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NHL EASTERN CONFERENCE FINAL: PENGUINS VS SENATORS

May 24, 2017

Derick Brassard

Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania - Practice Day

Q. Are you excited about the opportunity you guys have right now?
DERICK BRASSARD: It's an exciting time. Whatever happened yesterday is behind us. Today's another day. Tomorrow's another game. Our mindset can change tomorrow. We just have to go out there and play our game and have fun with that.

Q. I know that winning is all that matters, but when you look at last night's game, were you happy with it. Were there things you would tweak going into Game 7?
DERICK BRASSARD: Yeah, there's always things you try and improve after every game. Obviously, getting 40-plus shots is not something we want to do tomorrow, but Anderson was our best player last night, and we expect him to be solid tomorrow. I'm sure our coaching staff and our players and our team, we're going to do everything we can to play or put their best game on the ice, and there's always things we can improve.

Q. Clarke said you guys kind of want to blow them out of the building. Is there a feeling you do need to generate a bit more offense than last night?
DERICK BRASSARD: Yeah, obviously -- like, obviously, you want to score a lot of goals. You want to win some games. Last time we won 2-1, it was one of those games that was pretty tight. But when you look at the series the first two games, their best players are frustrated because of the way we play. And the two games after that, I think we give them too much space. When you give those guys that kind of space, they're going to hurt you, and I think what Clarke said, that's pretty much the way we want to play. We just have to play our game and be confident.

Q. When you left Pittsburgh the other day after a 7-0 loss, did you picture yourself winning the series or still winning the series?
DERICK BRASSARD: No.

Q. You didn't believe it would happen?
DERICK BRASSARD: No, I didn't believe the series was over.

Q. No, that's what I meant. Did you think you were winning it?
DERICK BRASSARD: When you lose games in the playoffs, I think this game was -- I think it was better for us to lose in a blowout situation and lose in overtime and kind of be upset about the loss. I'm not saying we're not upset with the 7-0 loss, but I think it was a slap in the face a little bit, and I think it's proven in the playoffs that when a team scores a lot of goals, you kind of get -- if it's a big blowout, the next game after that, you're trying to answer and trying to show there's some character, and that's what we did yesterday.

Q. You've obviously got a lot of Game 7 experience. I didn't look at the numbers, but I don't think a lot of guys on this team do have it. What do you say? What do you impart to them?
DERICK BRASSARD: Honestly, I'm not going to say much. We just have to go out there and play our hockey game. You can't think about what's going to happen and, you know, the end result. You've just got to go out there, play the first period, do your best. Those games are so much fun to be part of.

We're in this. We're against a really good hockey team, the Stanley Cup Champion, and we have a chance to advance to the Stanley Cup Finals. We can't ask for anything better than this, but we just have to have fun with that.

Q. Do you remember what your first NHL Game 7 experience was like and did it matter that you didn't have that experience going in maybe?
DERICK BRASSARD: Yeah, honestly, I think it was against Washington a few years past. I don't even know the end result of it, and I don't remember what the score was. I'm going out there with my teammates to play hockey, and our mindset and our preparation starts right now, and we just have to focus on what we have to do. There's nothing else we can do, and hopefully we can be on top at the end of it.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

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