NHL Peachy: 2015 Stanley Cup Final Post-Game 4 Transcript - (TBL - Coach Cooper) Our Coverage Sponsored by Martin's Tavern of Georgetown Est. 1933
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Chicago - 2
Tampa Bay - 1
An interview with:
COACH JON COOPER
Q. Coach, at what point did you know that Ben was not able to go tonight?
COACH COOPER: I don't know. I don't know whether when I knew really mattered. It was the fact I just knew he couldn't go.
I'm sorry, I don't even know who asked that question. That's the end result, so...
We knew today that he probably wasn't going to be able to go. Got here tonight and we just confirmed it.
Q. Before we get into the entire game, just your thoughts on Vasilevskiy's performance tonight?
COACH COOPER: If you tell me we're going to come in and he's going to give up two goals, that's a hell of a job in my book.
We've had a lot of success when we've only given up two. We win more of those games than we don't. We did everything we asked that kid. That kid gave us a chance to win the hockey game. We just scored one. We got to score more than that.
But I thought he was great. And as I've said, I've said this during the series, it doesn't matter which guy we put in there, we've got full confidence in both guys.
He showed the pinnacle of the sport, that he can play. That's a pretty big achievement for a 20-year-old.
Q. Do you worry about any level of frustration for Steven specifically, a couple tremendous looks at the end? Any concern about that on his level?
COACH COOPER: Not at all. I've watched him play. Had the best seat in the house to watch him play for two years. You don't keep him down forever. He's gone through this before. He went through this a little bit in the Detroit series, then bounced back for us.
I'll be honest. I don't know how one of those didn't go in. I'm sure there was 22,000 nervous people in the stands when we were zipping it around there.
What I like to see from Stammer is he got his looks, they just didn't go in for him.
Hopefully in Game 5 you sit here saying, Stammer has a couple under his belt. I just like the fact he's getting himself in the position to score. They just didn't go in tonight.
Q. The power play has been struggling in this series. After doing so well against Montréal and New York, why has that fallen back in this series?
COACH COOPER: I think we have to understand we didn't really have - the last game was a five-on-three. We didn't have a five-on-four. You're going back how many games before we've had a power play. We haven't really practiced. Sometimes you can get a little bit out of sync.
Did we have a couple looks on some of them? We did. We created some shots. Had some scrambles in there. I don't know if we shot enough. As the power plays went on a little bit, we tried to make the perfect play.
But sometimes you score on them, sometimes you don't. When you lose by a goal, your power play goes 0-4, all of a sudden an alarm goes off.
The special teams weren't the difference. They went 0-3. It came down to, you know, five-on-five. They got one more break than we did.
Q. With the extra day of rest, do you anticipate there's a chance that Bishop could play on Saturday or is this now Vasilevskiy's net?
COACH COOPER: Gosh, I wish I could give you an answer to that. Bish is going to play again in this series, there's no question. I just don't know which game.
Q. Drastic difference in the shot totals tonight in the first period. What was the key to that?
COACH COOPER: I think we were on them. I know the series is tied 2-2, but we've had a chance to win every single game. You can't ask for more than that from your team.
I thought we were defending really well. We weren't letting them hold on to the puck and dance around the offensive zone which they have a tendency to do when they're rolling. We took the puck out of their hands early, then we possessed.
A little bit of that, too, is we had power plays. That's going to go in our favor a little bit. I thought we defended really well. Like I said, they got a couple breaks around the net.
Both goals, they got some bounces. Toews gets a bounce right to him, and Saad loses control of the puck, but it stays on his skate, drags to him. So they worked hard. They capitalized on their breaks. We had some unbelievable open looks that hit a stick, hit something, didn't go in.
That's what you got to love about this sport, you never know what's going to happen.
Q. Have you placed any extra emphasis on coming out strong right after the Hawks have scored on you?
COACH COOPER: I wouldn't say we've done this just because we're playing Chicago. We don't really look at it that way. As a team we feel it's extremely important, regardless if you score or whether the other team scores, how you're going to answer that next shift. I thought we did really well.
When they scored, we answered pretty well. We came back and had some pretty good looks ourselves. We don't sit here and say, Well, Chicago's given up a few. We don't look at it this way. As a team we're worried about ourselves. I just feel that's a really extremely important shift after goals, and we've handled it pretty well.
Q. You have talked confidently about Vasilevskiy all year, certainly all playoffs. On this stage when he performs the way he did, can you learn something else about a guy or does it simply validate what you knew?
COACH COOPER: I would sit here and say it validates what we've known all along. You put the kid on the stage, he's going to perform. Pretty comforting for a coach knowing that you got those two guys back there in net for you.
THE MODERATOR: Thank you.
COACH COOPER: Thank you.
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