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NHL EASTERN CONFERENCE FINALS: DEVILS v RANGERSMay 24, 2012Dainius ZubrusNEWARK, NEW JERSEY: Practice Day Q. With two chances to close this out, is there any doubt in your mind you can get it done? DAINIUS ZUBRUS: I don't think we're looking at two chances. We want to do it tomorrow. We're definitely not hoping to win. We want to win. We don't want to go back to their building. It was a tough game. They played yesterday really well, I think, and we don't want to be going back for Game 7, that's for sure. Q. Even though they lost yesterday, do you think they came out of it feeling we know how to play against these guys now? DAINIUS ZUBRUS: I don't know if that's how they feel, but I think we understand that this was probably their best game of the series. They played well. Some of it I don't think we played that well, and some of it is because of them. But at the same time we didn't hold on to the pucks, and we didn't play very good puck possession. I don't know. Some of the decisions we made with the pucks weren't great. Some of it is because of them and playing well and playing tight. But I thought ourselves, we could have played better. There is definitely room to improve for us. Q. Was there a point or do you remember a point where you guys said to yourselves, we're good enough to do this. We're good enough to get to this position, get to the Stanley Cup Final? Was it during the 16‑game winning streak, the Florida series, the Philly series? Was there any one point that you can remember? DAINIUS ZUBRUS: I cannot say one point. I cannot find you one moment where‑‑ I think even in the first series when you're down to Florida and you win Game 6 in OT and you go for Game 7, all of those games you're confident you can win. But it can go either way, really. Game 7 was overtime too. I don't know. There is not one moment that I think made us think that we're going to get to the Finals. It's not that. I think it's just overall the second half, I think when Poni came in and that third line, better than incompetent has been playing really well. When we came in with Gionta and Carter and those guys, it makes our team a lot more balanced, a lot deeper than we were maybe in the first half. I think that makes us confident. I think that makes us feel pretty strong of how we can play. Even yesterday's game, I think we need to do that, but that's another lesson for us of how we need to play. Once we sat back a little bit with the lead, we got ourselves in trouble. Q. What does it do for you guys to know in your mind they play their best game of the series and they can't win it. What does that do for you going into Game 6? DAINIUS ZUBRUS: Well, that game, they can't win it, but I think every game has been‑‑ it could have gone either way, really.  Even the first game and the third, they won, but I felt like we played the first 40 minutes in both those games pretty well. So it didn't make us feel like oh, my God, we can't win, because we won the next games. So I don't know how they feel and what they think. But I know that we need to play better. I know we need to play better. I expect them to be better than they were even yesterday. Obviously, there is no tomorrow for them, so I'm sure they're going to have their best game, and we'll have to be that much better to beat them. Q. It's been a long time since you've been in the Stanley Cup Finals. Do you think about that? DAINIUS ZUBRUS: Yeah, I think. I just remember when I was 18 years old and thinking my rookie year that here I am in the Finals. Even though we lost, you don't realize how lucky you are to be in that position. I just think that this is another opportunity for me and maybe as good as I will ever have. That's all I think about. I want to win the next game, and that's how I approach every day is just winning the next game. Of course I want to be in the Finals and have a chance to battle for a Cup. Q. If anything, what did the winning streak at the end of the season do for you guys heading into the playoffs? DAINIUS ZUBRUS: To be honest for you, it was a while back that I already forgot about the winning streak. It's not about the winning streak and what it was then. I think it was nice to kind of head into the playoffs maybe feeling some confidence. But we're talking about a month and a half later now. So we're past that point. I think we sort of need to look at yesterday's game, improve, and try to win the next game. That's about it. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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