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NHL STANLEY CUP FINALS: BRUINS v BLACKHAWKSJune 16, 2013Michal HandzusNiklas HjalmarssonPatrick KaneDuncan KeithBOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS: Practice Day THE MODERATOR: Questions, please. Q. Patrick, the in‑game swings in both of the games has been pretty dramatic. What can you do to stop it when they're starting to go to swing it back? PATRICK KANE: I mean, I guess that's something we're learning as we go. Especially in a series like this with a team you haven't seen all year, don't really know much about, until you do play these games. But I guess the main thing is to always keep it simple. If you can do that, usually you can take away some of their momentum. I think right now they do have it, especially after the last overtime period where it seemed like they had a lot of chances compared to ours. Got the winning goal, too. Something we'll look forward to getting back in Game3. Q. Nik and Duncan, with all the overtime you've been playing, all the minutes you've been logging, anything in particular as players that the coaches and staff are trying to help with to keep you fresh between games? DUNCAN KEITH: I think as players we've gone through things like that before. It's just a lot about getting your rest. It's not rocket science. You just get sleep, try to eat as best you can, do all those little things so you feel good and are ready to go. Q. Duncan and Patrick, a couple of power play questions. Duncan, can you put a handle on why the power play is not going for you guys right now? DUNCAN KEITH: Well, I mean, I think you have to give them some credit. They've played good on the penalty kill. I don't know, obviously that's a point, the power play, it's an area that we're trying to get better at. We did some good things. I think we had some really good chances there, that first power play especially. I know personally I had a chance there, and the puck just bounced over. Sometimes it's just a fine line between scoring and not scoring. You know, I think the more times we can get pucks at the net and keeping it simple when things aren't going well, I think the better off we're going to be. Q. Patrick, after that second‑period power play, momentum went the other way. Could you feel that? PATRICK KANE: Yeah, I think that's one thing on the power play, if you're not going to score, you always want to at least build momentum somehow by getting chances. You see with special teams in this playoffs, you can either get a lot of momentum off a big kill or some momentum off a good power play or scoring a goal on the power play. Our penalty kill's been great all year, to the point where we've won a lot of games because of it. It's given us a lot of momentum. It would be nice to see the power play return that. Q. Niklas, even when you were dominating in the first period, the Bruins were finishing their hits, being physical. They were saying they think that has an effect later in games and series. Is that a concern? NIKLAS HJALMARSSON: Not personally. I mean, I'm used to getting hit back there quite a lot. I know how to take a hit or two. I think I talk for the most case, might not be the most physical D core in the league, but we're trying to move the puck quick. Sometimes you have to take a good hit to deliver a pass. They have some guys that are playing physical. Just try to keep your head up, not to get hit too hard. No, it's something I'm used to. I don't really think about that too much. Q. Duncan, the road team always said they're satisfied with getting the split in the first two games. What is the mentality of the team that has home‑ice advantage? DUNCAN KEITH: Well, I think the series is what it is right now. Right now all we're thinking about is one game right now, that's the game tomorrow night. We're excited about getting on that ice and getting things going for Game3. I don't think we look past it and we don't look back. You know, it's 1‑1 right now. We know it's going to be a big game next game. We want to try to have a big start. Q. Duncan, the statistic of hits gets a lot of attention these days. Some say it's a different statistic in different cities depending on who keeps track of it. What do you think of that statistic? Do you need to know how many hits there are what the game is like? DUNCAN KEITH: I don't really think a whole lot about it. I definitely think being physical is something that you need to have. But whether they get more hits, we get more hits, I don't go and look at that stat at the end of the game. I think we want to be physical, but also more than anything we want to be hard to play against. That's being hard in the puck areas, trying to win on those one‑on‑one puck battles, races for the puck. Boston's got a physical team. We've played physical teams in Los Angeles, as well. I think for us it's about being strong one‑on‑one with the puck, trying to be tough to get the puck. Q. Pat, do you feel it's harder to sustain your pressure and speed game against this team than maybe against the Kings? PATRICK KANE: You know what, I guess every game's different. We knew coming in playing against Boston, it was going to be a new challenge for us. Listen, they're in the Stanley Cup Finals for a reason. It's not like you're going to have the momentum or dominate a full three periods. Obviously you'd love that. Thought we came out and played a great first period. For whatever reason, the second and third, the first overtime, got away from us. We know momentum's huge in the playoffs because you want to keep it as long as you can. When you let the other team have it, you want to get it back as quick as possible. Like I said, that's something we'll try to do as quick as possible. Q. Keith and Handzus, of course it's hard to play on the road, at the same time I would imagine the competitors in you love that fight of being up against a crowd that's rooting 100% against you. What do you like about playing on the road? MICHAL HANDZUS: Well, it's going to be loud, we know that. It's going to be exciting. It was loud at home, it's going to be loud here. Once you go on a shift, you don't pay too much attention of it. Maybe just a little bit on the bench. It's Stanley Cup Finals. It's going to be loud buildings and it's going to be fun either way, at home or on the road. DUNCAN KEITH: Same thing. We've played a lot of games on the road in playoffs. We know this one is going to be as loud as ever. I think we're excited about that. We go into these games knowing that everybody in the building's going to be against us. We stick together. I think just try and block everything out. Hockey is the same game no matter what building we're in. The ice doesn't change. Nothing changes but the fans in the stands cheering against you. Q. Nik and Patrick, doesn't look like the overtime is ending anytime soon with these teams being evenly matched. What makes you good in overtime? NIKLAS HJALMARSSON: Well, I think we have lot of forwards with a lot of speed that doesn't really get tired too easy. When the games carry on for a long time, they can use their speed in a good way. I think, yeah, it's two pretty evenly matched teams. Probably going to be a couple more overtimes. Who knows. But I just think from our team, everyone likes to play in those situations where the next goal is going to be a decision goal. You got to love the situation you're in, embrace it. PATRICK KANE: Yeah, when it does get to overtime, depth plays a huge role, especially when you can roll four lines, give a lot of your forwards and defensemen a lot of minutes back there. When you get to overtime, it is fatiguing. You saw that maybe the pace dropped a little bit, as it reached the second and third overtime in Game1. I think depth is a huge part of that. If you can get a big goal from the third or fourth line, especially in the situation like we did, like they did in Game2, it's huge. Q. Patrick and Duncan, you were 0‑3 in Game3s. Can you pinpoint why that could be? Is it the travel? Learning things on the road? PATRICK KANE: Yeah, I knew that stat coming in. I think when you're at home the first two games, sometimes you get a little bit too comfortable at home. Then you come on the road, maybe it's like a rude awakening when you come and play on the road. We've had three series to figure that out, learn it. It was a huge Game4 against L.A. to come back and win that one. We definitely want to be better tomorrow, especially in the first game on the road. Q. Michal, a lot of teams have coveted you as a part of their team to get over the top. In this experience, what have you noticed about championship‑caliber clubs? What do they have in common that you see hockey‑wise that pervades their game? MICHAL HANDZUS: Well, I think the championship teams, usually when there is adversity, they embrace it, they have fun with it. They're just looking for the challenge. I think you need that. It's a long road to win the Stanley Cup. It's four games. You get a lot of adversity, tough moments. You have to have fun with it, look at it as a challenge. I think that's what you need to go forward. THE MODERATOR: Thank you. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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