NHL Peachy: 2015 Stanley Cup Final Post-Game 2 Transcript (TBL - Johnson, Garrison, Coach Cooper) Our Coverage Sponsored by Vermont Harvest
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An interview with:
COACH JON COOPER
TYLER JOHNSON
JASON GARRISON
COACH COOPER: Before we get going, I hate to be that guy, I know I talk way too much when I get up here, but I won't answer a question about the goaltending and what happened tonight. I apologize for that.
Q. How about a question about yourself then, what were you thinking when you had to make that change, when Ben came to the bench?
COACH COOPER: The one thing about Vasilevskiy -- I know we have two unbelievably capable goaltenders. When Bish had to leave, there wasn't an ounce of stress on anybody on our bench, including myself. I mean, the kid proved it when he went in. He was great.
Q. What does that say about this team then? A lot of ups and downs tonight. A lot of things happening out there. When your starting goaltender goes in and out, in and out, what does it say about the team that it didn't have any ripple effect all on them?
COACH COOPER: I've said this many times, this team, we're learning the Stanley Cup Playoffs on the job. I think what happened to us the other night was a lesson learned. It's the first time that it happened to us in the playoffs. So what are we going to do about that? Put in that position again, what do you do?
That position happened midway through the game when we had the 1-0 lead. There go the two quick goals, it's 2-1. Our guys wouldn't be denied.
There was a fire on that bench when that happened. There wasn't panic, it was pissed. You got to love that in your team, that in 72 short hours, we're coming back. They did. You got to give those guys a ton of credit.
Q. What did you think of Jo's game tonight? Trailed off in the second.
COACH COOPER: I thought Jo was great. He did everything we wanted him to. He took some short shifts, which cut his ice time down a little bit. But he came into that game, and he's been prepared to play during our run here. We've had some success prior to this, so we've kept our lineup together.
But I always knew Jo was going to get in. I think he came out flying. The adrenaline, all that stuff, he was really fired up. But he was fine. Like I thought he played really well.
As the game went on, you know, everybody comes back to earth a little bit, but he got pucks in, he got them out, he was flying around the ice. He had command of the puck when he had it. I thought that line did very well in the first period. Then special teams and things took over. It was harder to get guys out.
I thought he did a heck of a job.
Q. The series is tied 1-1. In personal matchups, it seemed like it's 2-0, Cedric Paquette over Jonathan Toews in terms of the way the games have gone so far. Talk about having a guy who is hardly known to most hockey fans playing against what seems to be an all-time great and defeating him so far.
COACH COOPER: Well, this is a team sport. Cedric has been given an assignment to do something for the team. Not looking at, Oh, somebody has been defeated in this.
Ceddy is going out there and doing his job for the betterment of the team. It's been fantastic to watch.
There was a big thing last year when we brought him up in the playoffs last year, he played all four games. There's a reason for that. The kid's a gamer.
You talk about you get this far in the playoffs, you need guys that sacrifice themselves. That's all that kid's done. He may not have huge point totals, but he's done so many good things for us. It's part of the reason, piece of the puzzle why we're here.
He's been given an assignment and he's been doing one heck of a job. I was thrilled when he scored tonight. You could just tell how excited he was. It was just a weight off his shoulders that we were going to get some secondary scoring from some of these guys, then help out on the defensive end. It's phenomenal what he did.
Q. Johnny said before the game he felt his line needed to step up. Obviously they delivered tonight. What is it about those guys that seem to rise in these big occasions?
COACH COOPER: I don't know. I would say Johnny is wrong in that. They've been outstanding from start to finish. I don't think that everybody should be judged on your point totals.
Correct me if I'm wrong, but Johnny's leading the league or darn close in scoring in the playoffs. You can't score every single night. It's really hard, unless your name's Gretzky.
The way the game's played today, I mean, what, did only one guy have 50 goals this year in the regular season. Guys play defense. That's turned up a notch in the playoffs. You have to contribute in other areas. That line has been really good for us, including Johnny.
But they've carried a lot of the load for us. For them to get going, it's usually a good sign for our team.
Q. What specifically, knowing all the storylines of Game 1, got your team over the hill tonight? I know about the tempo. Was there anything specifically that you saw behind the bench that you said, This is a little different from Game 1?
COACH COOPER: To be honest, I thought we started the game much like we did Game 1. The difference for me, as I answered earlier, was when we fell behind this time, there was no sitting back, we got to defend the lead. Now that we gave up the lead, we don't have any push-back. We had push-back tonight.
Again, I think we learned from that. We've played pretty well in these two games. It's 1-1. It could easily I guess be 2-0 both ways. I guess 1-1 is probably fair. But we thought we played pretty well in Game 1.
We had a tough two-minute stretch that cost us in the end. You have to be in those situations sometimes to grow from them. We did tonight.
It's one of the things about this team, I don't know, you challenge them and they seem to fight back pretty well. It was great.
