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NHL EASTERN CONFERENCE FINALS: RANGERS v CANADIENSMay 23, 2014Lars EllerNEW YORK CITY, NEW YORK: Practice Day Q. Have you heard about Derek Stepan's broken jaw? Does that change the way things go forward here with Brandon suspended? LARS ELLER: No, not for us, it doesn't change anything. We'll have to see later today what the NHL is going to do, but it's been an intense series. There have been losses on both sides, and that's just how hockey goes sometimes. It's the playoffs. It's intense, and things like that they're going to happen once in a while. But it always sucks to see people getting injured. Nobody wants that. Q. Do you feel the intensity ratcheting up and getting stronger? LARS ELLER: Yeah, every game. Q. Do you feel like the series really changed being 2‑1 now instead of 3‑0? Obviously, not the score, but just the feeling you have? LARS ELLER: We have a better feeling today than we did before the game yesterday, but I think both teams are not looking too far ahead and really taking one game at a time. That is how you have to approach it. Q. How long does it take to create a rivalry between a team? Against Boston, it was against the Rangers, I guess this starts now? LARS ELLER: That's something we talked about before this series. Naturally, maybe there is not that rivalry or that hatred for each other the same way that we have with Boston. You have to hate them, yeah, you have to hate them. It shouldn't be hard to get motivation for the Conference Finals, but it is a little different. There is no problem getting motivation now. Q. It has served you well against Boston. Do you feel like that sort of event that happened yesterday, did it bolster even more your motivation from this point on? LARS ELLER: Yeah, I think things like that add up. It all adds up and builds that hatred. Yeah, it does. Q. Lars, how do you think this is going to play out in Game 4, the added animosity that there is now as a result of the broken jaw? LARS ELLER: I don't know. But it doesn't change anything for us. We're happy we came out of here with a win last night, and hopefully we can continue to build off that. It doesn't change anything for us who is going to be in the lineup for the other side. It's really all about what we can do. Q. What did you know about Dustin Tokarski before the series? LARS ELLER: I didn't know anything, honestly. But he's been‑‑ it's not easy getting thrown into an environment like this, but he has a real coolness to him. It doesn't faze him. He doesn't seem to care much. I mean, he cares, but he's really cool about it and that's what you've got to be as a goalie, I guess, and he's handled himself terrific so far. Q. When you look at the first two periods, Lars, in the final result, do you give yourselves full marks for the win or do you dissect the first two periods and realize there was room for improvement there? LARS ELLER: There is always room for improvement. I'd say the good thing is we came out of there with a win, and we have to be a lot better. We have to improve. We have to be better. It almost seems like the roles were reversed from Game 2 to 3, and the Rangers probably had a lot more scoring chances in Game 3 than we had. But at the same time, goal 2 and 3 is a good example of us winning battles in front of the net and getting those ugly goals. We had the chances in Game 2, but we didn't win the battles in front of the net, both in front of Ticker's net, and yesterday in front of Lundqvist's net, we were able to win those battles. I think that made the difference yesterday. Q. When you say you didn't know much about Tokarski, and you had not a great start to the game yesterday, was that part of it? Had this team started thinking about it with Price? LARS ELLER: I don't think so. It always starts when you lose your best player. You can't replace Carey Price, but Tokarski is going to have some terrific goaltending. He gave us this chance to win Game 2, and he did yesterday again, and that's what we're going to need from him going forward. I think we were rallying around him, and it brings us extra motivation. Now that Carey's out, we can battle back to this, and that would be huge. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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