TORTORELLA GIVES B’S A CHANCE AGAINST PENGUINS

 

NEW YORK RANGERS HEAD COACH JOHN TORTORELLA
On if depth played a role in this series…
Yeah, that’s part of it. They’ve got a deep team, and that is part of it. It can’t be an excuse.

On other factors that played a role…
I’m not going to go into the other parts.

On if the series would have been different if the Rangers had given more effort earlier…
Yeah, I thought we were slow in the series, as far as this is a total different team than Washington. I don’t think we got to the level we needed to. No, I do. I think they’re a deeper team than we are, so we needed to play at a different level. We needed to get a number of different things from different players more consistently. But again, I watched our team fight tonight, to try to extend this series. We get it on a big guy’s stick, [Ryan] Callahan, in the third period, with an opportunity to tie it. That’s the way it goes. They deserved to win. They were the better team, they deserved to win.

On having more player movement through trades and injuries than last year…
We were fortunate, where we didn’t have the injuries. And again, I’m not going to use it as an excuse, but we don’t have, say, our [Milan] Lucic, in [Ryane] Clowe. We don’t have our [Zdeno] Chara, in [Marc] Staal. And those are two pretty big players for us. You need to try to find a way. All teams go through it, so please, I’m not using that as an excuse, but it hurts. It hurt our depth. It put people in situations that, right now, I don’t think they’re ready to handle those types of minutes that there is with those players.

On Boston’s rookie defensemen…
Yeah, they played real well. It’s funny how it works, huh? You get worried about this, that, and the other thing, and especially the kid there, [Torey] Krug, they got a lot of offense from their back end. That was another difference in our series, getting offense from the back end, and he led the way. It’s funny how it works, as guys come into lineups.

On the ways that this season was more challenging than last season…
I think this season, we struggled to really get our personality, just to get our identity. I think it helped when we made those deals at the deadline. I watched [Derick] Brassard, their last game, try to take over a game, which is really encouraging. I thought that deal helped us, but I just don’t think we’re stiff enough. I just don’t think we are. When you get into a second round, I think that showed a little bit. We tried. There was never a lack of effort with the club. At the beginning of the series, I just thought there was a lack of awareness, how high you have to be as you go into the second round with your level of play. And as we went on, I thought we got better. I thought we got better the last two games. But I still think, you know, we’re out. They’re in.

On playing Derek Dorsett despite the penalties he took…
Well I didn’t play him a whole heck of a lot. I still tried to use my bench as best as I could. I wanted to try to sustain a forecheck. I thought they were very effective early on. The undisciplined penalties hurt us a bit, and then the third period, I was going three lines to try to tie that game. I think he’s going to be a really good played for us. I’d rather have him, at that level of not being able to control himself, than a couple other players on our team that I can’t get them to get to a level. So it’s much easier to have a player that way and try to tame him, than to try to build a player up. I think he’s going to be an effective player for us as we move forward.

On if the shortened season limited the Rangers’ ability to develop an identity…
I think all teams missed their training camp. I’ll speak on our training camp, I think it’s a rigorous training camp, and I think we spend a lot of time building a mindset within it. We didn’t have that, but no other team had it either. Other teams have thoughts on how they run their camp too, and they didn’t have it. It’s not an excuse, I just think we need to build in, in some spots, and I think we’ll be able to get to the identity we want to get to.

On Boston’s chances against Pittsburgh…
I think Boston has a really good chance. I think Claude [Julien] and that staff has done a heck of a job with their club. I can’t believe some of the people, how they second-guess him, just being in the city for a few days, and the type of job he’s done here. That’s a good team. They’re very well-coached, and they’re seasoned. They’ve been through it before, and I give them a lot of credit, as far as what they’ve done with their club. They’re a good hockey team.

On if losing this series is disappointing after making the conference finals last year…
I don’t compare to last year. I think everybody tries to, with the expectations, because you go to the conference finals, and then everybody thinks your next step is the Stanley Cup Finals. We’re a different team. You may not like it, you may think it’s an excuse, but we’re a different team. But we still are one of the top eight teams playing at this time. We’ve gotten to play thirty playoff games in the past two years. Some teams would lick their chops to do that. So I know, you’re always looking for the end goal, and getting to the finals, you get an opportunity. We didn’t. Some of the responsibility falls on me. I think one of the big things in this series is I could not, and it does, it falls on me, it’s a big part of my job to get your top players to play consistently and I couldn’t do that. We tried, and so I need to take some responsibility and try to get them in those spots to help us here. I thought that hurt us a little bit.

