What Stars head coach Dave Tippett had to say follow the team's 3-1 victory over the Anaheim Ducks on Thursday:
How about your three young defensemen? They hung in there. A few shifts under siege, but they hung in there. We knew it was going to take a strong group effort but with everybody doing their part, right from Marty on up, we did our part.
Any thoughts on Marty Turco's performance? He had a wonderful performance. I think everybody knows that he has to be very good for our team to be very good. And he was excellent tonight. We scored a few goals for him, we were under siege a little bit but we found our way out of it and we did good enough to win a hockey game. It puts us in position going in to tomorrow night, if we continue to battle we'll see what we get.
On the Stars situation in the series: Every win is a huge win. It's just the way it works, and for us we found a way to get on top tonight. Marty's going to have to be very good for our team to be successful, and you saw how good he can be tonight. Our group is going to have to continue to work well in front of him. When he's playing like that, I like what we do in front of him.
On dealing with the forecheck: I think it's a group effort. We need everybody helping out in that respect, it's no secret that that's the kind of game they want to play. So, there's time when they get it beat down there and it's how you defend after that and other times when you can get it moving out of there before they get you hemmed in. It's to your benefit. All those little battles become very important in advancing the puck out of your zone.
Did you see any jitters out or Mark Fistric? He played a heady game. It was a good team for him to play against. They've got some heavy players out there, but I thought Fistric in his first NHL playoff game ever, he was very good. Along with the other kids, they're doing fine.
On strategy in the third period: There's a lot of little things that happen in a game. Sometimes they're in your favor and you hope they turn momentum in your favor. And there's some times against you. First, you miss a lot of goals to start with is a perfect example. You think you jump out to a lead and all of a sudden it's disallowed. That's hard to chew on when you look at it a little bit. But then it goes the other way when the other team scores a goal. So there's different things that happen in a game, if you can react well, you'll get a positive or negative out of them. Sometimes you'll go through penalties that are nullified by other penalties. Those are situations you hope you can use to your advantage.
On Anaheim being desperate: Our biggest thing is we're not putting it on any one individual. We're putting it on the group. Our group, everybody has a responsibility to do what they can do to help us win. We put that onus on the whole group. We recognize Anaheim's situation and how desperate they're going to be. But we have to match that desperation. Individuals can't do it.
Up 3-1, how much killer instinct does this team have? Time will tell. We don't have a lot of guys with a ton of playoff experience you can just bet your back on and say 'Oh, that guy is going to get it done'. The strength is in our group. We'll go in there tomorrow and I guarantee you we'll compete hard and do whatever we can to win the game. That's how our thoughts have been in every game so far. We're fortunate to have won three of them.
Did it ever feel easy tonight? There's never a playoff game that feels easy. That's just the way it is. There was nothing easy about this game we're talking about. They played desperately. They played hard. We found a way to make a couple of big plays that got us a win. That's the bottom line.
Did Marty have to have the night he had? Marty's going to have to continually be very good for us.
Did you sense anything different in Marty? We talked all along about his leadership within our group. He is one of the front people in our group. I think if you go back around the All-Star break, he recognized that he doesn't have to be the best leader on this team, he just has to do his job well. We ask everyone to do their part. His part is pretty significant. When he steps up and does that, he gives our group a ton of confidence.
Any update on Philippe Boucher? Boucher will not be on the trip. He will be re-evaluated in about a week.
-- Keeli Garza
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