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NHL STANLEY CUP FINALS: KINGS v DEVILS


June 11, 2012


Zach Parise

Dainius Zubrus


LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA: Game Six

THE MODERATOR:  Questions for Dainius and Zach.

Q.  What is your favorite Marty moment in the finals?
DAINIUS ZUBRUS:  I don't know.  There's plenty of them.  Maybe Carter in the second period last one.
Yeah, that one I remember was big and important, so...

Q.  Dainius, can you talk about the frustration level after Game3.  Everybody in the dressing room was really upset about what happened during that game.  It says a lot right now that this team is still playing.
DAINIUS ZUBRUS:  Well, yeah, we believe we think we're working hard, not getting much accomplished.  Of course it's frustrating when you're not getting results.
But saying that, I still think we all felt like the series could have been a lot different, especially first two games.  So really, I mean, yeah, we were down.  I don't think our attitude changed much because the effort always was there, but maybe not the results.
Frustration was there, for sure, as we said, but I don't think we wanted to change too much.  We adjusted a few things, but not that much.  Then just trying to stick with it.
In our heads, the series was not over.  We just wanted to keep going, you know, and not stop.

Q.  Zach, in regards to Marty, what he's doing at his age, to basically turn back the clock, I don't know if you can totally appreciate it as you're playing, just to think about that, how amazing is that to you?
ZACH PARISE:  I shouldn't say that any of us are really surprised.  He's played really well for us all year.
I think when you look at it, when you look at his age, it makes it that much more impressive because there‑‑ Roloson is over 40, but I don't know if there's been a goalie over 40 ‑ I could be wrong ‑ that's led his team to a Cup final.  The way he's doing it, it's been awesome.
He's done what a team asks.  You ask your goalie to give the team a chance to win.  I think he really won the last game for us, I really do.  He made big saves when we weren't playing well, bailed us out a lot.  He's played great for us all playoffs.

Q.  Zach, when you think about the way you felt heading into Game4, I don't know if it's pressure, anxiety, what you were trying to accomplish, versus how you feel heading into Game 6.  Is it different for you now?
ZACH PARISE:  Me personally?

Q.  Yes.
ZACH PARISE:  For me, my approach is to try to keep it always the same.  It is nice to wind up on the score sheet and contribute.  That feels good.  But more importantly, I'm happy we're still playing, that we still got a chance.
But like I said all along, I thought our line was playing well.  We just couldn't find a way.  Even at the beginning of Game5, when Travis took that shot on the power play, it trickled through, somehow started to go away from the net, you start thinking to yourself, Is this ever going to end here?
But I still think, even throughout that game, we had a lot of chances we didn't capitalize on.  We can still bear down a little bit.

Q.  Pete just said you guys almost didn't get out of the first round because of penalties, that you learned better discipline through that.  How important was that to get here and how important is that through this series?
DAINIUS ZUBRUS:  Well, I think going from Florida to the Flyers, because we saw what happened to Pittsburgh against the Flyers, that was one of the things we really tried to do, is not to get into whistles, be disciplined.  We knew how good their power play was.
So, yeah, I think it was just kind of same approach.  We tried to do the same thing against the Rangers.  Honestly, now we don't even think about it.  We just sort of try to play our game.  Just play the game.
After whistles, there's stuff going on, there always will be, but you try to stay away from it a little bit and just worry about the hockey.

Q.  Zach, is there any danger or do you have to guard against maybe not overconfidence, but the feeling that, We knew all along we were going to be in this?  Does that have to be watched out for?
ZACH PARISE:  For us?  I mean, I don't see any reason why we should be overconfident or satisfied.  We're still down 3‑2.  We're still in the same spot.  One loss, we're done.
I think just having gotten a couple wins, we're playing with more confidence.  But I don't think that makes us feel overconfident.
We still know how great of a team they are, how much better we need to play to make this thing even go further.  But that being said, we're still in a really tough spot, having to win a road Game 6 to extend this thing.

Q.  Assessing this thing from a mental and physical freshness standpoint, where do you feel you're at?
ZACH PARISE:  I think we're fine.  I think we're loose.  We have energy.  I think we're a little more relaxed having gotten those two wins.  When you feel, like from an individual standpoint and a team standpoint, that you work and work, you're doing the right things, you're not getting the results, it does get frustrating, it starts to build up.  When you're able to break through and win a couple games, that does a lot for the psyche of the team.

Q.  You're 4‑0 in elimination games.  Not something you can simulate in the regular season.  What prepares you in these situations when you're facing elimination?
ZACH PARISE:  Number one, as we said all along, the coaches do, we think we get better as the series goes on.  But I don't know, I think our team must just play well when we're in a pressure situation.  I think that starts with our goaltending.  You've got a person that's played in bigger games than any of us have ever played in and kind of has that sense of calmness back there, making big saves when we need it.
I don't know.  When we've had to play well, we've done it, for whatever reason.
THE MODERATOR:  Thank you.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports




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