Kukla's Korner Hockey

Laviolette After Game 1

by Paul on 06/05/06 at 10:50 PM ET
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Q. Is that a real textbook example of what to expect in the new NHL, that a team can actually come back from a 3-0 deficit?
COACH PETER LAVIOLETTE: You know, it’s certainly—certainly what we believe in, like we’ve done so many times in the regular season, in the playoffs, that I think the biggest thing that we’ve gained all year long is confidence. It’s not a position you want to be in. We didn’t play well enough to win the first two periods, so we were in that position, and then we played better in the third period, came out and got the goals we needed.
You know, I think the message was after two periods, if we can go out—the next goal was a decisive goal because there’s only 20 minutes of time left, if you make it 4-1 for them, it’s going to be tough. If it’s 3-2, then it’s on us. And there’s momentum from that, momentum from the building—we gained momentum from the building. If we made it 3-2, we were winning. So that’s how we’ve done it in the past.
Certainly not a position that we want to be in.

Q. When a goalie comes in and has not played for two months, do you think, let’s get on him?
COACH PETER LAVIOLETTE: Absolutely. I think anybody that comes in, whether it’s Ty or any goaltender, you want to try and see if you can get to him and get to him early. With this defense, they did a good job of trying to protect him, we’re going to have to continue to try to get more action and more pucks at the net.

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