SHARKSPAGE

WCSF Game 2: Post-game comments from San Jose Sharks head coach Todd McLellan, Detroit Red Wings head coach Mike Babcock

Post-game comments from San Jose Sharks head coach Todd McLellan:

Ben (Eager) is an important part of our team. He has a role to fill. He is a big, physical guy. He gets in some scrums every now and then. He understands his job. We won the game and he was part of it.

We knew we had to turn up our game a little bit. We expected a much better night from them, and we got it. Obviously they were markedly better. They played very hard minutes in our zone. They only way you can defend them is by using 5 guys. If you get down to 4, or somebody is wandering out of position, you end up in trouble. I thought our guys did an admirable job. We did a good job around the blue paint. They came much harder tonight than they did the other night. At the end of the day, the two teams are pretty darn even. I think you are going to continue to see this. It is going to be a bounce or a break that goes one way, but if anybody should let their guard down, whether it is us or them, the other team is going to make them pay.

(Was it the best game of the playoffs to date for San Jose?) Perhaps, it was the most consistent. We were happy with our game in game 1. It is hard to compare the intensity and the battle, battle ability if you will, for lack of a better word. It was a harder game to play tonight, so I would have to agree with you.

That doesn’t surprise me as a coach (that Antti Niemi has had his third strong game in a row), or anyone in our organization, or anybody in our locker room. We come to expect that from him. I think because of his first series, we all got. Not we, but people outside our locker room got a little panicky about this guy. He is a solid, goaltender. He plays extremely well. We needed him, in 6 of the first 10 minutes we were shorthanded. He made some very good saves. The momentum swing there, the ability to play with a lead finally, was due in large part in his ability to stop the puck on the penalty kill.

I will tell you what. When it comes to snow showers, I have no time for gimmicks and that type of crap. If our players are doing that, they are going to hear from me first. But they are going to hear from me even more when they don’t go to the net and stop on a loose puck. If you go back and look at them, the pucks are bobbling around. They get to choose. They know it is not a circus, and it’s not about a clown show. We want them going to the blue paint just like the other team is.

Absolutely (performance in the faceoff circle was topic at first intermission). I thought we had a much better second period, I think we were 18-9 in the second period. I thought we had the puck a little bit more. Again, no secrets. You guys can figure all that out. They know it. We know it. Puck possession off faceoffs is very, very important. We were a little bit better in the power play area with faceoffs, we didn’t have to break out as much. It does make a difference at the end of the night.

Hatred, I don’t even like that word. It is a competitive hard series between two very good teams. Hatred, everybody gets a little pissed off if you will at the opponent at certain times, for whatever reason. There is a ton of emotion in the game, and that is what makes it great. I don’t see that going away at all. They play a little different than LA did. I think LA, there was a lot more crap after the whistle and whatnot. They don’t play like that. They play between the whistles. They expend all their energy there. That is the way it is going to continue.

Detroit (made game 2 harder). They played hard around the boards, they played hard around the net. They had more sustained time in our own end. You have to give them credit for that. They responded. It is a big challenge for our team as well. We went after them before the game. We talked about elevating our play to at least match theirs. We haven’t done a good job of that in series past. I thought tonight we had that.

Power play, Ian White. That is what we brought him here for, to shoot the puck. He did a very good job. Him and (Wallin) have been getting pucks through to the net an awful lot. That allows us to break them down a little bit. If you just cycle and roam around in the corners, eventually they are going to squash you and out they go. I am happy that our d is contributing. I am happy they are finding ways to get pucks to the net. That task is going to be even tougher when we get to Detroit.

We can work backwards, start with 13 seconds left or 12 seconsd left. Huge faceoff. We put our captain in that situation. He won it. The exection, Marc-Edouard Vlasic getting the puck out, and Patrick Marleau clearing the zone. There is a whole bunch of moments in games where you have to be sharp, and you have to be alert. As I mentioned earlier, this isn’t changing. If you let your guard down, somebody is going to make you pay. I know their team won’t. I don’t expect ours too.

