DENVER | There were two veterans surrounded by dozens of reporters in a small ballroom at the Ball Arena yesterday. In the left corner was Corey Perry. In the right corner was Patrick Maroon.
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Perry and Maroon have experience, like the rest of the Tampa Bay Lightning players. They had smiles on their faces after that 3-2 win in Game 5, but they weren’t showing all their teeth. Either way, they lost a few.
“We’re not giving up,” Perry said. In this locker room, we know that we always have a job to do. We are happy with this victory, but we still have better hockey to offer.
“We find ways to win and it comes from different players,” continued the number 10 of the Lightning. You can see in this locker room that there is still hockey to be played. We want to push as much as possible. »
Maroon had a similar speech. Still alive in this final series, but with a delay of 3 to 2 against Colorado, the colossus winger knows that there will still be several meters to climb.
“We came here to Denver with the goal of winning a first game on the ice for the Avalanche,” Maroon said. We did it. This is a huge challenge for us. We are happy to have this chance. We have to go for it. We needed to start with a win. »
Palat, the dark hero
Maroon spoke about one of the heroes of this evening, the Czech Ondrej Palat. For the third time since the start of the playoffs, Palat scored the winning goal.
“He keeps doing it, he’s good in the big moments,” Maroon said. He shows up in the tough spots and he finds ways to score. He plays the right way. He works as hard as he is a good player. »
“I don’t know how to explain it for Palat,” added Jon Cooper. There are many of the best players in the world who don’t have as many game-winning goals as him in the playoffs. Palat has been playing with very good players for a long time, but we don’t often talk about him. I feel like I have the same conversation about Palat every playoff year. »
A solid defense
If Maroon and his head coach sent flowers to Palat, Perry looked in the direction of his team’s group of defenders. The Victor— Hedman, Mikhail Sergachev, Ryan McDonagh and Erik Cernak did a great job in front of goalkeeper Andrei Vasilevskiy.
“Our defensemen were solid,” Perry said. We got a goal [Jan] Rutta was big. We have horses at the blue line. I know what it’s like to play against them. They are good, they do several good things. »