Postgame Quotes at June 5, 2017

Predators Quotes

Forward Austin Watson On playing a similar game all series but getting the bounces at home… I think it’s a little bit of that. Tonight was a battle. They came out with a really strong game, they had some opportunities where Pekka really saved our butt. We knew he would. We’re finding a way to find the back of the net right now and that’s been huge for us.

On playing with Frederick Gaudreau in the AHL… The kid’s unbelievable. I played down there with him for a year and a bit and he’s got such unbelievable skill but he works so hard too. You can tell how light and fast he is on his feet and he just works to create stuff. Tonight was an example of that, working, got a little wraparound. It’s great to see him get another one and it was a huge for us.

On what it will take for him to get his own locker… With the way he’s playing right now we’ll keep him right there.

Defenseman Roman Josi On Pekka’s flurry of saves in the second period… Crosby kind of had a half-breakaway and he shot it on his backhand. I came back and I couldn’t see the puck anymore, I actually thought Pekka had it covered. I think somehow Rust got a stick on it and it kind of went under my stick and Pekka made another great save. It was pretty crazy.

On playing a similar game all series but getting the bounces at home… I think that’s part of it. I thought we played two pretty good games in Pittsburgh but I think that our two home games, we played well for 60 minutes. In Pittsburgh we had a few moments where we made a couple of mistakes and they capitalized on it. I think at home we played 60 pretty good minutes.

On the fact that the Stanley Cup will be in the building on Sunday… It’s great. Those fans deserve it. They’re unbelievable and they’ve been great all playoffs and they were great again tonight. We can’t say enough about the fans and the city of Nashville.

Forward Craig Smith On how the fans love Pekka… He’s everyone’s favorite player, including in this room. We love him, he’s a fantastic person and an unbelievable hockey player. He gets to start a lot, obviously, and I’m still tapping my stick and getting pumped up for him. Like everyone else, they put the camera on him in the third, he makes big saves and everybody’s going crazy. Everybody on the bench is doing the same things the fans are because we’re all in awe. He’s been fantastic and the fans have been excellent with the players. They want it as bad as we do and they want us to do well and we’re lucky to have them.

On the energy he gets when he sees Pekka make saves like he did in the second period… It’s huge. It’s a little bit of relief, sometimes you give up a really good chance and he was there tonight making big saves.

Defensemen On what the feeling is like in the locker room after this win… It’s obviously a good feeling around here. For the most part we had a strong game; Peks (Rinne) was there when we needed him, he was unbelievable again tonight. It’s even now (the series). We find ourselves winning (Games) two and three now – we made it a series and we still have to win one away.

On his thoughts about some of Rinne’s saves tonight… That’s Peks. He was amazing again today and when they had their chances, when our system broke down, Peks was there for us. He’s been there all playoffs – all year and he’s unbelievable.

Left Wing James Neal On the rumors of Rinne’s demise being greatly exaggerated… Peks played great tonight. He played great last game too. He’s been unbelievable through the playoffs. He made some huge saves at big times in the game.

Defensemen P.K. Subban On relishing tonight’s game… I don’t know about relishing. We have a lot of guys on both sides that are sore. We will try and get some rest the next couple of games and we’ll get ready for the next game.

Penguins Quotes

Captain Sidney Crosby On if it was the best game they’ve played so far… Yeah, probably the most consistent [game] as far as generating [chances]. I think throughout every period, there were some chances that we didn’t capitalize on. That’s what you expect this time of year, and you have to play your game to give yourself a chance. Tonight, we had our chances and they didn’t go in. We have to keep getting better.

On feeling like the team can reach another level of desperation… That’s the way we have to play every game. We definitely found a different level tonight. We didn’t get the result we wanted, but if we can continue to get those chances, they’ll go in for us.

On what the mindset is going back to Pittsburgh… We just need to focus on Game Five, and getting to win at home. [We need to] build off the things we did here. It’s simple. We have to go home and win a game.

Defenseman Ian Cole On what the team can do to tighten the defense and not allow odd-man breaks… It’s tough to say. I think we need to sit down and watch the video, and then kind of assess what’s wrong. Then, we’ll come back for Game Five and play better.

On the chances the team had tonight… We had some chances. We just need to keep going, and eventually, they’ll start going in for us.

On the opportunities to counter-attack… It’s tough to say. We’ll look at the video and break it down, then see what’s going on. We had a nice one there with Sid, on his goal. We found open ice behind him. They were trying to come forward – but we caught them going the other way. So if we can continue to do that, it will give us some chances for sure.

Defenseman Ron Hainsey On if they have extra motivation going home for Game Five… If we need extra motivation at this point you’re probably in the wrong gig. We’ll hopefully just be ready to get off to a great start, get a lead, and make them chase it hopefully.

On if he felt the team got away from anything in comparison to Games One and Two… No, game one was odd because we got up 3-0 and then kind of shelved it a little bit on the defensive side. Game two was a little different, it was kind of a ho-hum game and then we had a quick strike to make it 4-1 and it’s a different story. This one, both teams had some chances. Obviously we had a couple right before they scored to make it 2-1. Certainly you’d rather play with the lead than without it, but that’s what happens. They are a good team over there, they got the job done tonight, and we’ll be ready on Thursday.

Center Matt Cullen On his thoughts regarding Pittsburgh’s offense tonight… I thought that we were able to create a little bit more offensively. Their goalie played pretty well and made some big saves for them in big moments. We were shied away there for quite a while. We would like a better result but it is what it is here. It’s 2-2 now; we go home and try to get the next one.

On if the key is to not get frustrated and stay patient regarding scoring opportunities… I don’t think staying patient is the right thing. I think if anything we just need to press a little more. I thought we took a step as far as creating offense but you know it wasn’t enough. At this point of the season moral victories don’t do you a lot of good. We know what we need to do as we have it in here. We’ve just got to find a way to get it done. We did a better job of giving ourselves opportunities and looks. We’ve got to bury those and I think we can do a better job of creating more.