|
|||
|
|||
|
 |
|
|
NHL STADIUM SERIES: PENGUINS v BLACKHAWKSMarch 1, 2014Dan BylsmaCHICAGO, ILLINOIS: Game Day Blackhawks – 5 Q. How much of what happened in the game was a result of the conditions? There was a lot of snow on the ice and slowing down a team that relies on speed. How much of it was dictated by Chicago? DAN BYLSMA: Well, the conditions were the same for both teams, and they're a fast team too. It wouldn't have mattered if we played this game inside or outside or if there was snow or no snow. They were better and more prepared to play, whatever the conditions were. And the first half of the game was a large indication of that. They played to their advantage of being in the offensive zone, they executed better getting there, and they were that team, and we were not. Q. Fleury had to play through the night and the visibility and everything, looked like he was sharp the whole night. What did you see from his play in? DAN BYLSMA: Those numbers aren't going to look great after this one with the five goals going in. But I thought he was really good. He had a couple bounces and skates that found their way by him there; but, you know, 40 shots, 40‑plus shots, a breakaway, two‑on‑one, three on one, wasn't going to stop the goal there at the side of the net. So way too much back at him, and way too many good opportunities. I thought he looked good, especially in the first 10 to 20 minutes of the game. There was a little bit of fight in the puck on distance shots, and he was able to be strong and finalize those. Q. Aside from the obvious outcome, the experience itself, was it something that you and the team enjoyed having done for the third time? DAN BYLSMA: There is lots of this game that I'll remember. You like the scene. You like the outdoors. I say yesterday it was a great day getting out in the elements and skating outdoors and playing outdoors. Today it's a serious game. It's a two‑point game in the National Hockey League. We're playing the Blackhawks, the best team in the league. So there are some pictures and moments in this game that certainly were excellent. You know, the outcome and how we played, going to have to erase that as part of that snapshot that I'll have. Q. Coach, last week at this time you're playing for a bronze medal in Russia. Today you're playing an outdoor hockey game in a football stadium. Are you looking to get back into a sense of normalcy to get back into a normal routine? DAN BYLSMA: There is a little bit of a whirlwind over the last couple weeks for everybody, and then getting back to playing hockey here in the NHL. A lot of the first games back weren't the prettiest games around the league. Then you step right into a game where you're outdoors in the elements. So, yes, we'll look to regroup and get back and maybe get back to some normalcy, and we're going to have to do it going on the road for some tough games coming up. But, yeah, we'll look to put a roof back on and get back to normal, if it's called normal, NHL games. Q. A lot was talked about your power play versus their penalty kill. Your power play didn't work tonight. Anything you can address on why you think that didn't happen? DAN BYLSMA: You know, tonight a lot of the power plays, they were fortunate if you just got the ice scrapes. If you didn't get the ice scrapes, some of the passes that you saw, back to our point and "D" to "D" for our players, that was as hard and as adamant as they could pass the puck just because of that. So it was a little different type of scenario for the power play, execution‑wise. I thought our last one was really good. That's how our power play has been very good. The best shooter's mentality and getting pucks in the cage, and the last one was how we needed it to be. We didn't score on it when we needed the goal, but that's how we are; and the first couple power plays that we had maybe didn't get to that, whether it was our mentality or the ice conditions or heavy snow at times out there. But this stage two, when you see that as penalty killers, we did the same thing. We were even more aggressive than we normally were and the Blackhawks were, and we did a good job of it. Q. You mentioned earlier, when you were asked about a sense of normalcy, given this game and going back from the Olympic break, do you view this game not as much concern because the games are so unusual in terms of when you were playing and what the stakes were? DAN BYLSMA: Well, I know that regardless what they are, it doesn't feel good. You don't chalk it up to the pre‑break, and post‑break, and we'll go on from there. You don't look at anything about this game. The conditions being outdoors, we'll say we'll move on. We weren't good enough. We didn't compete at a high enough level, and we weren't mentally in the right spot to play this game whatever the conditions were. So, you know, you don't like the fact you've chalked up two losses in a row, and we'll have to get back to that when we get back to Nashville. Q. The Toews‑Crosby match‑up, obviously, Jonathan put up the two goals tonight. How do you think your guys fared though? DAN BYLSMA: The score was 5‑1, and if it was a straight‑up match‑up, Jonathan had two goals, and we didn't match that. I didn't look at it as a straight up match‑up in a one‑on‑one competition. Our team wasn't good enough. Our team wasn't at the level we needed to be, and they were. And you saw that. You saw that pretty much right from the git‑go in this game. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
|
||||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
About ASAP Sports •
FastScripts Archive •
Recent Interviews •
Captioning •
Upcoming Events •
Contact Us
FastScripts | Events Covered | Our Clients | Other Services | ASAP in the News | Site Map | Job Opportunities | Links |
|
ASAP Sports, Inc. | T: 1.212 385 0297
|