NHL STANLEY CUP FINALS: STARS v DEVILS

June 3, 2000

Larry Robinson

COACH ROBINSON: I don't know. On our part we talked about getting the puck in deeper. We were guilty of a lot of turnovers last game. We knew that especially later on in the period the ice wasn't going to be as good as we expected. However, I thought the ice wasn't that bad tonight. But the thing is that when the puck is bouncing, it is better to make a mistake down in deep where they have to go all the way back down to the other end as opposed to the other way. But we certainly made life hard for ourselves. At the end, we gave them a couple of great chances to score. I thought our penalty killing won us the game.

COACH ROBINSON: I was a little upset. The reason I was up screaming and yelling was they gave us a double minor. And right after that on the faceoff, Scotty Stevens gets hauled down and there is no call. That is the only thing that upsets me. If you are going to call it, you got to call both ways. It did upset me a little bit, but we were able to ride the storm there. And Marty made some big saves for us. Scotty Stevens, Niedermayer, our defense played strong. So it was a great game.

COACH ROBINSON: I got enough trying to worry about who I get out on the ice without having to worry who Hitch puts out there. That line, when they are playing, and the Modano line is going, it makes for some pretty exciting hockey out there.

COACH ROBINSON: Unbelievable. I told Patrik Elias after the game I was very proud of both of them. I talked to them before, and I think nobody feels worse than they do that they didn't come out and have a good game in Game 2. But it shows the true professionals that they are when they come out tonight and just play a heck of a game. I thought the guy that just was a dominant factor out there for us, played great, was Jason Arnott.

COACH ROBINSON: I don't know. I don't know how you explain it. I think the possibility that maybe our team tries to keep the game a little bit more simple. We don't maybe try to do fancy things that we do at home. Maybe we feed off the other team's crowd. I don't really have an answer for you.

COACH ROBINSON: Marty didn't think I had -- my hair was gray enough, so wanted to just make it a little grayer.

COACH ROBINSON: No. I think if you do it that way, I think you are kind of making your team a little tentative. I think it is better that you just -- after you game plan and you go out with your game plan, if you go out with the thought in mind: Okay, they are going to come at us. We have got to weather the storm. You may -- I have a tendency to lay back a little and just say: Here is the puck. We are going to play -- ( inaudible.) I think you can do that. You have got to stick to your game plan. Have a game plan first of all, then kind of stick to it, and see what happens.

COACH ROBINSON: They didn't let the other team score. Well, I think on that 5-on-3, I think the biggest thing is that we tried to keep the puck on the outside as much as possible. Certainly the two most dangerous guys are Hull and Modano. And you always got to pay special attention to them. Also you need a little bit of luck. A lot of times your best penalty killer is the guy between the pipes, and he made huge stops for us. He slid across Modano; made a great save. I think that is the biggest part of it.

COACH ROBINSON: I can only think of maybe one game where Scotty was off of his game a little bit. But since the suspension against Florida when he has come back, he has had a tremendous impact on our club, and certainly when he is at his best, we are a much different team, because he gives us a whole new dimension. He is a lot like Zubov on Dallas, in that when they have the puck, they can control the puck. They are great skaters and just seemed to open up the ice for everybody else.