2:40PM: Gerard Gallant spoke after the morning skate and said (NYR):

• Are Panarin and Copp ready to go, “Yep, well, I mean, they had a great practice and no issues. They are official as anybody else out there.”
• On Ryan Lindgren’s status, “He’s fine, a maintenance day, he’ll be out there tomorrow.”

• What did you see from the group during practice, “It’s exciting, they are all smiling, having fun, and it’s exciting. Practice was just fair today, but you expect that after a day off, but it was good. I’m glad we got another practice day tomorrow and get ready for a bit game.”
• What is the main focus for these practice days, “not going to change a lot, do what we’ve done all season long and prepare for Pittsburgh and as coaches we sit in the room and try to do this and that and make sure this and that, but it’s the same game, nothing changes. The intensity might be ramped up 3-5% more, just get ready to play your game and do what you’ve done all year long.”
• Is this team built for a strong playoff run, “Honestly, I think the 16 teams that made the playoffs have a chance to win the Stanley Cup and that is my honest opinion. I think we are as good as anybody in the playoffs and I think anybody in the playoffs can beat us. Who is playing well at the right time and doing the right things, I truly believe we have as good a chance as anybody. You might pick a couple…the Colorado and Florida team, you might put them above everybody else, but I think it’s wide open, I really do.”
• Does the finish to the regular season mean anything, “Means nothing to me, it really doesn’t. We clinched a playoff spot, seems like a year ago, but it was probably three weeks ago and that was a big goal of ours and we tried to play for first place a little bit and battled hard and played good in some of those games and down the stretch we didn’t play as well, totally expected that too. I think our team is ready, in a good frame of mind, pretty healthy for the most part and ready to go and it’s exciting and looking forward to it.”
• Do you have expectations now, “When I said that I really didn’t have any, I didn’t really know. Now, I mean, I truly believe…can we win against Pittsburgh? Yea, I believe that. Are we favored against Pittsburgh? I don’t really cafe about that. If we played the Florida Panthers I’d feel good about our team, it doesn’t matter who we are playing and I honestly said that. I wanted to finish good and I think we finished good for the most part, we had a couple of games there that the intensity wasn’t high, but I’m happy with the finish to the season has gone, happy where we finished and really, I think we can make a run. I don’t know if we’re gonna, but I think we got a chance as good as anybody else, I truly believe that. In our conference there are eight teams that are real good teams and I believe anybody can beat anybody, I really do.”
• On Andrew Copp, “He’s a big, strong guy, skates really well, makes us a faster team. All the trade acquisitions were really important for our team and made us more depth, made us stronger, faster and they were great acquisitions to our hockey club and they all fit in really well. We’ll see where it goes and hopefully Motte is back sometime in this round, we’re not sure yet.”
• Has Motte been on the ice yet, “no. He’s not on the ice with us and he hasn’t skated yet, but he’s progressing really well and we’re happy where he’s going. Is he going to play in this series? Well, I don’t know, but there is an opportunity for sure.”
• You said that you can make a run, “No, you guys…I didn’t say, I said that anybody can make a run (laugh).”
• What do you like best about this team, “I like what we’ve done all year. We’re not scared to play anybody, we had a tough start to the season, but after that I thought our team really came together, we got more experience, the young kids started to play really well and got more confidence and experience and we’re still a young team, but I like the experience we got this year. We won a lot of hockey games and they came together and they are good teammates, the team really came together and that is the most important thing. The guys believe they can win and that is all that matters.”
• What do you want to see from the bottom-six, “compete, play their roles and do their jobs. They know what their roles are, there is not one guy down there that can say ‘I’m not sure what Turk wants from me or what the coaching staff wants from me.’ They know what we want, play hard, the Reaves lines and those type of players, get in there, create some turnovers get your forecheck, momentum for hockey games. Every team has the same thing, Pittsburgh, you look at their team, they have the same roles.”
• What will be the key for Kakko, Lafreniere and Chytil, “Go work hard and compete, they played really well together, they are talented kids and whether they start together in game one, we’ll see. They are all playing well, Kakko is coming off a lot of injuries this year, but he’s had some good opportunities, had a two goal game, they all look confident right now. Laffy with the 19-goals has been really good and Fil stepped up the last month and a half when we asked him to and I think he has really stepped up.”
• How much does the match up dictate the fourth line, “It depends on who plays well. I use my fourth line and they are going to be important to our group and we’ll make a decision on who is going to be on it at the time. You don’t match them up against the Crosby line, but they have to be effective and they are going to be solid. Obviously there is Reavo and Hunt and we have to make a decision on that. I like Rooney and Goodrow a lot, they are both defensive players and can play against anybody, so whenever I use them I’m not really worried if they are on against the first or second line. It’s not going to be a full match up, but I’m not going to worry when they are on the ice against those people.”
• Is the decision between Hunt and Reaves, “We’ll see. It could be a decision, obviously when you’ve got four guys on the line you can only play three. Again, we’ve got to wait at least another 24-hours before we are going to really know, things can change in a day.”
• Does Goodrow’s versatility give you a lot of flexibility, “big time, 100%, he’s done it all year long and capable of doing that. Center, LW, RW, top-two lines if you need him, so no issue there. He’s done it all year. A couple of games he played all three positions in those games, so it’s not a big deal for him.”
• On Goodrow’s experience, “he’s just won two Stanley Cups, so he’s talked to the guys all the time. It’s about when the players…coaches, we can have video meetings and show all we want, and talk about all we want, but when the players are in the room and saying ‘we gotta pick it up 5% more,’ the intensity is going to be really high in the first round, that is the way things work in the playoffs, just play your game. Goodrow, he won two Stanley Cups back to back and will take to those young kids and have fun. There is no more pressure now than there was in the regular season, we’re a young team and we want to play well and work hard and they are confident and feel good about themselves.”
• Does Goodrow’s experience make a difference, “I think it makes a huge difference. All year long, the way he brings guys together and he’s a good guy, character guy. Jon Cooper, when they lost him, they didn’t want to lose a guy like Goodrow, but that is what happens when you win Stanley Cups and have Salary Cap issues. We got a real good player and good person and he talks to those players and helps everybody out and is a big part of it.”

11:07 AM:Artemi Panarin and Andrew Copp are on the ice at practice today. (NYR)

Ryan Lindgren, who blocked a shot late in Friday’s win over Washington, is not practicing with what the team is calling maintenance. (Stephenson)

The lines being used today are (Stephenson):

• Chris Kreider, Mika Zibanejad, Frank Vatrano
• Artemi Panarin, Ryan Strome, Andrew Copp
• Alexis Lafreniere, Filip Chytil, Kaapo Kakko
• Dryden Hunt, Kevin Rooney, Barclay Goodrow, Ryan Reaves