NHL STANLEY CUP FINALS: CAPITALS v RED WINGS

June 9, 1998

Olaf Kolzig

OLAF KOLZIG: Well, I don't know if that was the whole game. I mean, we are playing a more experienced and more veteran team than we did in the past. Maybe in the past series those mistakes wouldn't have hurt us, but tonight it did. We learned a lesson. I thought we adjusted well in the second and third period. There was still a lot of time left. We scored midway through the second. We had a lot of time to get the equalizer. Osgood made some big saves. We know we can give these guys a fight.

OLAF KOLZIG: I can't even remember the first one, I think defenseman got caught up around -- went by him, and you know, Kocur was left alone in front of the net for the tap-in. Second one I think we got a little running around, Lidstrom let one go from the point. There was just an bunch of traffic in front of me. We have got to pick our guys up, and when we start get running around like that we take a whistle or try to get the puck off the glass and out. That is a lesson learned. Game 1, we are down 1-nothing to Buffalo at home and managed to battle back. Now it is an another test of our character.

OLAF KOLZIG: I think obviously that is a positive down 2-nothing and the opposition is building, defending Stanley Cup Champions, first period, easily could have folded the tent and said: Let's go to Game 2. But we battled back and, like I said, we had some quality chances but just didn't go away. It was a close hockey game; came right down to the end. We learn from our mistakes, and be ready to go to Game 2.

OLAF KOLZIG: I don't think so. I think we handled the first ten minutes of the first period, I thought, we handled the play real well. I don't think we gave them too many chances or, you know, any kind of life. I thought they were going to come out a little harder, but we managed to hold them off. And, I think, for whatever reason, we just -- I mean, we had those kind of mistakes in the other series too. But, like I said, this is a veteran hockey team and they have won a Stanley Cup before and so they know what it takes to win and they capitalize on the other teams mistake. That is what happened in their past series. They didn't really outshoot teams all that much. They just capitalized on the chances that they had and they were able to do that tonight early.