Our penalty kill did a good job. As I mentioned earlier, 6 of the first 10 minutes we spent penalty killing. Nemo was a big factor. I thought we did some good things on the penalty kill with a few adjustments we made. If it gets away from you there, they get 2 or 3 goals now you are chasing the game and it takes the crowd out. It was very important early in the game for us to get that done.

Post-game comments from Detroit Red Wings head coach Mike Babcock:

I thought we were better, and yet we weren’t good enough. Obviously losing 2 -1, we got a 4 minute power play early in the game and I didn’t think, with the exception of about 50 seconds of it, I don’t think we think that part of the power play was any good. We hit a post. I didn’t think it was very good. If you score there, you score the first goal instead of them scoring the first goal. Then I thought we pressed and we had some opportunities. There goaltender was good, we hit a couple of posts, but I also think we gave up some opportunities down the stretch in the game when we were pressing. They have been better both nights than us in the second period for sure. Both nights it came after power plays, where they got momentum off the power play. They didn’t score, but then they wore us out for 4 or 5 shifts in our zone. Not getting your d off, long change. They got momentum from that.

The bottom line, I thought we came here to compete today. I thought we skated better and had more opportunities today, We just weren’t good enough. They won more battles that we did. By doing that they end up with the puck more than we did. They have held serve at home. We have to lick our wounds after the flight and have a day off, get freshened up and we will practice on Tuesday, and get ready to win the next game at home.

I still think we have to be harder for longer. I thought that in the second period, that is what they did. They were harder for longer. You pay a price if you play in your zone. It may not happen right at that moment, but it is going to happen over time. We just have to be harder on pucks. If we win d zone faceoffs, we have to be harder and execute. Harder on pucks in their zone. The more of those 50-50 battles you win, the more time you will have the puck. Both teams want the puck.

I think you are disappointed that you came here and you would like to steal a game. We still have to steal a game here to win the series. We understand that. Frustration is a waste of time. We all are frustrated at times, but that is a waste of energy. Just get on with it here.

When we engaged them in a scrum and knocked their helmet off, we went to the box. I would like to have seen there guy go to the box when that happened too. That is the way it is. You just have to keep battling, keep finding a way to get involved. Be as disciplined as you can. The penalties I don’t like that we take are the high sticking ones, the sticks on the hands. to me those are just freebies you give away. We can’t take any of those.

It was an opportunity for us. You get a 4-minute power play. We initially took a high sticking penalty, and then we got the high stick back. We got a 4-minute power play. We didn’t have much trouble in game 1 getting in the zone, tonight we did. We had the one good opportunity. We were in their zone and we zipped it around. Both penalty kills have been pretty good. Teams are battling, goaltenders have been good, blocking shots. If you don’t get in and get them under pressure, then suddenly you get nothing out of it. I don’t think we got anything out of that at all.

The good thing about it, I have a little bit of time to figure everything out. We got 5 hours on the flight tonight and then a full day. I might as well watch the tape without emotion and figure out (any lineup changes).

I don’t know about getting in your head, when they beat you they beat you. I think our belief in ourself and our plan, and the execution we have, I don’t question that whatsoever. The bottom line, we came into their building and they were able to win two games 2-1. I thought they were better than us (Friday), I thought they were better (Sunday). I thought they won more 50-50 pucks. Now we are going home. We will have our crowd. Now we have to do something with it.

I thought (Jimmy Howard) was excellent, but I thought both goalies were real good tonight. I didn’t think we test their goal last game. I thought we had some chances today, and I thought there goalie was good. There is not much to give there, they made some excellent, excellent saves.

(Your thoughts on the number of snow showers) This is what I have found over the years. Any time I make a comment about any of this stuff, it just comes back to bite me in the butt. But I think that is a really good question.