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NHL WESTERN CONFERENCE FINAL: DUCKS VS PREDATORS

May 13, 2017

Austin Watson

Anaheim, California - Practice Day

Q. Talk about the resiliency last night. You get scored on first, come back, score in the third, come back. Speak to that last night and how you're playing at this stage of the Playoffs.
AUSTIN WATSON: Yeah, we've been a resilient group throughout the Playoffs, and in the first period we really liked the way that we were playing, so there was more emphasis on just continuing to play the way that we were, and we knew things were going to start to go our way a little bit. And then the overtime was just -- they carried the play a little bit in the third period. They had a great push and were able to tie it up, and just for us to go in at the intermission there and come out the way that we did in overtime, I thought we had a great overtime, and obviously we got the goal to put the game in our favor.

Q. Now that you've had some time since last night, can you point to something that you really liked and something that you want to improve for tomorrow?
AUSTIN WATSON: I definitely liked our start. We came out, we were playing with good speed, really physical. We were getting pucks to the net, and that's a big thing for us is getting to the net. I think we can get there with a little more traffic and just continue to play that way throughout the entire game. I thought we dipped maybe a little bit, but that's the Playoffs. They got a little bit of momentum, and they came with a push, but great on us to come back from that and be able to get the win.

Q. Where do you feel like you've reinvented your game the most this season?
AUSTIN WATSON: I think just physicality is definitely a big part of it. And also not being so afraid to make mistakes and just try to impact the game in a positive way, so last night I was fortunate to get a good penalty and score a goal, but just trying to make a difference, whether it be in the penalty kill or creating offense from a checking hard play against roll, and I think that's kind of changed things around for me this year.

Q. How does that attitude when you're thinking too much about making mistakes, when you're on the ice and you're thinking that way, how does that impact your game?
AUSTIN WATSON: Yeah, sometimes it's just hard sometimes as a young player because you don't want to hurt the team or make mistakes that influences the game in a negative way, but you can be a little bit too cautious, and sometimes you get a little irritability come out. Everybody playing at this level is a good hockey player in their own right, so to be able to make plays in those situations and create things, especially offensively, it's huge.

Q. It was a tough training camp for you starting in the American Hockey League, now establishing yourself pretty much as a full-time NHL player, what have you learned about yourself throughout the season?
AUSTIN WATSON: Well, I think just the ability to take any situation that comes. Obviously that wasn't the way I had the year starting out for myself, but I was able to go down there with a good attitude and just kind of say when I get a chance to come back, I want to do exactly that. I want to impact the game, I want to be a player that does positive things for this group and our lineup, and I've been able to do that throughout.

Q. Going into Game 2 after you steal Game 1, is it at a time where you almost have to be selfish as a team? Game 1 was nice, but 2-0 is even better, obviously?
AUSTIN WATSON: Yeah, absolutely. Game 1 is over with now. We got that game, and it was a huge goal in overtime for us to be able to get that, and now we're going to Game 2. We've looked at every game throughout the Playoffs as just the next game. We're just focused on Game 2 and winning that game, and we'll be ready.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

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