home jobs contact us
Our Clients:
Browse by Sport
Find us on ASAP sports on Facebook ASAP sports on Twitter
ASAP Sports RSS Subscribe to RSS
Click to go to
Asaptext.com
ASAPtext.com
ASAP Sports e-Brochure View our
e-Brochure

NHL EASTERN CONFERENCE FINAL: LIGHTNING v PENGUINS


May 13, 2016


Ryan Callahan

Alex Killorn


Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania: Game One

Tampa Bay - 3
Pittsburgh - 1


Q. Alex, when Bishop was getting carted off, what was kind of the emotion on the bench? I saw you went up to him and tapped his blocker. Did he say anything to you at that point?
ALEX KILLORN: He didn't say anything. He just kind of looked. You could tell he was in a lot of pain. It's one of those moments where he's been so great for us, and no one knew what was happening. No one knew what was wrong with him. And for him to get carted off like that, it's typically pretty serious.
But I just went up to him and said, we got this. Keep it up, buddy. He just looked at me, and I don't think he said anything, but just kind of lifted the team up when we could come together and get a goal at the end of the period there.

Q. Ryan, what was going through your head in the thought process on the hit on Letang early?
RYAN CALLAHAN: I'm trying to ride him in there obviously on the fore-check, and unfortunately, he turns at the last second. I'm committed, I think, when he turns his head, and his body is pretty low. So I'm trying to pin him, and in that split second, I can't really make a decision. Unfortunately, I think the position he was in made it worse than it was, and it was good to see him come back. Obviously, you don't want to see anybody injured, and that's not what you're trying to do.
You know, that's not the way I play. I've never been fined or suspended. So I take a lot of pride in that, to be an honest player. It was good to see that he came back.

Q. Alex, your goal to start. Can you walk through the process -- or the description, I guess.
ALEX KILLORN: It was a set breakout tech play. There was a couple of looks at heavy haggling at the puck, and usually on the last look. Had a little separation from the D-man. He makes a great pass up the wall. I'm able to get a step on the D-man, and I make a move and try to open up his legs, and lucky enough it went in.

Q. Ryan, you've been fortunate enough to play on some really good teams over the course of your career. How resilient is this group? It just seems that, no matter what happens, you guys just don't get rattled.
RYAN CALLAHAN: I think a lot of that comes from last year, the one we had, and the confidence in this group coming into this year.
The biggest thing this postseason was all the injuries. We've had that mentality, it's the next guy up, and the next guy steps in and does the job. It's been the whole group all year. It was the whole group last year when we made that push. So we have a very deep team, and it I think that's been a big key for us.
Obviously, you want to avoid these injuries and guys going down, but when they do, I think we have that mentality of guys stepping in and being ready to play.

Q. To either or both of you, is there a quiet confidence in Vasilevskiy? Obviously, the guy is working on his English and doesn't talk a whole lot, but I'm sure he's changed a lot personally since he got here?
ALEX KILLORN: I think he's one of the hardest workers on our team, a guy that comes in every day and works hard. It's kind of tough when you're a backup goalie and you never know when you're going to get your chance, but he was obviously ready tonight.
Whenever you have a goalie that can come in, a backup that you have a lot of confidence in, it helps the team for sure.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports




About ASAP SportsFastScripts ArchiveRecent InterviewsCaptioningUpcoming EventsContact Us
FastScripts | Events Covered | Our Clients | Other Services | ASAP in the News | Site Map | Job Opportunities | Links
ASAP Sports, Inc. | T: 1.212 385 0297