NHL EASTERN CONFERENCE FINALS: PENGUINS v DEVILS

May 16, 2001

Martin Brodeur

Scott Niedermayer

MARTIN BRODEUR: I'm sure it is a little harder. It's never like usually you -- I think it's bad sequence, bad shifts and next thing you know, it becomes really dangerous. You go out and it's okay when the puck decides to hit you, but when it has gone by you, sometimes it hurts the team a lot. It's just a matter of, you know, for us, to be consistent a little more. And, you know, it's nice to dominate, there's no doubt. Like in the first period, it was really nice, but sometimes I think we just get overwhelmed by being so good, and next thing you know, we are just trying things out there we are becoming a team that we are not.

MARTIN BRODEUR: No, it's just a matter of making mistakes when it's time. I know last night, they were pretty good goals. If I only get one or two of these bounce, I make a save and it is a different game. It didn't happen for me, and it put the team in trouble. It's part of when we are missing all of these goals. In the third period, we had a lot of great chances, so we could put the puck in the net to get ourselves to striking distance. That's just -- everybody has got to do their share, and when somebody is lacking, it's a team that you need everybody to be successful.

MARTIN BRODEUR: I feel pretty good when I go out and play against those guys. It is a given they will score a goal. It is just the nature. These guys are really good. They have that confidence against us that they know they are going to score some goals, and knowing how we play and stuff. But when we go out and we are really aware of what we are doing out there; they don't get much. I think it is a matter of doing this and I think it makes my job a lot easier. When we don't, it's like anything; you would love to be able to help out more than I did in Game 2.

MARTIN BRODEUR: Pretty well. He made these two great plays and that made a difference. That's what Mario is. Sometimes you don't see much, and next thing you know he's got all of these points and these goals. He is a great player, and if we thought we were going to shut him down the whole series, it's impossible. Nobody did it so far, so I don't think we are going to go out and do it. But I but just got to prevent things, and one was a turnover. The other one was -- well both of them were turnovers in different zones, but he made great plays to contribute to the goals.

MARTIN BRODEUR: It's fine. It's 1-1 Conference Finals. That's where I was last year, wasn't I?

MARTIN BRODEUR: A little bit, but it goes with the territory. If I didn't expect to do that job, I would have been probably a forward, you know. It's a fun thing to do. It could be a zero, and it's a pressure that you've got to be able to handle, and it's something that I'm not afraid of. You know, I know what I can do.

MARTIN BRODEUR: Well one, game -- I think it was one period and that was it, you know. For me, once again, I really just want to make sure that my teammates feel, you know, really confident when they see me between the pipes, you know and that's it. Whatever people make of what I do out there, if I make a difference or I don't make a difference, I feel in the long run that I will make a difference. It is just a matter of going out there and playing the games. Games are played differently every night. You contribute in different ways. Whatever people talk about, at least they are talking about it. You know, it could have been worse, you could not be talking about me right now.

SCOTT NEIDERMAYER: Yeah.

SCOTT NEIDERMAYER: No. I felt perfectly fine. Had a good night's rest and feel good right now. So hopefully it will just get better for the next game.

SCOTT NEIDERMAYER: To not skate? Our trainer, Billy, just talked it over and felt it wouldn't hurt right now.

SCOTT NEIDERMAYER: No.