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NHL EASTERN CONFERENCE FINALS: BRUINS v PENGUINSJune 5, 2013Claude JulienBOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS: Game Three Boston – 2 Q. How is Gregory Campbell doing and what did you think of his effort to stay on the ice after taking a stuff shot to the leg? COACH JULIEN: Well, we'll probably, again, know better tomorrow. When I say know better, we'll be able to give you guys an update tomorrow on his situation. For what he went through, he showed a lot of guts to stay out there and to still try and play. Obviously it was a pretty serious injury, so that's just the kind of player he is, and it doesn't surprise me, it doesn't surprise his teammates, but certainly it shows the character of that player, and that's why we appreciate having him on our team. Q. Similar goal, the winner there, to some winners you've had before in this playoff with Bergeron and Marchand. Talk about the chemistry they have. COACH JULIEN: Well, that's what happens when you've been together for three years, as a duo anyways, they've learned to play with each other extremely well, and as you probably know, obviously Jags made a big play in front of their bench to get the puck to them, but as you know, it's about driving the net, and Bergy drove hard and had a guy on him and managed to get his stick in the right place and March made a great play. He was extremely patient. He could've got rid of that puck a little bit earlier, but he waited for Bergy to get in position before he slid over. Q. Touch on the lack of space for Sidney Crosby, how you were so effective through the first three games. COACH JULIEN: I don't know if it's just from us. We've tried to play our game the best we can. I thought we played extremely well obviously in the first two. Tonight I thought in the first three periods we weren't as good as we could have been, and because of that you saw guys like Malkin excel and the Crosbys and the Neals, they got their chances tonight, and eventually a team like that is going to come out and give us that challenge. But overall when we got into overtime I thought we kind of played a little bit better and started being more the team that we had to be. In Pittsburgh we had the puck a lot on our stick and that kind of took away the opportunities for those guys, but tonight they had a lot more. Q. Bergy was just saying everyone is buying in. How much of that do you think is a continuation of what happened when they won the Cup by buying in? COACH JULIEN: It's a lot. We've all been together for quite a while, and we know what's expected and we know what's worked for us, and right now we've got guys, like I said, I thought the first three periods they were getting the better of us, but still, we stuck to our guns, and in overtime we found a way to be a better team, and that was by managing the puck a little bit better and maybe minimizing the turnovers that made us have to come back all the time. So guys, we seemed to give guys some messages between periods, some advice, some of that stuff, and our guys just seemed to respond well. They listened and they all went out there and did their job. Q. Obviously the Penguins coming into the series had a deadly power play and you've killed each of their power plays. Just talk about what's been‑‑ why it's been as successful and what areas you're impressed with the most on your penalty kills. COACH JULIEN: Well, I said that yesterday. I said just a commitment and the respect that we have for their power play, and I think our guys have done a great job, but goaltending makes your power play extremely good, as well, and Tuukka has made some key plays on the power play and allowed our PK to continue to be good. Q. Pittsburgh seemed to, tonight more than ever, use picks, get in the way of your guys, interference plays. That seemed to go away in the overtime. I was wondering what you guys did that kind of opened up the ice or was it just fatigue setting in? COACH JULIEN: No, I think we just‑‑ to me we battled a little bit better. I thought our battle, as I mentioned earlier, just wasn't quite up to par tonight, and our‑‑ the battle along the walls, the race to the pucks. But our puck management, we played a good north‑south type of game in the first two games, and tonight we were turning pucks over just outside our blue line or in the neutral zone. When you have to stop and come back to your own end all the time, it takes away a lot of the energy and also the momentum from your team. I thought in overtime we started playing a little bit more where we come out of our own end and we played a little bit more in theirs and managed the puck there a little bit better, so I thought that was the big difference. Q. With Tuukka's mentality post game you wouldn't know whether you guys won or lost. What do you think of the way he's continuing to play? COACH JULIEN: Well, what can you say? He's, like I said‑‑ if you keep talking about those first three periods they were probably the better team, there's no doubt we were still in it because of him. He's extremely calm. I think he used a lot of that energy this morning in practice so it calmed him down for tonight, which was probably a good thing. Q. I know you touched on it earlier, but talk about the buy‑in that a 41‑year‑old superstar has to grind along the boards in double‑overtime to produce the winning play. COACH JULIEN: Well, you know, I think with Jags right now he seems to be having a lot of fun with our group. I think he's seen what is being accomplished from doing that. Players want to be part of it, and although he's played a certain way his whole career, he's willing to do what it takes here, too, to help us be successful, and that's two games in a row now where I've seen him finish a good check, turn the puck over and result in a goal. Certainly it doesn't go unnoticed, but when you're a 41‑year‑old that's never been known for your real physical play but more for the type of game that those Hall of Famers and superstar players play, and right now he's just doing whatever is asked of him, and that's a credit to Jags. Q. When you lost Gregory, it kind of took Thorny out of the rotation, too, so tonight was basically 10 forwards. How difficult was it to‑‑ COACH JULIEN: It was tough. I mean, they shortened their bench, as well. Obviously both teams wanted to win. We would have probably shortened our bench eventually as the game went on, but unfortunately had to do that a little earlier than we wanted to. You get to the point where a player has been sitting for a while, it's pretty tough to put him back in. I've said that before. He understands that. He's been with us for long enough and understands his role in the game, and he's part of our game and was more than happy to see us win this game tonight. You know, it's just one of those things where it's tough for our players to have to play almost two full overtime periods with a short bench, but like I said, we found a way, and got to give the guys credit for that. Q. What do you think it says about your team to take pretty much the best of what Pittsburgh has given in the series so far and maybe not play your best game and still be able to come away with a big victory tonight? What do you think about the mindset of this team? COACH JULIEN: Well, I think the character is always the word you want to use, a lot of character in that room. But like I said, we didn't play a bad game, but we weren't at the top of our game, and Tuukka was good for us, but character is because you get into overtime, and all of a sudden you become a better team. So the further the game went, the better we seemed to get, the more chances we seemed to get. I thought in that first OT we spent a lot of time in the O‑zone. It says a lot about our team, because I know our guys right now are exhausted from playing with a short bench and playing almost five periods here. Q. Tuukka talked after the game about the physical and mental challenge, but for a coach, too, it's got to be a challenge for you on the bench. Talk about your style in a game like tonight. COACH JULIEN: Well, you've got to stay sharp. Like I said, with a shortened bench and trying to see what they're coming up with and making sure you've got the right guys out on the ice. But five periods is mentally exhausting for us, obviously not so much physically but mentally at the end of the night. As much as this was a great game, I'm looking forward to going to bed. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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