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NHL EASTERN CONFERENCE FINALS: SABRES v HURRICANES


May 30, 2006


Daniel Briere

Chris Drury

Ryan Miller


BUFFALO, NEW YORK: Game Six

Q. Daniel, all you wanted was a Game 7, you got it.
DANIEL BRIERE: Yeah, before the game that's all we were looking for. We wanted a chance at Game 7.
It's exciting to get it done here in front of our fans. We have won over there, now we know we can win in Carolina. We played extremely well in Game 5, could have gone both ways. We're excited about going back for Game 7.
Q. When did you know it was in?
DANIEL BRIERE: I saw the light go on. I saw the fans kind of jumping up. I couldn't see much from the blue line. I mean, it's a heck of a feeling when you see everybody getting up in the building and the building's going nuts like that.
Q. Atmosphere throughout the night, what was it like?
DANIEL BRIERE: The way we came out, the way we were skating early in the first period, I had confidence the whole game. Usually you get a little nervous in the last five minutes in the game when you are up by a goal or two; I wasn't even nervous. They tied the game, it wasn't a big deal. In the room before overtime the guys were relaxed. We played so well that we knew we were going to get a bounce for some reason, it's just that -- I don't know how to explain it. I wasn't even nervous going back for overtime. I knew we were going to find a way to get it done.
Q. Talk about your defense tonight.
RYAN MILLER: They have been just so solid all season, all playoffs I don't expect them to do anything else. They all realize what the situation is.
We wanted Teppo to give it a shot tonight. Teppo is being real honest with us; we appreciate that. He's not pushing it. He's letting the guys who are 100% go. They are doing a great job just being efficient in their zone. I thought a couple of times in the second they saved goals, you know, taking the back door guys and, you know, had a couple open looks if that puck hits their tape.
Obviously the shot blocking of the entire team is great tonight and we did a really good job of just moving our feet, especially in the D zone, we got out of there when we needed to. It's exciting that we can play this well when we have to.
Q. Chris, how does this team not get rattled? You give up a tying goal with four minutes left and you come back, you have been doing it all year long?
CHRIS DRURY: I don't know. That's kind have been our MO all year, just a fearless bunch of guys, you know, injuries we have gone through, how many games we have won in the last ten minutes all year, we always just seem to, like Danny said, find a way. Certainly no different tonight.
Just our poise too, a lot of guys first time they are ever in the playoffs, guys like me haven't been in it in a while, a lot of poise, especially Millsie sitting here next to me goes a long way.
Q. Talk about doing it for each other. Almost like you owed it to the defensemen the way they have been playing to win it and win it quick in overtime.
DANIEL BRIERE: There's a special bond right now in our dressing room, everything we have gone through this year and everything we're going through in the playoffs, I mean, there's a lot of young guys. Except for Teppo we're all pretty young guys that are just a getting taste of it, I mean, we have to give credit to Chris for leading us the way he is, Ryan back there, like he said, his poise. Yeah, we like doing it for each other.
I have mentioned this before the series started, we have the same guys in this dressing room that were here at training camp, you know, nobody comes from -- nobody from the outside came in. We have been together for six, seven eight months now, almost every day we spend more time with each other than we do with our own families. So there's definitely something special there. We don't want it to end.
Q. Did you think that shot had a chance of going in?
DANIEL BRIERE: Yes, maybe not from my shot, but we had a couple of guys in front of the net, they had a couple of guys diving in front of it, so I knew if the shot could just get to Ward and maybe we could jump on the rebounds, because they are to so good at blocking shots just the way we do that if we're able to get the puck past them, past their defensemen, and onto Ward, a lot of times we have a guy behind their defensemen. Early in the game a couple of times, we got a shot where Derek Roy just was at the tip of his stick.
You know, we have to find ways, our power play, and the point shots coming from the point, to get it past their defensemen, because they come out, they challenge us, they want to block shots. You get past them our guys in front of the net might be alone in front of Ward.
Q. The goal kind of came off a broken play. The flip didn't get through where you wanted it obviously --
DANIEL BRIERE: Yeah, it was a weird entry. We got a lucky bounce, a great play by Rory also to fake the shot, make the defender go down and slide it back to me. They got their breaks last game and we're going to get breaks once in a while, too. But overall I thought we played a very strong game tonight.
Q. Talk about how much you put into the first period. Was the toughest part just keeping going, losing a little bit on the legs?
DANIEL BRIERE: Yeah, well, I don't know, maybe we surprised them a little bit the way we came out. I don't know, but we were fired up. We wanted to show everybody that we're not a bunch of quitters. We haven't quit all year and we're not going to start now. It was just the way we wanted to play, come out as strong as we wanted and the one play that kind of got me going is the first play in overtime. If you look back, I saw Chris just racing down for the puck and almost getting there he was probably ten feet behind their defensemen, almost beating them to the puck. That's when I realized we have it tonight. We want it just more than them. It started with our leaders tonight.
Q. Can you talk about the Edmonton Oilers probably and -- (inaudible)?
DANIEL BRIERE: I will comment on that after this series is over.
Q. Did you feel that overall for yourself this was your best performance in the series?
RYAN MILLER: This is a great effort tonight. I think everybody had the right attitude tonight. They were all going to go out and try their hardest, and I think we're capable of great things when we're moving our feet.
We started right from the drop of the faceoff. I could feel it sitting back there watching the guys in the first period, watching them go, and I thought tonight could turn out to even more of a spread, you know, we had great chances. I think if we put those pucks on the net in Game 7, we are going to have a good chance of getting out of there with a win

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