Gerard Gallant spoke on Wednesday morning and said (NYR):
- Do you have anything new on Chytil or Strome, “not as of yet, no. I’m sure they’re still sleeping (laugh).”
- On Carolina’s way of defending vs Tampa, “They are different systems, of course. There is one issue or another issue, but you just gotta play. We played against teams all year that were man-on-man or five back in the neutral zone, 1-1-3 in the neutral zone or d-zone and packing into the slot. You face that all year long, so it’s nothing they haven’t seen before or doing different, it’s just intense hockey and you gotta get ready to play it and it doesn’t seem to bother us when we are playing at home. The last two games, were there issues? Yes, but we gotta get better. We will.”
- Is there anything Tampa has done the last two games that you can learn from, “They haven’t made any mistakes. We haven’t had a lot of scoring chances, like we’ve talked about, but they haven’t opened up their game. They didn’t create a whole lot of scoring chances, either, but they haven’t made the mistakes and I think that’s from experience from winning teams. One goal is important and last nigh we had a tough time scoring, they scored the first goal of the game, they played a good, solid game after that and then they scored the second goal and it makes it tough when you aren’t giving up much and they didn’t give up much. They are not just a skilled offensive team, they can play real good defense and that is what they are doing. They aren’t giving you a whole lot of opportunities and they aren’t playing the run and gun game that they have in the past, when they’ve had the opportunity to, but they are playing good, solid playoff hockey and that is what we have to do.”
- Did last night remind you of Game 5 in Carolina at all, “that is too far back, I can’t remember Game 5 in Carolina, honestly. I’d like to say it, but I can’t remember that far back.”
- Why do you think the Panarin/Mika line wasn’t effective last night, “the team we are playing against. They are doing a good job, working hard, battling hard. They aren’t giving up much and they battle hard and you gotta keep battling hard and we didn’t get much, they didn’t have a whole lot last night, fortunately we got back in the game late on the PP with a goal and we had a couple of little chances there to make it 3-2, but they don’t give up much and that is how you win Stanley Cups and they’ve done that in the past and we gotta get there….It’s not Mika/Panarin, it’s our team.”
- Would you rule out putting Mika and Panarin back together, “No, not at all.”
- Do you feel like the pressure has built as the season has gone on, “we’ve handled it well. Honestly, the Pittsburgh series we’re down 3-1 and it doesn’t look good. It was about just going to play the game, get ready for another game and go play it and do the best you can. We battled back, got some breaks in that series, obviously Crosby got hurt and that was a big thing and we found a way to come back and win. The next series was a battle, the first two games in Carolina I thought we played really well and we lost, but we never quit. We’re in a good spot now, it’s 2-2, going back home. I think we’re 8-1 at home, let’s go play our home game again and get right back at it. It’s going to be a battle. We’re playing against a team with a lot of experience the last three years, obviously, and they aren’t going to give it to us, we gotta go out and take it and that is what we have to do.”
- What is it about going home, the last change, crowd, sleeping in their own beds, “its’ a combination of all of those for sure. There is not one that stands out, obviously the last change in this series has been a little bigger than the other ones.”
- Does your prior play at home give you confidence to move past the last two, “definitely. How many times have I said it? There is no momentum, for me as a coach, that is the way I look at it. When we’re up 2-0 I didn’t think we carried momentum, I just think you get ready for the next game, the momentum doesn’t carry over, I really believe that for our team and that is what we proved.”
- On Strome taking warmups last night, “Yeah it was real close. We want to make sure we’re doing the right thing.”
- Do you expect Strome to play tomorrow, “I expected him last night and I wasn’t lying. I expected him to play and there are game-time decisions and you’ve got to make the right ones and they’re tough calls for everybody, but I felt we made the right one last night.”
- Are Strome and Chytil game-time decisions tomorrow, “yup, definitely.”