NHL STANLEY CUP FINALS: MIGHTY DUCKS v DEVILS

June 2, 2003

Martin Brodeur

MARTY BRODEUR: I think the system that we both play, I think, makes it hard to come back on teams. Definitely we feel a lot more confident when we get the lead. And I think we saw that in the Ottawa series for the first two games we were trying to clinch, we never got the lead and then when we did in Game 7, we were a different team. It makes a big difference.

MARTY BRODEUR: Well, definitely we feel confident that it's going to take a great play. We're not going to make too many mistakes when we have the lead in the middle of the game. Weird things happen out there; you've got to be careful. The other thing is you're in a situation if you don't get the first goal, you can't dwell on it too much. You try to recover and try to get the lead.

MARTY BRODEUR: I don't know. It didn't anyway. I'm sure it did probably keep some people up trying to write stories about it. Not me.

MARTY BRODEUR: Definitely. You've got five more minutes to talk about it, and after that we'll be getting ready for Game 4.

MARTY BRODEUR: Well, it's important. I think we're in a situation that we go back to even and whatever we did in New Jersey we erase everything and start from scratch, or we get a great position. Definitely this is a huge game. We need a better effort from everybody. I don't think we played that bad. Definitely, these guys have some confidence now and they'll probably show us something out there we didn't see yet. We expect even a better game from them in Game 4.

MARTY BRODEUR: Solid. Like always. I think the effort needs to be there. I think the commitment playing within our system on the road has been good. We can't cheat out there, just play solid. Definitely, we still have another opportunity to get ahold of the series, and we can't miss it.

MARTY BRODEUR: It would concern you if you don't do well at home. The big thing is you look at the type of games we won on the road. We won some big games. You look at Game 4 against Tampa Bay, was a crucial game. You look at Game 2 in Ottawa, we won a big game over there. Game 7 in Ottawa. Definitely three out of the four wins were huge wins for us on the road. That's positive that we've got it from the road. That's the only positive we have of the road.

MARTY BRODEUR: I think systemwise, I think defensively, I think both teams are so good playing with a lead. It's like anything. Definitely, when you go through so many games and you see a 19-0 record, you've got to shake your head. Not one team was able to come back from that. That's the way it's been played. It's always going to happen once. Ottawa didn't lose any game that it scored first also, and when they scored first in Game 7 we were still able to beat them. For us, we have that attitude that we were able to do it to a great team. If it happens again tonight, we could fall back on that experience for us.

MARTY BRODEUR: It's not game time yet. I'm sure I'll feel a little more concentrated. You take your time off and really relax and get everything off your head. It's been a long ride for everybody, and you need to get your proper rest. And your mental rest is as important as your physical rest. This morning we meet you guys and after that we're having lunch and getting ourselves ready with naps and concentrating and be ready for Game 4. This is a crucial game for both clubs like it was in Game 3. We didn't come through, but we put ourselves in a situation where we had two crucial games in this building to try to get ahead in the series. We definitely don't want to miss the boat.

MARTY BRODEUR: Definitely. It's important. It's just not physical. I think everybody is in good shape. Everybody, when you play for two months every two days or so, your body is going to get hurt somehow a little bit. It's important to rest, but I think the mental rest is getting dressed and going through the same drills for 10 months now. It gets old a little bit, but sometimes it's nice to go out and go on the ice without any kind of pressure and work your magic. But when you get on the road, I think it's important mentally to get off the game a little bit, and resting is really important.

MARTY BRODEUR: Yeah, but that's not the way to go. I don't think the playoffs is both ways. I have been through teams that were really successful on the road and not that successful at home. This year it's the opposite. We have been great in our own building and having a little harder time on the road. When you get opportunities like you have right now, you need to come through. It's fun to play on the road. We really enjoy it. You've got to expect this is going to be a tough series. Everybody counted these guys out after two games, but they don't make too many mistakes, and they did in the first two games, and they paid the price. We're the one that made the mistakes in Game 3, and we paid the price. It becomes like a chess match. When you get on the road, the way that they have been playing in the faceoff circle and the way we can't match the same players we did at home, it makes it difficult.

MARTY BRODEUR: Yeah, I mean, '95 was amazing on the road. I think we started every series on the road and we won the Stanley Cup. We always felt that we were a better team on the road. I think this year Pat came in and made it a big point to be a tough team to play in our building. And we took that with a lot of pride. Every time we didn't play well at home, it was unacceptable. And now I think we did that. But we've got to start playing a little bit better on the road. The games we've won on the road were big games. They're not just only the Game 3s or whatever. We've won some big games on the road and that's something we will fall back on and be happy about.

MARTY BRODEUR: It's not head size, that's for sure. I don't know. It was funny. First of all, he thanked me for me dropping the stick for him to get a minus. The second is he said, "I never even got a sniff in overtime, but I still got the minus." He was minus 3. That's just the way it goes sometimes.

MARTY BRODEUR: I mean, like I said, it's kind of hard to say they didn't get too many shots, first of all. And the goals they got scored, like I'm the one who shot myself through my legs. One was just a wraparound. They never looked at where they're shooting. You know when it will be clean. It was one-on-one and he surprised me with a great shot in a good spot. They were more willing to take a lot of tip shots on me. A few times they hit the side of the net or the post. They were trying to do that a little more. I think that's going to the net more than the first game. That's us being more in our zone. They were able to create more offensively just because we didn't play as well in our own zone, clearing the puck, making it a difficult time for them.