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NHL EASTERN CONFERENCE FINALS: BRUINS v PENGUINSMay 31, 2013Pascal DupuisChris KunitzPITTSBURGH, PENNSYLVANIA: Practice Day Q. Guys in 2009, you had series where both Malkin and Crosby sort of left their I am appropriate on them. They seemed to reach a level that maybe no other players can get to. Have you seen that level from them in this post‑season, and if not, what do you think that means going forward? CHRIS KUNITZ: I think there's been spurts of dominance by each guy. Gino (ph) in 2009 had a whole different level, executed through that Carolina series.  They each had some great goals they have scored so far but I think right now it's been a lot of them generating the energy for our team and us following up and having good team games. Q. How big has this week of rest been for you personally to get ready for this next round? CHRIS KUNITZ: No, obviously it's been long for everybody but throughout the playoffs, there's bumps and bruises and you've got to go and manage your time. It's worked out in a way that personally it's been good for me but I think we are just ready to get started. Can't get tomorrow here fast enough. Q. I'm wondering, is Sidney Crosby a different player or different person than he was when you guys won the Cup last time? PASCAL DUPUIS: Well, different player. It's hard to say. He's still the dominant Sidney Crosby he was in '09, yes. A little longer beard. No, he's still the same guy, same player that drives to win hockey games and is going to do everything, the little details, the defensive side of the puck; that he's definitely putting a lot of work in it, winning face‑offs. Every play in his own end matters and I think that's a big plus for our team. Q. When you guys were at south point during those four times a week sessions during the long out, how much did you guys actually talk about the playoffs and a run like this, as opposed to just, you know, trying to get through that stretch? CHRIS KUNITZ: Yeah, I don't think we talked about it at all. We were kind of worried about just playing hockey and getting to past the point of just enjoying being there and trying to get your work in but also seeing how the progress and the meetings and things were going. I think we were just worried about getting the season started. Q. Would you expect Seidenberg and Chara to stay together, or do you think they might get split up to go against more than one of your guys lines? PASCAL DUPUIS: See, I have myself no idea what they are going to do. I guess we'll see tomorrow night. I think it's a good thing for us to have good players and if they split them up; well, if they do, if not; the line that's going to get the matchup or not going to get it, I'm still going to have to play the game and produce. CHRIS KUNITZ: Yeah, can't control who they put on the ice every. When your team has depth it's going to be confusing or other teams. When you have that last change, it changes some things, too. So home ice is going to be a big difference for teams that want to get the matchups. Q. For the both of yous again, identify the one thing that struck you the most about Thomas during his run during these past seven games that he's played, the one thing that's stood out to each of you about that. CHRIS KUNITZ: Just the timely saves, when we have needed a big stop, he's been there. He's kept us in games. He's done everything we could ask at the key moments. He's made saves and covered the puck and showed composure for our team and that's something we feed off of. PASCAL DUPUIS: Yeah, pretty much was all said by Kuni: The leadership, his confidence, his key times in the game like Kuni said, making the big saves, I think it's been great for us. Q. I'm sure by now you've watched some video of Boston and their rookie defenseman, Torey Krug. We got to watch up close in Boston, some of the tougher Rangers guys, guys that play your style of hockey were not able to contain him, he was kind of elusive. What are the challenges are trying to slow down a guy like that with his forecheck and his size and speed? PASCAL DUPUIS: If you make it easy on him‑‑ we watched some video and hockey games; he's a talented hockey player with a big shot. So for us, it's manning the puck, putting pucks behind him, making it hard on him, as well as all of the other guys on the other team, that's the way we play in the playoffs and what makes us successful. So I don't see us playing him differently than anybody else. Q. When you won the Cup in '09, you were not necessarily the prohibitive favorite going in. There are expectations but every year there have been built up expectations because you won in '09, oh, this is the time they have to get back and win it. How are you going to put that aside and not look at the bigger picture and look at, oh, you've got to win a Cup and worry about each series and each game; or do you keep that carrot in the back of your mind about winning a Cup in? PASCAL DUPUIS: Well the main goal has always been to win the Stanley Cup every year: '08, '09, 2010, '11, '12, '13, it's always been to win the Cup. At the same time, we went through it this year with the No.4, it's win four games and win focused and win the next four. So right now all we have to do is win Game 1, be focused for Game 1, and try to win four. Q. For both of you, again, kind of follows the line going back to '09, and even your first Cup run. Usually the first two series, in talking to players, it's probably more on the physical side. Not to say that this one won't be. But do you guys, from your experience, feel that if there's a change going forward now in the third series and maybe if you did get through that on to the Stanley Cup, would the series make up and play different at all from what you've had in the first two? CHRIS KUNITZ: Yeah, you can say that the first ones are physical because there's so many guys getting that experience of playing and having that energy and the farther you go, the better teams tend to move on because they are better structured and they have played a better team game. You're not just relying on certain guys running around and creating energy. You have guys going out and making plays and sticking to the game plan. So I think it's going to be the team that's sticking to the game plan and getting to the areas on the ice that we can be successful and creating that zone time to make us the better team throughout the series. But it's still going to be physical. It's Boston, they play a style and we play a style and it's speed and a physical part to both teams. It's going to be tough to get to certain areas on the ice and it's going to be lots of battling. Q. We talk so much about the matchups that they have, not only Chara, but Krejci and Bergeron as well and you guys with Sid are going to get those matchups. How much do you embrace that challenge going into the series? PASCAL DUPUIS: When you want to be the best, you want to win, when you play the best players on the other team, it makes for a big challenge. They do have great players. They have guys like you just mentioned, Bergeron, Krejci, Chara, Seidenberg, guys that play a solid two‑way game. As a team, we play that way, too, here in Pittsburgh. That's what playoffs are for, to face the best. Q. I assume you watched the other playoff series, and a lot of them are low‑scoring, tight games. Even your games, some have been tight for a while and you've been able to make through and score a lot of goals. Do you feel comfortable playing in those games, too, that are tight and gut‑wrenching type games? CHRIS KUNITZ: I think we do as a team. I think we feel comfortable with the way we can play our game. But the part of that is executing our game plan and if we have the puck and playing in our end and keeping them away from the net, it's going to tilt the ice in our favor. If you ever sit back and let the team come at you, it's going to feel like it's taking a lot longer for that score clock to come down so you have to make sure you're executing your game plan the whole time and capitalize on your which ass. Usually when the other team is up the other team is going to be pressing a little bit and if you can put the pucks behind them you're going to have odd‑man chances and hopefully score on those chances to limit the pressure. It's going to have a lot of momentum changes throughout a series and throughout a game that you just have to face as a team and make sure you're coming out of each zone as five‑guy units and hope to put the other team on their heels. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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