHANAHAN: Well, I think, you know, if you thought you were coming -- a trip to the Stanley Cup Finals that it's going to be an easy trip then you were mistaken. We never thought it was going to be easy. I think the rest of the hockey world caught on that this this is a real team over on the other side. We know how good they have been playing and they played great against us the first time. We just got to get our A. Game back on and we feel that we can.

BRENDAN SHANAHAN: Well, certainly up-tempo in the previous series had helped us because of our depth. We've had to struggle in every single series. We faced adversity and battled back. We have had nothing easy. Why should we think just because we're in the Stanley Cup Final and we were picked as a favorite that it would be easy. We know this is going to be a real battle. They don't go away, as you saw the tying goal, and it's going to be a real battle.