KRUG UP TO THE CHALLENGE !

Bruins rookie Torey Krug had 4 goals in the series

BOSTON BRUINS DEFENSEMAN TOREY KRUG

On becoming a major contributor so quickly…
Yeah, it’s a great feeling. I’m glad we closed it out tonight in front of a great crowd. It was so loud in there I could barely hear myself think sometimes. It was a great experience.

On his goal…
I saw Segs [Tyler Seguin] had the puck up top. I just tried to get out there. I just hopped onto the ice from the bench and just tried to get open in position to get my shot through. When I take one-timers, I just try to make the goalie make a save with his hands, and fortunately it went in.

On where he would describe his confidence level…
It’s pretty high. It’s a good feeling out there, and the more the coaching staff puts me out on the ice, the better I feel. It’s a great feeling when your teammates are coming up to you, patting you on the back, and all the credit in the world to everyone.

On if he’s doing anything differently in the NHL…
I don’t think there’s anything that I’ve changed in my game. You talk to my college coach, you talk to Bruce Cassidy down in Providence, I think they’re all going to say that’s the type of stuff I do at every level.

On turning the momentum in their favor after scoring the power play goal…
Yeah, I think obviously that was the turning point for us. Getting the shots through, trying to cause havoc in the crease, I think that was a point of emphasis coach made between the first and second [periods]. I think that power play was the turning point for the game.

On focusing on playing his game instead of focusing on everything else…
Yeah, you definitely have to balance that. Every game I’ve been able to take a step back before the National Anthem, look around, close my eyes, think about everything for a second, understand how special this is. With that, I just go out there and play my game and just try to contribute to the team in any way possible. Every game I seem to find a way to.

On if the game is slowing down for him…
No, I don’t think so. I feel the same as I did in Game 1. It’s great because the communication up here is a lot different than it is down in the AHL. My teammates make my job easy, and I try to make their job easy as well. I don’t think it’s any slower.

On if he can become a dependable goal-scorer for the rest of the playoffs…
I have to do things like that if I want to stick around in this league. If I’m not going to be scoring or making an impact in the offensive zone, I’m not going to stick around. They’re just going to find a bigger guy who can do those things. Hopefully, I can continue. And like I said, I’m just trying to contribute every chance I get.

On if he ever imagined he’d be here now when he signed with the Bruins last year…
It’s been a crazy year. When I signed, I chose Boston for this reason. I wanted to win a Stanley Cup. I knew that they expected to win the Stanley Cup year after year, and I knew that we were going to be in contention every year. I’m glad that I just got the opportunity to come in, step in and contribute and try to help the team win. It’s been an unbelievable year, for sure.

On the importance of playing playoff hockey in Providence…
That was extremely important. I don’t think I’d be having the success that I am right now unless I played in those series. We played Hershey in the first round, and they were a big, strong team with a lot of older guys. It’s definitely relatable to up here. That league is definitely what it is used for—development. I’m very lucky that I got to play in that.

On how he gets shots on net…
I think it’s a combination of everything you just said [quick delivery, seeing the seam]. First thing, you want to get your feet moving and try to change the lane of the shot. Secondly, I think you can also catch them off guard with that quick shot. So, I think it’s a combination of everything. I’m just trying to get that puck to the net.

On if he has a special drill that helps him get shots on net…
Nothing like that. To be honest, I sit and take a lot of one-timers. My uncle owns a stick handling skills hockey company, and I used to spend my summers working with him. A lot of it, we concentrate on the small areas and getting your shots off quick. And then also down in Providence all year, I was working with the coaching staff, and they would just feed my one-timer after one-timer until I was tired.

On the transition to the NHL…
It’s tough, but I’ve said it before—you’re getting called up, you’re getting sent down. You come up here and you feel like part of the team, but you want to contribute. And when you do contribute, you feel like an even bigger part of the team. It’s nice having the guys come in here patting you on the back. It’s a great experience.

