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NHL WESTERN CONFERENCE FINALS: KINGS v BLACKHAWKSMay 22, 2014Matt GreeneTanner PearsonLOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA: Practice Day Q. (No microphone.) TANNER PEARSON: It was a quick turnaround after the Anaheim series. It was nice to get those two days off. Having these two days off between these games is maybe a bit much. We have momentum and want to keep that going. MATT GREENE: Yeah, but at the same time, too, you can't fight the schedule. It's up to us to make sure that momentum stays when the puck drops. Q. Is this the point in the series where things start to get really testy between the two teams? MATT GREENE: I think every game is high energy. You're always fighting for the lead, making sure you're doing what you can to have success. You can't pinpoint when things are going to start in a series. You just have to be ready for everything. TANNER PEARSON: Matt pretty much summed up the playoff series. Fortunately we're tied going back to our building. We can't control if things get a little bit testy. Q. Matt, talk about Muzzin a little bit. MATT GREENE: Jake has been awesome. A lot of guys have been chipping in scoring‑wise. Jake has been great. He's been a great offensive player for us the last couple years. It's nice to see him finding the back of the net. He's also done a great job defensively for us, playing over 20 minutes, playing against Doughty, against the other team's top lines. He's really come into his own becoming a two‑way defenseman. Q. Talk about his progress from when you first saw him. MATT GREENE: He's great. He's always had a ton of skill. He's rounding his game, learning his game a little bit. I think he did that. He was awesome last year when he came up. He's grown a lot this year, too, become the player that I think the management obviously saw what he can do, he's doing a great job of that. Everybody is really happy for him. Q. Is there an area you've seen him grow the most? MATT GREENE: On the defensive side, I think that's the toughest thing to do as a young defenseman coming into the league, especially when you want to put up numbers like he does. I think he's really rounded out his game, become a really solid defenseman. Q. Tanner, how has the leadership in the room helped a guy like you deal with the adversity this team has dealt with? TANNER PEARSON: Yeah, there's lots of leadership in the room, a lot of experience. I think there's a lot of guys that won the Cup.  They know what it takes to win. I think it just translates to us young guys. We don't want to look chin down, so we're trying to do everything we can to chip in. Q. The emotion you got from the penalty kill, talk about that. MATT GREENE: Huge, momentum swing every time. The PK can do wonders for you in terms of a power play. I think the coaches do a good job of emphasizing. You need to build momentum, get a good two minutes going in their zone. Last night everything was clicking. Those were two huge power play goals for us that really turned the game around for us in our favor. It's always a plus when you win in those games. Q. In the Anaheim series, you had all the momentum coming home, then lost two games at home. Change anything going into the next game? MATT GREENE: No, it's a different series. Q. Can you speak to the management and leadership of staying the course when you're down. So many players have talked about staying the course. MATT GREENE: You have confidence in your group. A lot of these guys have been together for a long time. When you add in key pieces like Tanner and Tyler up front, guys that are really good, smart in terms of being able to adapt to their roles on the team, succeed. You got to have confidence in what you're doing with the coaches, the message they're getting across. I think we have a good plan. It's just up to the players to execute it. I think all the players have confidence in each other to do that. Q. You are so full of confidence. One game at a time. Why has Chicago had the Kings' number for the past few years? MATT GREENE: They're a good team. They're a good team. It's been a series that's gone in their favor for the last couple years now, and we got to do our best to change that. Obviously if we could put a finger on it, we would. It's up to us to figure it out, keep it going, get some more wins. Q. Is there a mental aspect that comes into play? MATT GREENE: I don't think they have the mental edge on us, no. It's just you got to go out and play, that's it. They're a good team. We're down to the final four out of 30. You got to make sure you go out and do everything you can to give your team success. Q. Talk about the excitement of being able to come back 1‑1? TANNER PEARSON: Going into their rink, they haven't lost a game in their rink all playoffs. To succeed in the playoffs, you got to be able to succeed on the road. To go back to the Staples Center 1‑1 is definitely going to help us out. We just have to capitalize on our chances. Q. Tanner, against the Sharks, Game 7 against the Ducks, what is it about that moment when you know it's time? TANNER PEARSON: I've said over and over, these guys don't like to lose, it shows. The guys don't want their summers to come early. We're trying to do everything we can to keep it going. We've done a good job of that so far. We got to have a good strong series again. Q. Knowing you can do that, how uplifting is that moving forward? TANNER PEARSON: It's definitely uplifting. But it's a whole new series, a whole new team. We got to look at it that way, like we haven't done it before. Just play our game and hopefully we come out on the winning side. Q. 2012 is different than this playoff run. Do you think 2012 at all or is that put away? MATT GREENE: It's completely different. I don't think anybody would have thought that was going to happen in 2012. I think this is way more realistic how teams get to this point in the season. It's a hard‑fought series. You got to put that away. It doesn't matter what happened last series. It's completely new. On Saturday it won't matter what happened in Game2. You got to start fresh every night. You got to be ready for that new battle every night because you know they're going to do the same thing. They don't care what happened in Game2 either. They're going to come out and play hard. Q. 2012 you had the same six defensemen for the entire run. This time is different. Is it just instant adjustments when you're out there? MATT GREENE: You're here to do a job. That's it. You go out and do it. Nobody feels sorry for you if you get hurt. The games are still going to come. You have to have somebody in there to replace you in the lineup, do their job, make sure they're ready to go, do what they can to give the team success. Q. What do you do with two days between the games? Do you watch the hockey game? MATT GREENE: If I had Time Warner, I would (laughter). Run that up the flag pole, Mike. No, just check out. It's pretty easy to do. I mean, it's the highs and lows. You make sure you're getting the rest when you can. Everybody's got different ways to check out. Just get some relaxation and some rest. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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