Q. Did this ever happen to you with the goaltending tonight, did this ever happen to you in your career?
COACH COOPER: That's a really good question that I would need a little bit more time to answer (smiling).
On this stage, at this time, this was new for me.
THE MODERATOR: Thank you.
COACH COOPER: Thank you.
TYLER JOHNSON
JASON GARRISON
Q. Tyler, you talked the last couple days about wanting to be better and felt your line needed to be better. What was it about tonight that led to your success?
TYLER JOHNSON: Well, I thought we were a lot more aggressive today than we were in Game 1. I thought Game 1 we were a little bit hesitant making plays. That kind of added on not being able to execute. So I thought tonight's game was a lot better from the line.
Q. What was going through your mind when you saw the goalie carousel in the third period, Bish going out?
JASON GARRISON: I guess it's kind of rare you see that, but it does happen. When it happens, you got to make sure you go out there and support the goalie coming in.
He made some big saves for us. Goalies are usually very mentally focused, even if they're on the bench. So, you know, it seemed the same way. He came in there and, you know, did his thing.
TYLER JOHNSON: Yeah, it's always tough to have a goalie come in cold like that. But we have a lot of confidence in Vasi. He's been great all season for us. We see him in practice. He's a competitor. He works hard.
We have the confidence when he gets in. He made some big saves like Garry just said.
Q. Tyler, take us through your goal.
TYLER JOHNSON: Yeah, just Kuch got it down low to me. I was taking it to the net. I wanted to get in the air, actually find a corner. I couldn't quite do that.
I got lucky enough that it kind of trickled in. It's one of those ones that I guess it just goes to the net and good things happen.
Q. Jason, two goals in the second period, you didn't panic. How much difference was there than Game 1 in terms of how you responded?
JASON GARRISON: A big difference. Obviously we didn't sit back. They came in waves of pressure. I think the speed of the game tonight was much quicker than the first game.
You know, they're going to get their chances. They're most likely going to score goals. It's how you respond after you get scored on or after you score a goal. Big moments in the game.
Q. Jason, if indeed Andrei has to start on the next game, Game 3, how will you feel about a new guy in goal?
JASON GARRISON: We feel confident. I mean, you know, they're both here for a reason. We just got to make sure that we communicate with Vasi if that's the case, support him as much as possible.
He's going to go in there, if he is, he's going to do a job for us. We're not worried about it.
Q. Jason, coach talked about how you guys are learning the Stanley Cup on the job. Two games in, does the stage feel that much bigger?
JASON GARRISON: Yeah, I mean, you can tell walking through the rink, obviously doing press conferences like this.
The game hasn't changed. That's the biggest thing for us, is to play our way. Even though there's a lot of stuff going on outside of the game, we got to make sure we focus in on what we're doing each and every night, not try to change anything just for the sake that there's a lot going on outside of the rink.
Q. Up and down, back and forth all night long. We've seen Chicago do this repeatedly in the last couple years. How comfortable will you be playing this style, this tempo?
JASON GARRISON: I think, you know, we're comfortable. We have a lot of speed, a lot of guys can skate. It's our style of hockey, I think. We just add on some defensive structure when we don't have the puck.
But I think moving the puck up as quick as we can, transitioning as quick as we can is definitely a strength for us.
Q. Tyler, you had a good look in the first period. One off the post. Were you starting to get a little frustrated at that point, not having anything go in?
TYLER JOHNSON: No, not quite. You know, obviously not scoring goals is a tough thing. At the same time there's a lot more to the game. If you're getting chances, if you're working hard, that's all that really matters. As long as the team wins.
It's tough when you hit the post when you get that close. At the same time it's bound to go eventually. We just had to keep working.
Q. Jason, five-on-five, your defensemen were involved in the offense tonight. How do you think that adjustment troubled Chicago?
JASON GARRISON: You know, I mean, for us it's been all year. As defensemen, we've been told to get up the ice, try to be a second wave. There was an emphasis on that tonight going into the game, making sure we were moving our feet, supporting the play as much as possible. We were able to contribute tonight, which was big for us.
I think last game we only were able to have four shots as a defensive corps. We wanted to make sure we contributed more defensively tonight.
Q. What do we expect now for Game 3? Is it kind of the same thing we saw in 5 and 7 against the Rangers where you're going now to Chicago, the momentum and everything, can we expect the same thing we saw in your play, aggressive or not, in Game 5 and 7 when you won on the road against the Rangers?
TYLER JOHNSON: I don't think we like to change our game. I don't think we like to say that we have a bunch of different game plans regardless of how the series went before.
As long as we stick to our structure, stick to the things that work, it's going to be a lot like tonight. It's going to be a lot like Game 5 and Game 7. Those are the games we played good in.
We don't have to change our structure, change what we do, and just go from there.
THE MODERATOR: Thank you.
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