TAMPA, Florida – After the Chicago Blackhawks defeated the Tampa Bay Lightning 2-1 in the opening game of the 2015 Stanley Cup Final, both coaches were asked about some of the key moments which led to the result.
Chicago coach Joel Quenneville was asked about how going into the third period against a team which plays very good with the lead, but at the same time, his team also plays well in the third period and that pushing the game might be a good idea. ”Yeah, we got better as the game went on. I thought our second period improved after the first. We had a slow start in the third. A lot of zone time, threats off the rush as well. Obviously a huge goal with traffic. Nice shot by Vermy. Turned out to be a great third period.
Quenneville was asked how we could explain Teuvo coming through in the clutch again and what he thought of the young winger’s first Final game. “I thought he got better like our team did as the game went on. Couple of plays. Made a play at the net. He scored some goals in this playoff as they progressed by just putting it at the net. He has the shoot-first mentality. He’s got a decent shot, pretty good looks. Getting that net front presence by Krugs. He was the one that forced the play to Vermy on the goal. So it was a couple real nice plays by a guy. That has a nice upside.
Projected starter Bryan Bickell was a late scratch and Quenneville was asked if her was injured or was it a coach’s decision to sit him for game one. “He is Day-to-day. Upper body. I think he’s close. We’ll see how he is the next day or so.
On the game’s result, Quenneville was asked if the first 53 minutes left him with enough to be satisfied with. “Last half of the game, I thought we were fine. Playing catch-up against a team that was comparable the last two series, when they get the lead on you, prevent defense, tough to get through. They check well, got good sticks, they got quickness. Basically we had to get through. But finding a way today is a good illustration of what this team’s all about. Finding ways to win, probably a good example of that tonight.
On the player who scored the game-winning goal which came after a face first plunge hard into the right post hard, then straight to the penalty box, Quenneville was asked what measures were taken to make sure he’s okay. “There’s a protocol in the league as far as head blows. We call them concussions, but I don’t think it was a concussion. There’s certain measures that we have to follow.” When pressed if these protocols were followed, Quenneville replied, “Absolutely”.
Once Quenneville left the stage, it was Tampa Bay coach Jon Cooper’s turn.
The Lightning coach was asked about the way things played out late in the game, talking about sitting back too much, being too conservative. Experience versus inexperience. Was it a lesson learned for his team in game one. “I don’t know. I think the way I’d look at the game, we didn’t really give them much the entire game. If we’re going to sit here and count, yeah, did they have a little more puck possession in the third period, they did. There’s no question. Could we have made a few more poised plays? I suppose we could have. But I thought we had chances to put them away. We didn’t put them away. Once you do that, to me, that was letting them hang around. And ultimately in the end, you know, Teravainen is a seeing-eye single on that one. That goal had eyes. Give them credit. I think we could have got that puck out. We didn’t. Then we turned pucks over on that second one. I thought we hung in there. Sometimes you got to get more than one. If you’re going to give up two in a game, you should have a chance at least to win that game. We didn’t tonight.
Cooper was told Bishop said the same thing, that he thought it was a seeing-eye puck. That was pretty much the perfect game plan you had going until that puck gets in. Other guys said you did sit back too much. What do you think. “Well, a lot of our game plan was we wanted to pressure them, pressure their D, pressure their forwards, not give them time and space, which I thought we did an extremely good job of. As the third period unfolded a little bit, it was very similar to how we played the Rangers the other night, except we were a little bit more playing them down ice, where tonight in the third period we played almost a half ice game. Against a team like Chicago, you can’t let them keep coming at you the way we did. But in saying that, I mean, reel off the grade As they had. You know what I mean? It’s not like we’re sitting there saying, Oh, my God, did they have chance after chance after chance? They had a little bit of time of possession, but they weren’t getting good-time chances. Vermette’s is a chance, no question. Sometimes we’ve been that team that’s bent a little but we haven’t broken. Tonight a good team found a way to get two goals. Could we sit here and say, We’re going to hem the Chicago Blackhawks in for 60 straight minutes? Kind of hard to do. Nobody’s found a way to do it yet. I thought we generated some scoring chances. Both goalies played well. They just happened to get the extra one.
On the first goal of the game, an odd deflection at the hands of Alex Killorn, Cooper was asked how many goals he has seen scored like that first one. “It’s funny, because he missed the one in the first shift that he should have had, then scored that one. He’s working for his breaks. He generated one there. I thought it was much deserved because he had one whale of a playoffs for us. But you got to get more than one. That was all we got tonight.
On matching up against Chicago’s Joanthan Toews and the work Cedric Paquette did against him, Cooper said “If I pull up the score sheet, you don’t see Kane or Toews or any of those guys on it. Ceddy, Cally, Killer or Brown on them, I thought they did a heck of a job. You can’t ask for much more than that. They’re world-class players. You know you can’t keep them down forever. But if we can have a defensive effort like that, it’s really going to help our chances.”
Then the player with the game-winning goal, Andrew Vermette, took to the stage.
The relatively new Blackhawk was reminded of only being on the team a few months now and at what point did he get the sense when this team was trailing in the third period that they always seem like they’re going to make a push, a comeback. He responded, “That’s a good question. I don’t recall specific moment really. With that being said, I played against them quite a bit knowing that there’s a lot of pride in this room, a lot of character. They’re going to keep battling no matter what. Something nice to be on that side.
Vermette was asked about his game-winning goal, particularly what he saw from Teuvo, what he’s been able to do. Vermette said, “I think that was a great illustration on that goal with the way we try to play, try to establish our speed and moving our feet, especially in their end. I think on that play, it was great work. Teuvo kept it working hard, create a turnover, and we got the puck in the slot.”
Game 2 Sat., June 6th at 7:15 p.m. Chicago at Tampa Bay NBC, CBC, TVA Sports
Game 3 Mon., June 8th at 8 p.m. Tampa Bay at Chicago NBCSN, CBC, TVA Sports
Game 4 Wed., June 10th at 8 p.m. Tampa Bay at Chicago NBCSN, CBC, TVA Sports
*Game 5 Sat., June 13th at 8 p.m. Chicago at Tampa Bay NBC, CBC, TVA Sports
*Game 6 Mon., June 15th at 8 p.m. Tampa Bay at Chicago NBC, CBC, TVA Sports
*Game 7 Wed., June 17th at 8 p.m. Chicago at Tampa Bay NBC, CBC, TVA Sports
* if necessary
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