On signing with the Bruins over a lesser talented team and playing a bigger role…
I decided to come here because I wanted to win. They expect to win the Stanley Cup every year, and that’s my mentality. I just want to win. Also, I knew I was going to make it to the NHL. There wasn’t going to be anyone that’s going to get in my way. It was just my mentality, so I’m glad I was able to come to an organization that has the winning ways that we do.

On closing out the series for Tuukka Rask…
What happened last game, it’s in the past. It’s kind of funny. He’s got a sense of humor about it. We understand we expect Tuukka [Rask] to make those saves. That save in the third period on the breakaway was, that was also a game-changer for us. I think we spent the next two, three minutes down in their end with Lucic’s line. He’s a game-changer. He’s an unbelievable goalie, and we have so much confidence in him. We’re excited.

BRUINS FOURTH LINE PLAYS HUGE ROLL IN SERIES AGAINST RANGERS

 

BOSTON BRUINS FORWARD SHAWN THORNTON

On the way the team responded tonight…
The guys did a good job. Everyone was going. It was a hard fought game though, give them credit, they played really hard too. I think the guys did a lot of little things properly, get pucks in, get pucks deep. We had a lot of zone time, that was key to a little bit of our success.

On if it is nice to close out a series and not here about not being able to close out a series…
No offense, Bud, but I don’t listen to you guys. So, I didn’t hear it. I try not to pay attention.

On what ticked him off before the fight…
Chalk it up to many coffees, I guess. It’s over now. The series is over. I’m not going to be that guys afterwards to talk about it. So, I thought he was trying to take liberties on my linemate. I wasn’t okay with that, and that’s the end of it. We were both upset at the end so, you’re right doesn’t happen too often, but a little wound up tonight, I guess.

On his line playing such a huge role again…
Yeah, those guys are unbelievable again tonight. Soupy [Gregory Campbell] with two goals. Piesy [Daniel Paille] did all that work in the neutral zone on the first one, held on to it, strong on it and Soupy [Gregory Campbell] did a great job finding that puck in traffic and putting it home. It’s a gritty goal. It’s going into a tough area, so huge credit to him and even on the empty netter for him, it’s not an easy play. There’s a lot of second effort diving to get his stick on that to put it in. So, great job by those two again.

On the guys really storming the net on Campbell’s first goal…
Yeah, Piesy [Daniel Paille] drove. I was trying to get to the net, he tried to throw it to me, it went off my pants and luckily landed where Soup [Gregory Campbell] was going.

On how much depth in general provided to be a difference maker in the series and the rookie defenseman being the big storylines…
Yeah, I mean you tell me about the storylines, Joe, you write them. Those kids have stepped in, especially Freddy [Torey Krug], he played unbelievable, not even just the points. I’ve said it before, all the little plays he made, carrying the puck, having poise, having patience with it, making the smart plays, holding the blueline in the offensive zone and he played hard too. He’s not that big of a defensemen, but he plays a lot bigger than he is.

On why when the team got momentum it was so hard for the Rangers to get it back…
There were some lines with some big forwards that can be, when we’re playing properly, can be heavy on pucks and can hang onto pucks in the offensive zone and when everyone’s going and we’re doing that we can create some momentum. When we get into trouble, is when we turn pucks over and tonight I thought we did a pretty good job of keeping pucks in.

On how nice it was to see Tuukka Rask make clutch saves in the third and redeem himself…
Nobody’s ever questioned him in here. He’s been unbelievable for us, even through this series and I’m sure you’ll see him with the jacket on in a little bit. He deserved it.

 

CAMPBELL SCORES THE GAME-WINNER TO CLINCH SERIES

BOSTON BRUINS FORWARD GREGORY CAMPBELL

On Daniel Paille’s move to get him his goal…
The play started with Piesy having the poise to make a good play in the neutral zone and hold onto that puck, and he really used his speed and his strength to carry it in, not just chip it in, but to carry it in and realize that Thorty [Shawn Thornton] was driving and trying to make a play, and I just caught the garbage there.

