NHL STANLEY CUP FINALS: DEVILS v AVALANCHE

June 4, 2001

Larry Robinson

COACH ROBINSON: Well, I don't know if we dominated the boards. I think we played a lot smarter in here than we did the last time. Certainly getting that early goal gave us a little bit of life. But it is just -- it was more a case that tonight we worked. When we work, things happen for us. If we don't work, they don't.

COACH ROBINSON: A little bit of both. We had an idea of some of the combinations that we wanted to get out there against some of their people and we just tried to make those adjustments as we went along. Unfortunately we screwed up a little bit on the too many men, but it was more a case of a guy starting to come off and then decided that they had moved the pucks up quick and went back just the same time as our other guy jumped, so those things happen.

COACH ROBINSON: Well, that's just -- if we can get Alex and Gomez, everybody else picking up the slack for Arnott being out and we can spread our goals around a little bit, it is always a good thing. But this game is over. The next one is the hardest one.

COACH ROBINSON: Both.

COACH ROBINSON: Well, we knew ahead of time -- certain guys knew that they were going out if some of their people were on, so it's more the players, but it is through our advise who we wanted out there at certain times.

COACH ROBINSON: I am telling them.

COACH ROBINSON: There's no doubt when you have a player of that magnitude out, it just -- at least you hope as a coach that everybody else elevates their game to make up for the loss of a great player. Sometimes when things happen like that, it brings a team closer together and it sometimes brings out the best in other players because they are given opportunities that they may not get otherwise.

COACH ROBINSON: Only because with Arnott out we needed somebody else to go out there and control -- not control, but to be on the powerplay, without giving Scotty Stevens an extra workload. So that was the main reason that we did it. The other reason being that, you know, Sutton and White have played together as opposed to maybe taking White or somebody else out. I wanted to keep pairings that knew each other. But the decision was mostly because of Arnott not being in there.

COACH ROBINSON: Well, I mean it's all cliche, but the last one is always the hardest one to get. I think for us the most important thing is to not look at the score, not look at the standings, not look at anything, but each shift that you go out there and play each shift like it is your last shift. We can't doing crazy things because there is an explosive team. They have got -- they are very, very well coached defensively, offensively. You know, we certainly have to cut down on our penalties that we are taking again and we have just got to keep chipping away and not looking anywhere past our next shift.

COACH ROBINSON: I wish I could put my finger on it. It would save me sleepless nights and a lot of gray hair. I think when you get to this point, there are so many variables involved: Nerves and travelling and so many distractions. You know, we go through the whole year and we don't get this much coverage, for some reason or other. All of a sudden now, everyday, every paper, everywhere you go there are distractions around and different people handle it in different ways. So I think it is more of a case when you get into the Playoffs it is new and it is something that over time maybe you get a little used to, but I have been around it for a few years, and even for me it is tough. There is so much going on. You really got to concentrate, really got to keep focused.

COACH ROBINSON: Especially the one I think it was in the second period, was right near the end, made a huge stop. He definitely was very, very focused tonight. Every shot he was really square to the puck and was smothering his rebounds and handled the puck well. The kind of goaltending that we have become accustomed to with Marty.

COACH ROBINSON: Who knows. It hasn't really been a factor so far. I think in a Final series, I think it has a bit factor in that you know if you get a goal you get a little momentum or if you need a little extra push the home team is always nice to have, they get you going. After they scored their goal tonight, I mean this crowd went crazy and they buzzed us for the better part of 4, five minutes there. So the crowd is definitely an emotional lift. But how much, you know, the games are still won and lost on the ice.

COACH ROBINSON: Is it --

COACH ROBINSON: Is it tough?

COACH ROBINSON: Well it is not tough because I have great faith in all of my members of my team. I had faith that Kenny Sutton would be able to go in and do a good job tonight because we needed him as far as powerplay goes and you are taking out a guy that has been pretty powerful in us in Sean O'Donnell but sometimes you have to make little adjustments and you have to be able to suck it up sometimes for injuries. Best example is this club next door to us, I mean they could have just folded the tent when Forsberg was out and say oh we don't have a chance. But they all pulled together and I think it says a lot for their organization and for their team. I think it says a lot for our organization and our team that we have people that are capable of going in when you have injuries. That's part of hockey.