NHL STANLEY CUP FINALS: STARS v DEVILS

June 9, 2000

Mike Modano

MIKE MODANO: Well, I didn't score all last year so I didn't really care if I did or not. As long as we win, I don't really care that was the fact last year, someone was doing it and that is pretty much what we base our success on is a lot of contribution from everybody.

MIKE MODANO: Yeah. Last night was a long night and today was a long day, so, it was -- personally I feel better as overtimes were going and felt stronger. We just seemed to get our second wind after that second overtime.

MIKE MODANO: Yeah, we all felt if we got one last night that we would be going back there to play Monday. That is still our mindset. We feel that we can't lose three in a row at home. We are planning on playing our best game tomorrow night as well and continue on with the things that we did last night, you know, it is a patient game. It is whoever can wait out the other guys, mentally breakdown the other team. It is whoever cracks and both teams did a great job, both goaltenders were outstanding. We finally got a little seam there; took advantage of it.

MIKE MODANO: A little bit of both. I think we are just, after a while, I guess comical when you -- when you keep going and going and playing. We all said we have been in this position before, after six overtimes and three overtimes, we have been doing it before. You just try to stay loose, have fun, keep playing the way you are playing. You don't want to get upset. You don't want to be conservative with what you do. There is a lot of tension out there. No one wants to be that guy that makes that mistake. You try go out there, relax, play the game like we had been playing all night long.

MIKE MODANO: Not a whole lot. They can't go out there and play (Laughter.) They are big supporters, we know that. They have been great, our fan base down here has been outstanding. The fan growth has been outstanding in Dallas. It has become more and more of a hockey town. They are very devoted and dedicated to us and our success. We are thrilled to be down in this location. It has been an outstanding eight years for me down here in Texas. We figured if we got that one last night that Reunion would be a great place and tough ticket to get tomorrow night. So it is great that they are still there hanging with us.

MIKE MODANO: Some guys eat a lot of oranges and bananas and get whatever you can in your system. Some guys just get out of the room, go lay down somewhere, just to kind of keep your legs up and get some fresh blood to your legs, but just trying to get as much rest as you can and just trying to play, stay mentally focused in what we are doing and how we have been playing all night long and just to continue to have confidence and play with some poise.

MIKE MODANO: They had some great chances throughout the game. Again, it is decisions with and without the puck that come back to haunt us sometimes. Being quicker, coming out of our zone a little bit sometimes, we are hesitant in making the first pass and getting out with any real problems, but if there was any breakdown, Eddie made some great saves in overtime and throughout the regulation time. So he seemed to get stronger as the game went on and overtime went on. Like we talked about being very supportive to one another on the ice and being there to make it easier for the guy with the puck, not getting too far ahead of the play; not getting too far away from him and making it real short as we go up and down the ice.

MIKE MODANO: Like I said earlier, it was more of a waiting game who was going to wait out the other team. They did it the two games here. I think we feel we got a good hold on this series as far as what it takes to be involved in each game and give ourselves a chance to win the games, but we feel good about tomorrow night. I think we all feel very confident and very good about it and feel that it will be going to Game 7.

MIKE MODANO: You try to. It is tough to obviously with what is at stake and maybe not seeing a Game 6, but it is a great position to be in. Anybody would be in a great position to play in these two games, two games left in the year and to be in the position to advance, live for another day, I think that is what we are best at when we are in desperate times and our backs against the wall, we seem to play our best game and everybody comes to play and it is unfortunate it takes that, but when it does we seem to answer that real well.

MIKE MODANO: After a while, no, I mean, Brodeur made some great saves and Eddie, likewise, they were both outstanding with some point blank saves. Just the way it was going, just didn't think it was going to ever end. But then that whole play, the goal -- the whole play just developed real nice from our zone all the way up the ice, everything kind of went real smooth in the plays, but sometimes those types of goals, you just throw it in the net, goes off the sticks, and legs and goes in.

MIKE MODANO: Maybe when it is all over, but in the heat of the moment you don't realize -- you realize what is at stake and you realize that you may not see another game and your season may be over, so there is a bit of nervousness there. I think we realized about the records and the length of games after the games are all done.

MIKE MODANO: We talked about slowing the game down it just -- bringing the pace down a little bit, more suits our style, especially on the road, we just want to take our time, keep everybody fresh as much as possible and take our time between changes. We changed an awful lot the first part of the game just getting everybody into the game and the flow of it. But just we talked about our centerman being a little more patient not getting ahead of the play and be supportive to our defensemen and coming out of our zone we found it was a little bit easier through the neutral zone and a lot of times Joe and I had a lot of room through the neutral zone to skate and try to create some plays, but last night as far as sleep there was a few hours.

MIKE MODANO: Yeah. I mean.

MIKE MODANO: I think as the game went on we felt more and more in tune with the game, how it was going; how the flow was going. You get more comfortable and confident as the series goes on and you get more familiar with their strengths and weaknesses you are able to use those to your advantage.