On his line’s performance this series…
Well we try hard, and [Henrik Lundqvist] is an exceptional goalie. It’s not easy to score on him, so our game is straight forward, not pretty, but that’s sometimes how you have to score on guys like that that are really, it’s tough to find him out of position, so you’ve got to get lots of pucks at him. You’ve got to create traffic and make it difficult on him.

On putting Game 4 behind them…
Well that’s what you have to do in the playoffs. You have to really be present. There’s going to be lots of ups and downs, as we realized and learned in round one, and the teams that are able to move on are the teams that are able to put things behind us, whether it’s a great game or a poor game, and that’s really where we’re at right now is just trying to stay even, stay focused and really turn the page on the last game and move forward.

On what the thought of the first period and what they did to ‘turn it on’ in the second…
We had a couple of good shifts there to start the game, Bergy’s [Patrice Bergeron’s] line, and we had some chances. When they scored on us it kind of put us back on our heels, and they were really playing a desperate game and came to play so we just refocused and realized that we’ve been in those positions before, down a goal, and knew that we had to play better.

On being on the ice with Nathan Horton during an empty net situation…
To have the opportunity to be out there in those situations is nice, but he’s a good player. He makes really good plays, and I think the thing that’s really overlooked with Nathan [Horton] is that he does make those little good plays and he obviously is forward talent and can score goals, but it’s the plays like he made on that goal there where he gets the puck out and he’s traveling the puck and little plays that often lead to bigger plays.

On Tuukka Rask…
He’s a guy that time and time again shows up to big games and we really rely on him, and again tonight he was really good.

On his line’s role…
We just try our best and try to do the things that we can and try to be responsible, bring energy and really work together and try to make a difference every game. Some games the way we contribute is different than the way we contributed tonight. Not every game we’re going to put the puck in the net, but it has to be in some fashion, we have to contribute as a line, so against a team like the Rangers who are pretty solid we really had to rely on our depth and we knew that we had to play a role.

On whether their depth will be important in the next round…
Of course. We’ve all watched Pittsburgh play. We’ve played against them enough and we have a lot of respect for that team, the way they’re coached, and they have four really good lines and guys that contribute and they got scoring from every line and they’re not too far removed from winning the Stanley Cup and they know how to win, so I think it will be a great matchup. We’re excited about it, and we’re going to have to be good.

On how proud he is of his team…
I’m proud of everybody. Looking back to Game 7 against the Leafs with eight minutes to go, it’s really hard to predict we’d be in this position now, but with the character we have on this team and the experience and the leadership, I think we’re very deserving of being here. We’ve had some ups and downs throughout the year, and we’ve handled it well and really worked hard to get to this position.

On the Rangers’ refiguring of their fourth line…
I don’t know. We didn’t really put too much thought into that. Teams make decisions based on what they think is good for their team, and maybe they wanted some more energy. They’re a good team. Most of the games could have gone either way, and they have some really good players on their team, and some guys that really compete, so it wasn’t an easy series.

On the key to his line’s production…
I can’t really put my finger on one thing. I thought we’ve played pretty well throughout the entire year. We’re fortunate enough to have played together for the last two and a half, three years right now, and that’s a very rare thing in hockey to have the opportunity to play with the same two guys. I though we had a pretty good year. We created some chances throughout the year, and really kind of set the stage for the playoffs and knew that we were going to be relied upon at some point or other, and in the first round we played pretty hard and had some chances too and fortunately for us in this round they went in.

 

RASK LOOKING COMFORTABLE IN GOAL

 

 

 

BOSTON BRUINS GOALTENDER TUUKKA RASK
On the thoughts going through his mind on Ryan Callahan’s breakaway…
Well our goalie coach told me after, I think it was Game 1 when he scored on that breakaway that he never goes backhand. So I was banking on him shooting and keeping it on the forehand. But he went backhand, and I just extended my leg and blocker there and made the save.

On finishing in five games and being able to rest before the next series…
I think it’s huge. We definitely didn’t want to go back to New York. We felt like we should have finished the series off last game, but we didn’t play good enough. And then coming home for Game 5 we just wanted to play a real solid game and finish things off. And it’s big to get a couple of days off and get some rest for the guys.

