Q. It seems like the series has been defined by adjustments from game to game. How do you go about getting an upper hand?
CRAIG BERUBE: I’m not sure you get an upper hand. Going into the next game, first of all, great win we had, but we just got to get past it, move on. We have to know that we have to come into Game 5 with a desperation and the attitude we need. That’s the biggest thing.
We’re going to get Boston’s best effort. We got to match it, for sure. But the desperation effort, compete, it’s going to be a tough game. I think going into Game 5, just got to get your mind right, get it in the right spot, know how hard the game is going to be.
There’s always little things, tactics here and there. Really the game boils down to one-on-one battles, desperation plays, how hard you’re competing, things like that.
Q. How will you counter the St. Louis Blues end-zone play?
BRUCE CASSIDY: Well, we know that they like to protect pucks down low. We got to close quicker originally so it doesn’t go low to high, create some turnovers there. I think we can do a good job getting in shooting lanes on most nights, there will be a lot of off-net opportunities. Then obviously you got to collect and rebound those loose pucks, got to win the races in the defensive zone as well. It’s not just in the offensive zone or neutral zone, you got to get to the pucks first and they did that better than us tonight and that’s the tale of the game to me. They won a lot of races, got more pucks and had it more than we did. I don’t think that was necessarily the case in Game 1 or 3. We won a lot of races, had it more and we were able to make plays. You spend a lot of energy defending and that’s what we did in Game 2 and 4, we spent a lot of energy defending and it caught up to us in the end.
Q. Can you talk about being frustrated and St. Louis bouncing back?
DAVID BACKES: Yeah I think they elevated and I don’t know if we were looking for an easy game but our execution never got to where it was in Game 1, I see high-end skill-guys on both teams mishandling pucks or bouncing over pucks. I don’t know if it was ice circumstances (Game 2) or what, this is a man’s game, it has become an in-your-face battle of the wills and I think they got the better of us twice. We have to give them some credit there, but we need to be better as a group and turn that tide as well.
Q. You take on the physicality ratcheting up in the Series from Game 1?
DAVID BACKES: There were a lot more confrontations I thought, some of that might have had to do with guys trying to pull the pin on the puck before it explodes a little bit and trying to take a little bit of extra time with it. The quicker that puck moves the tougher it is to finish pucks. Again, we never got to that execution the way we did in Game 1 or Game 3. They got the win and now it’s a best-of-three and we got the home-ice because we got the split here. This is probably not going to be the last see-saw effect in this series, two resilient teams, they made an adjustment and pushed back and now it’s our turn.
Q. Is this Series the ultimate test of resilience?
BRANDON CARLO: I would say so. You know I can’t really be in much of a bigger test than this. You know, they’re a good team overall. So are we and it’s going to be a great battle throughout the rest of the series. We’re all working hard out there and doing our best, so, as you said, it’s definitely a test.
Q. How can the Bruins do a better job in countering the physicality of the Blues?
BRANDON CARLO: You know, starting off with a good gap is important, trying not to let pucks get in behind you, from the offensive zone we can be right on top of their guys and kind of be assertive in that regard, but yeah they will get t some pucks behind us and continued to press.
Q. Tell me about resetting after losing a game?
JORDAN BINNINGTON: Life of a goaltender. Just keep moving forward and regroup and just try to be there and give your team a chance to win and I just keep that mindset.
Q. What about after giving up a few goals early and how do reset after that?
JORDAN BINNINGTON: Yeah, obviously when the boys respond quickly that’s huge. I have to try and be there when the boys need me and give the team a chance to win, this is a hard-fought Series and to win it we have to play, a disciplined game, and play as a team for 60 minutes. Or, well, more than 60 minutes sometimes. But, I think we deserved that one and we’re happy to go back to Boston tied at 2-2.
Q. How do you go about slowing down Patrice Bergeron’s line?
RYAN O’REILLY: You know, I think we, as a group, when we track hard I think it helps our D have good gaps and we keep them to the outside. Obviously, they’re a dynamic line; they’ve got some great firepower and we’re just trying to make it as difficult as we can on these guys. Not give them momentum and just being smart, being disciplined with the puck at the right times. But again, we’ve got a lot of work left and we have to be ready for their adjustments.
Q. Talk about the importance of exploiting Boston’s physical advantage, particularly on the forecheck?
RYAN O’REILLY: Yeah, it is a big part of our game. I think that’s our identify you know. As forwards, we want to put it in and be physical on them and frustrate and smother teams and when we do that, yeah, we can see it wears teams down and makes it difficult on them and it provides momentum for us. We have four lines that can do that and yeah, a big reason why we are 2-2.
