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NHL WESTERN CONFERENCE FINALS: KINGS v BLACKHAWKSJune 3, 2013Justin WilliamsLOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA: Practice Day THE MODERATOR: Questions, please. Q. (No microphone.) JUSTIN WILLIAMS: We've been here, what, three weeks ago. Obviously it's not do or die tomorrow, but it is. So home ice has been something that we've been able to rely on and have in our back pocket if we have struggled on the road, and we have. We're going to need to use it tomorrow. Q. Why such a disparity at home as opposed to on the road? JUSTIN WILLIAMS: I don't know. Tell you the truth, I'm not sure why we went 10‑1 last year on the road. Obviously preparation is key, a lot of other factors come into it. But we're certainly not out of it. We're going to do the best we can to cut this lead in half and go from there. Our focus is one game. That's what it is when you're down two. Cut it in half, then the next day you try again if you're successful. Q. Yesterday's Scuderi talked about, as far as the offense, he noticed there weren't a lot of second chances for you guys. Have you noticed that? JUSTIN WILLIAMS: I just finished watching video of the game and there's a lot of neutral zone play. There's a lot of in and outs. There's not a lot of sustained pressure. Give them credit, they're a good checking team. They check you and try to get you frustrated. In turn, that's what we do. But they've been more successful at it than we have. Do I feel we played a better game in Game1? Yes, but that's what losers say. Q. Very rarely do you play three games in four nights in the playoffs, especially after a travel day. Do you think it will have an effect in terms of fatigue? JUSTIN WILLIAMS: No, I don't think so. Maybe in the regular season, maybe a little bit more malaise. Three and four come playoff time, you get up for every game. Your heart's pumping. You're a little bit more excited. Every play means a little bit more. I don't think fatigue will have anything to do with anything tomorrow. Q. Tyler stepped into a bigger role last night. Talk about his adaptability. JUSTIN WILLIAMS: I think Tyler is going to be a phenomenal NHL player for a long time. He's had some big games for us when he's been called upon to play. He's always been ready. That's what you need to do as a young player. When you're called upon, show up. He's done that. Gave us a little bit of life yesterday. I don't know what the lineup will be, but we're certainly going to need him to continue his play. Q. Obviously some uncertainty with the lineup. That was something you didn't have to deal with so much last year. How does that affect things, guys moving in and out? JUSTIN WILLIAMS: Last year is last year. A lot of good components that go into a Stanley Cup‑winning team. The first one is being a healthy team. But good teams find ways to win through adversity and build through that. We were able to win without Jarret Stoll for a large chunk of the San Jose series. We were able to win, got him back. We're nursing injuries just like everyone else is. If we get Mike back, whenever that may be, I don't know, we're going to need to hold the fort until then. Q. Are you a little anxious to get back on home ice because you've been so successful there this year? JUSTIN WILLIAMS: I think anytime you lose, you just want to get back out there and play again. I lose a game, I want to play another one right away. I want to redeem myself, make a difference. Certainly confidence is high for us coming back home. Been a lot of success here. Guys have played well here. We've won every which way. We're going to need to continue that against an extremely good team. Q. Do you have to prevent from that becoming a crutch? JUSTIN WILLIAMS: It's not a rite of passage you're going to win at home. We've earned it, especially against this team. Whether we get in there and grind to a 1‑0 victory or win by more than one goal, at the end of the day, it just needs to get done tomorrow. Confidence in our dressing room, we've been here before. We've been a successful team before. You look around our room, there's a lot of familiar faces. Confidence in one another is key, especially at this crucial point. Q. (No microphone.) JUSTIN WILLIAMS: It's the way they play. They can pressure. They have a 1‑2‑2‑4 forecheck that preys on turnovers and they have a lot of speedy forwards and defensemen that are able to jump the other way quickly. You saw that last night. A couple mistakes, end up in our net. You know, that is what it is. Sometimes it's not going to be that clean coming through the neutral zone. It's going to be a little sloppy, third efforts, then maybe you're going to catch them. But we did some better things yesterday and we're going to continue to get better. Q. You've been spending more time in your own zone than you'd like. What is it going to take to change that? JUSTIN WILLIAMS: I'm not here to talk about last years. All I know is we've won two series. They're going to be in our zone, we know that. But we just need to elevate our game, plain and simple. Thank you. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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