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NHL STANLEY CUP FINALS: KINGS v DEVILSMay 29, 2012IIya KovalchukNEWARK, NEW JERSEY: Practice Day THE MODERATOR: Questions for Ilya Kovalchuk. Q. I'm sure you just want to get through this day and get to Game1 tomorrow night. Talk a little bit about the experience of being here, what it means to you, especially given where your career has come over the last couple years. ILYA KOVALCHUK: It's great. You guys are doing a great job. I think the NHL is doing a great job. It's a big event. First time I ever here. It's great. We have to make sure we're ready tomorrow night. Q. You play the point in the power play in New Jersey. The LA Kings have got one of the best penalty killing units in the NHL and in the playoffs. They've scored five shorthanded goals. Are you going to continue to use the forward on the point on the power play? If they continue to use you, are you under orders to play a certain way? ILYA KOVALCHUK: Yeah, but I think we just have to take care of the way we're going to play in their zone. They're a great team. But we have to take care of the way we're going to play offensively. We got to move the puck well and we don't want to take those risky passes. They've got some great players there. We got to make sure we're doing the right thing. Q. Five shorthanded goals, only five goals against. A team that after three rounds of the playoffs are even. You have been clicking on all cylinders on the power play. You look confident. Are you going to do the same thing, play your game, or discuss it a little bit and make sure you're extra careful? ILYA KOVALCHUK: Like I said, we have to take care of our game. We played against some great PK. Rangers was really good. They was really tough. They blocked a lot of shots. But we find a way how to score. Like I said, maybe we'll take away those risky plays a little bit and we'll see. Q. How are you feeling? You made it three rounds now. You had to battle through a couple tough series. Do you feel relaxed and ready to go? ILYA KOVALCHUK: Yeah, we got couple days off, couple good days of practice. We're ready. Can't do better than that. You're in the Stanley Cup finals. It's the dream come true. We got two more weeks to battle hard and we'll see where we're going to end up. Q. You could have gone to a number of other teams. You're in the Stanley Cup finals. Everything is great. When things were tough the first year you came here, did you ever sit at home at night and wonder if you came to the right place? ILYA KOVALCHUK: No, it wasn't a doubt in my mind. First of all, my family loves it here. We have a good house, my daughter in a good school. I two sons running around, fortunate with the good weather here. New York is close, too. We're happy. Last year was tough. But we sure it's pays off. We have a great coaching staff, great players here, great group of guys, very close to each other. I think that makes a big difference. Q. We heard a lot about your forwards. Tell us about the D on your team. Not a lot of talk prior to the playoffs about how good they are, Salvador, Marek played great, Greene. What are they doing right? ILYA KOVALCHUK: Yeah, I heard you call them bunch of no names, they got upset (laughter). Like you guys said, they really stepped the game up. Sal, you know, he's got 11 points offensively. He's putting the puck in the right place, make some great decisions with it. Zid was good for us all playoffs. Fayner, Volchenkov, those guys grind it out. I don't think anybody block more shots than Volchy did. We just want to prepare as best as we can and go for it. Q. Does your game time routine change at all? ILYA KOVALCHUK: Just extra hour of sleep. THE MODERATOR: Thank you. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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