On whether it was hard to be prepared for the Callahan breakaway since he hadn’t faced many shots prior to that…
Yeah I guess a little bit, that’s just staying mentally sharp. But you have to know something is going to happen, and they’re going to throw everything they could at you and going to try to get that change to tie the game. You know, today it happened to be a breakaway and I just wanted to make one or two big saves in the third and hopefully keep that lead. And today we succeeded.

On how good he feels to rebound after Game 4…
Yeah I mean you know, you go into the third period with a 2-1 lead. And as I said, as a goalie you expect to make one or two big saves, and today it happened. I didn’t feel bad about myself after Game 4, obviously there was a little screw up there with that goal. But I didn’t let that bother me, and I felt like I played a decent game after that. Coming in today I just wanted to big rock solid back there, and give our team a chance to win the game.

 

PAILLE AND LINE MATES PLAY A LARGE ROLL

 

 

BOSTON BRUINS FORWARD DANIEL PAILLE
On his fall…
It’s a play that I do time and time again and most of the time I stand up, but unfortunately I just fell, and it gave them an opportunity with a wide open shot… so I felt responsible for them so I somehow wanted to make it up and continue to play my game and not try to show any frustration with it.

On the critical shifts his line has received compared to other fourth lines in the league…
Well I think if you’ve seen the last couple of series we’ve played a little bit more than other fourth lines, so I think it’s been fortunate that we’ve been able to contribute the way we can and are able to help the team when some guys couldn’t find the net this series.

On whether it is easier to stay confident when they know they are going to get a lot of shifts…
It helps knowing that [Claude Julien] puts that trust in us. Thorty [Shawn Thornton], Soup [Gregory Campbell] and myself, we tend not to try to think at all and just play our game and I think that benefits us a lot as we move forward.

On himself and Derek Dorsett’s exchange of words…
I won’t comment too much on what he was talking about, but I mean it’s just part of the action that kind of got me fired up, and I was just excited to do something right after and have Soupy [Gregory Campbell] make a good play to get the rebound.

On whether it felt good when he saw the puck go in the net…
I was excited. The emotions were carrying through and I was able to carry the puck as far as I can to the net until I saw Thorty [Shawn Thornton] and my feelings were definitely full of excitement at that moment and I think I expressed my feelings at that time.

 

BARTKOWSKI PLAYS KEY ROLL

 

 

BOSTON BRUINS DEFENSEMAN MATT BARTKOWSKI
On how big Krug’s goal was…
Any goal is huge, but that goal especially because, like I said, we were kind of in a lull in a little bit at one point during the game, and then we get that big goal to boost us up, and we go from there.

On seeing Ryan Callahan going in for a breakaway, and how that felt…
The first thing, me and Johnny [Boychuk]—I probably should have backed off the line there, and gone to the middle. And then I was like, ‘oh crap, come on, this isn’t actually going to happen.’ Then Tuukka [Rask], like he always does, comes up huge for us. That was big.

On if he owes Tuukka a steak dinner…
I owe him probably more than that; probably a week’s worth. That would have been a back-breaker if that went in.

On if it’s good to close it out and get a little bit of rest…
Yeah, it’s real big. Instead of having to prepare for Game Six in New York we can take a day off, rest, and prepare for Pittsburgh. It was huge to get this win.

On what it’s going to be like playing from Pittsburgh being from there…
It’s going to be awesome; it’s going to be a blast. Growing up there watching them, it was a lot of fun watching them. Now being able to play against them will probably be even more fun. So I’m pretty excited.

On what the ticket requests will be like…
I should just talk with Jack about that actually. I don’t know; family, and a couple of really close friends will maybe get some tickets. I don’t know, I’m sure I’ll be getting a lot of calls and texts and stuff, so we’ll see.

On if he was a Penguins fan growing up…
Oh yeah, huge. I was part of the Lemieux era.

On if he was a fan when Jagr was on the team…
Yeah [Jaromir] Jagr, when [Mario] Lemieux was done, it was all Jagr. So Lemieux, Jagr.

On if he had his poster in his room…
Yeah. I asked my mom actually to see if she could find it and she couldn’t. I had a Lemieux and a Jagr poster.