Game 6 pre-game quotes: Chicago

Joel Quenneville, on the game:
It’s obviously a huge game for everybody and everybody is excited about it. Now let’s play the right way.

Quenneville, on whether he feels Los Angeles feels pressure to close the series out:
I feel like that. But at the same time, they’re at home and it’s a huge game for everybody. We’ll look to get off to a strong start. I’m sure that’s the motivation on their side as well. So let’s go. Let’s be ready.

Quenneville, on whether he gets nervous before games like this:
I get a little nervous. I get a little excited. Probably more excited than nervous.

Quenneville, on whether his penalty kill got back on track in Game 5:
Well it stopped the trend, for sure. We need that to be strong.

Quenneville, on whether it is easier to slow a game down or speed a game up:
That’s a good question. It can change. It’s tough to predict that or plan it. I think both teams are very dangerous off the rush. A lot of skill throughout their lineup, it can happen quickly. Both teams can score in bunches. I think we have the same mentality [as Los Angeles]. We don’t want to get in a track meet and exchange chances or high quality chances. The three games we lost in sequence there, it was almost like for big stretches of the game we opened it up to a different level and we got picked apart.

Quenneville, on whether Chicago has had a difficult time holding onto leads in the series:
They’re a real good hockey team. Give them credit, they can score goals and they’ve got spread out offense and a very active D. So they can score on any shift at any time. But I still think we have to take care of the front of our net. We have to take care of cleaning up goals that are preventable. I think that’s what has hurt us in this series.

Quenneville, on whether Los Angeles is a tougher challenge compared to last year:
Yeah, whether you’re looking at their health and their depth, their balance and what they’ve overcome. We knew we had a dangerous team.

Duncan Keith, on whether the pressure is on Los Angeles to close out the series:
There is pressure on both ways. I think it’s just a matter of how you look at it. But at the same time, they’re looking to close this out obviously. We’re playing for our lives tonight and we’re going to need our best game of the year.

Keith, on whether this has been a successful season if they don’t win the Stanley Cup:
I don’t think we look at it as a success if we don’t win. I think with the group of guys we have in here, especially the core guys, I think that’s our goal. Obviously we’ve done a few things right to get to this point. But I don’t think anyone in our room is satisfied with just getting to the Western Conference Finals.

Keith, on whether it is easier to slow a game down or speed a game up:
Well, I would think it’s probably easier to slow it down. It’s harder to handle the puck and play a speed game. Everybody can skate fast. I think we’ve got guys in our room that are tailored toward that type of game. At the same time, we’re not trying to play a wide open game. We have to be good defensively as well and be smart in our own zone. That’s going to lead to chances the other way.

Patrick Sharp, on whether this has been a successful season if they don’t win the Stanley Cup:
I think expectations are high in our locker room and within the organization. We certainly know what it takes to get to this point of the season, but we have our sights set much higher.

Sharp, on whether they learned anything from the previous games at Staples Center:
I hope so. They play well in their building. They play well on the road as well. It’s a tough place to play. I think we can do some things better tonight than we did in the previous two games in this building. Having said that, it comes down to executing on the ice.

Sharp, on the importance of momentum in the playoffs:
Yeah, momentum is big in the playoffs, whether it’s game to game or within a singular game. I think you’ve seen it in all the series that have gone on so far, whether teams are coming back from 3-0. The Kings have won a number of games in both of their series in a row. You look in the course of one particular game, big shifts can swing momentum – penalties, goals, all that kind of stuff. We had a big win a couple nights ago, we’re hoping to keep that momentum and play well tonight.

Sharp, on whether Patrick Kane’s play affects the entire team:
Kaner is a special player. When he’s playing the way he has lately, it makes everyone else better. You see four assists the other night, he’s making his teammates have those great chances to put the puck in the net. I think you look at the way he’s skating now. He’s getting to pucks first and he’s hanging onto that puck. No question that he’s a big part of our team and we’re happy with the way he’s playing.

Sharp, on bringing intensity to tonight’s game:
Last game, playing at home helped. The crowd got us into it. Scoring on the power play early on certainly gave us a boost. Whether we’re at home or on the road, we want to make sure that we come out and do the things that the coaches want us to do. We like to think we’ve got four lines that can play and three defense pairs that can play. We’ll just roll them over and get into the game as best we can. Whether we score first or not, we have to make we sure play well for all three periods and maybe more if we have to.

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