NHL STANLEY CUP FINALS: DEVILS v AVALANCHE

May 31, 2001

Larry Robinson

COACH ROBINSON: There is always a problem when you don't come to work and you don't stick to the game plan. You are not going to win a lot of games when you only have eight or nine guys playing. We didn't have enough guys competing tonight.

COACH ROBINSON: No, -- maybe it is nice but that is not the reason, I think. We had a great opportunity, I thought we started the game extremely well. We scored big powerplay goal. And then we had a 5-on-3 and we didn't score on the 5-on-3 and our team just lost all of its drive, all of its composure. The guys just stopped working. You are not going to win a lot of games or a lot of series when you are not scoring goals. Right now, we have only scored three goals, I think in three games. That's not going to win you a lot of games. To score goals the way the games are being played you are going to have to get in and get some dirty goals and get in front. Too many guys in the perimeter, six, seven, eight, nine, same guys going to the front of the net all the time.

COACH ROBINSON: Well, makes it a lot harder but we are not getting alot of production from a lot of people right now. The guys that are supposed to be scoring goals are getting chances but we are giving up a lot of great opportunities to shoot. We are shooting, it is hitting pads, we are just -- just not fighting through things right now in order to score goals because as I said before, the goals that are going to go in are the dirty goals that you have got to fight and -- fight through and get to the front of the net for.

COACH ROBINSON: If a coach has to light the fire under players when you are in a Stanley Cup Finals then those players shouldn't be where they are. A true professional looks forward to this. This is what we what we live for, this is what we work all year for. And to come out and not produce or not work hard or get outworked there is no excuse. Mistakes, that's part of the game. But being outhustled and outworked there is no excuse for that not at this time of the year so I expect them to bounce back. And if they don't, then at least you know what you have got. Work from there.

COACH ROBINSON: Yeah, momentum change, but I think this game wasn't won or lost there. It was when we had that 5 on 3 and didn't score. That just changed the whole momentum of the game. It gave them life and we just we didn't respond very well after that. They were holding us and holding our sticks and keeping us from getting to the puck, we didn't fight through it. Every time we fought through it we got a penalty but we didn't fight through it enough.

COACH ROBINSON: Well, I mean, it is great but then you are putting your A Line against their checking line which is what they wanted. At least this way I have got my best line against their best line, as far as scoring goes, you know, if they can -- at least hold them to nothing, it should be you know, the rest of our team against their team. Our problem is their third and fourth, maybe not necessarily their fourth line but their other lines are outplaying our lines at most times. That's what is hurting us right now.

COACH ROBINSON: Yeah every series we have gotten ourself in big trouble. I think the thing that is hurting us the most is that we are still taking stupid penalties and the problem with getting into penalty situation is that our key players are on the ice all the time. But Arnott doesn't kill penalties, Holik doesn't kill penalties, Gomez, Mogilny all these guys, so, better part of our team, the nucleus of our team sit there while four or five guys are going out on the ice all the time. We just continually shoot ourselves in the Foote by taking stupid penalties.

COACH ROBINSON: No. No, I have confidence. I think that the Arnott line can outplay their line. The other thing is that I was thinking about doing that but all it does is it puts the momentum on his side and he -- because he doesn't use four lines as much as I do, and take some of the momentum away from us. I like to roll four lines but you can't roll four lines when you are killing penalties and not getting any kind of a flow of the game. You can't get a flow of the game anyway because the particulars longer on the time-out than it does for them to change.