NHL STANLEY CUP FINALS: STARS v DEVILS

May 30, 2000

Jason Arnott

Martin Brodeur

JASON ARNOTT: Tonight it was just an all-around effort. A lot of people keep pinpointing our line, but with the contributions from everybody we are not going to be here where we are right now and we just want to go out and keep working hard and keep having fun and we knew this was going to be exciting and it is going to be a lot of fun, but we had to focus and fortunately we scored some goals for us.

JASON ARNOTT: They are going to come out hard, flying and playing dirty hockey. No question about it, Eddie Belfour is going to come out rock solid and I think we got to worry about what we are going to do out there and not -- play the same way and correct the little mistakes that we made tonight.

MARTIN BRODEUR: For sure I think in a game there is a lot of situations that are really important and at that time it became a big save because we came back and scored two quick goals and really took over the game from there. But everybody tried to chip in any way they can and today was really -- offensively we did it.

MARTIN BRODEUR: I try to make him the game winner too. I think it would have been fun for him. I think he has got a big heart, plays the game real hard. He has been the heart and soul of New Jersey for the last more than 15 years, I am sure. And I think it is great for him to be able to contribute offensively with a big goal like that in a Stanley Cup Final game.

MARTIN BRODEUR: It happened real quick. It was a breakdown, puck was bouncing, he just walked into a big slapper. I had a hard time controlling it, went right on his stick, I knew Modano shot, but I didn't know who took the rebound. My eyes were right on the puck. I was lucky to get a glove on the second.

JASON ARNOTT: Yeah, it was an emotional lift. Kenny has been saying in the dressing room he will give up his goals and things like that to block shots and play good defensively and he has for us throughout the season. As Marty said, he is one of the heart and souls of this team and to see him score and jump up and down like that to boost the team, this is a huge lift for us.

JASON ARNOTT: It is definitely nice to play for two players for that amount of time. We enjoy playing with each other and had a lot of fun at it. I think the meetings we have together and the work ethic from those two guys, we just go out and try to work as hard as we can for each other. We know that we are going to have the opportunity to play with each other, so it gives us an extra additive. When they split us up, it was at a rocky time for our team. We needed some adjustment. Larry said it was just going to be for a few games. We weren't worried about it.

MARTIN BRODEUR: It was a lot different. I think this series, both series I guess we have a lot of respect for the team that we are playing against. I think we feared them to a point; we don't take them lightly at any time and in 1995 we were scared of playing that series because they were the team that was supposed to win and really beat us bad. We just kept on playing well and we give our chance to win every night and next thing you know the series was over. So it was great. This time around it is about the same thing, these guys, we know that they have a lot more to give than what they did tonight and we got some lucky bounces; got some goals and got a good lead for us to be really dominant in this game. But it starts at zero again in the next game.

JASON ARNOTT: Well, it is exciting. I mean, just all the hype and just being around the locker room and out seeing the fans so excited, it was definitely nice to have an exciting game like that. But we got to calm down and keep it on an even level. We know that these guys are going to come back hard. I think we just got to keep going the same way and keep working hard.

MARTIN BRODEUR: About Kenny, I think like Jason said it earlier, I think it was really emotional for everybody to see him score a big goal like this and the way he reacted. I think he deserves what happened to him. He has been working hard. I think it is great that it happened to him to score a goal in the Finals. About the save, Modano came down flying through the neutral zone and the puck was bouncy a little bit and when he got through the blue line he took a hard slapper. I had a hard time controlling it. And it went right on Brett Hull, when he was coming down charging the net, and I was able to react and got my glove. I made the save there.