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December 23
Toews says Hawks disappointed, still in command
From chicagoblackhawks.com: (link)
PHILADELPHIA -- Jonathan Toews has been held without a goal in the first three games of the Stanley Cup Final, but the Chicago Blackhawks' captain was solid in his team's 4-3 overtime loss against the Philadelphia Flyers on Wednesday night at the Wachovia Center.
Toews, who picked up his first point of the Final by assisting on Patrick Kane's first tally of the series at 2:50 of the third period, received 22:26 of ice time and won 10 of 19 faceoffs in Game 3. While the Blackhawks were unable to grab a 3-0 lead in this best-of-7 series, Toews and his teammates remain confident.
Q: Obviously the loss stings, but is it nice to see your line finally get on the score sheet?
Toews: It's always nice; it doesn't matter what game it is. But when you work hard for a couple of games and nothing goes your way, to score a goal helps your confidence a little bit. One way or another, we'll play the way we can. Whether we score or not, we want to find ways to help our team win.
Q: Your team has scored 11 goals in this series and 10 have come from different players. What does that say about your depth?
Toews: I guess it's that time of the series where the power play starts cashing in. Maybe some of our top lines start doing the same. We're not going to sit here and blame anybody. It's just one loss. We knew coming into this series that it was going to be a dogfight. It was a tough game tonight. We did a lot of good things. As every game goes along, we're going to try to keep improving.
Q: When you're that close to going up 3-0 in the series, is it tough to lose that way?
Toews: Yeah. We'll try not to look at it that way. When you come into this game, the series is far from over. We couldn't look ahead to Game 4 or anything beyond tonight. It is what it is. It's tough to lose, especially in OT when you work as hard you did. We had the lead there in the third, and they kind of came right back and took the momentum away. I think we had chances to put that game away, and we didn't. That's disappointing. We're not looking past any game right now. Regardless of what the score is in the series, we'll keep getting better and we'll get ready for the next one.
Q: The last two games in the third period, they've dominated in stretches. Is that concerning at all?
Toews: Not really. We had our chances. As far as quality chances go, I think we were right there. Maybe they had the puck a little bit more, and that's where we need to maybe improve -- just coming out of zone with puck control, and sometimes we're thinking we have less time than we actually do. We'll relax with the puck and defensively we'll be fine.
Q: Do you break this one down in your head a lot, or do you just forget about it as quick as you can?
Toews: You learn from your mistakes. It's going to be a tough series. It's far from over. We're not going to beat ourselves up. We're up 2-1. That's a great situation to be in. We've still got to play with a lot of confidence and really believe in each other. It was a tough building to play in tonight. That was a desperate team. To do what we did tonight was good, but we know it's going to take better than that. We're going to get ready for the next one and that's all we can worry about right now.
Q: Was it nice to see Patrick Kane get his first goal of the series?
Toews: Yeah … it's nice when you kind of watch him go in there, and he made no mistake. It's nice to get one like that, but we've got to find a way to keep puck possession in their zone. Maybe we didn't sustain that enough like we normally do in their zone. When you're constantly giving up pucks and you have to backcheck, it's tough to get your offense going. We've got to protect it better and just be smarter and more patient in their zone.
Q: Do you think they were frustrating you or trying to get under your skin a little bit?
Toews: That's part of it. Every team is trying to do that to us. Maybe we took a few penalties that we shouldn't, and that's maybe what cost us the game too. We've got to be smarter. We don't want to be that team. We've said all along that we're going to be smart. We've seen other teams take stupid penalties against us, but we're not going to try to let them suck us into playing like that.
Q: Chris Pronger always plays on the edge. Do you think he took it up another notch tonight?
Toews: Yeah, that's his job. He's going to keep getting better as the series goes along. To us, he's just another guy out there. We've got to focus on making his job tougher.
PHILADELPHIA -- Jonathan Toews has been held without a goal in the first three games of the Stanley Cup Final, but the Chicago Blackhawks' captain was solid in his team's 4-3 overtime loss against the Philadelphia Flyers on Wednesday night at the Wachovia Center.
Toews, who picked up his first point of the Final by assisting on Patrick Kane's first tally of the series at 2:50 of the third period, received 22:26 of ice time and won 10 of 19 faceoffs in Game 3. While the Blackhawks were unable to grab a 3-0 lead in this best-of-7 series, Toews and his teammates remain confident.
Q: Obviously the loss stings, but is it nice to see your line finally get on the score sheet?
Toews: It's always nice; it doesn't matter what game it is. But when you work hard for a couple of games and nothing goes your way, to score a goal helps your confidence a little bit. One way or another, we'll play the way we can. Whether we score or not, we want to find ways to help our team win.
Q: Your team has scored 11 goals in this series and 10 have come from different players. What does that say about your depth?
Toews: I guess it's that time of the series where the power play starts cashing in. Maybe some of our top lines start doing the same. We're not going to sit here and blame anybody. It's just one loss. We knew coming into this series that it was going to be a dogfight. It was a tough game tonight. We did a lot of good things. As every game goes along, we're going to try to keep improving.
Q: When you're that close to going up 3-0 in the series, is it tough to lose that way?
Toews: Yeah. We'll try not to look at it that way. When you come into this game, the series is far from over. We couldn't look ahead to Game 4 or anything beyond tonight. It is what it is. It's tough to lose, especially in OT when you work as hard you did. We had the lead there in the third, and they kind of came right back and took the momentum away. I think we had chances to put that game away, and we didn't. That's disappointing. We're not looking past any game right now. Regardless of what the score is in the series, we'll keep getting better and we'll get ready for the next one.
Q: The last two games in the third period, they've dominated in stretches. Is that concerning at all?
Toews: Not really. We had our chances. As far as quality chances go, I think we were right there. Maybe they had the puck a little bit more, and that's where we need to maybe improve -- just coming out of zone with puck control, and sometimes we're thinking we have less time than we actually do. We'll relax with the puck and defensively we'll be fine.
Q: Do you break this one down in your head a lot, or do you just forget about it as quick as you can?
Toews: You learn from your mistakes. It's going to be a tough series. It's far from over. We're not going to beat ourselves up. We're up 2-1. That's a great situation to be in. We've still got to play with a lot of confidence and really believe in each other. It was a tough building to play in tonight. That was a desperate team. To do what we did tonight was good, but we know it's going to take better than that. We're going to get ready for the next one and that's all we can worry about right now.
Q: Was it nice to see Patrick Kane get his first goal of the series?
Toews: Yeah … it's nice when you kind of watch him go in there, and he made no mistake. It's nice to get one like that, but we've got to find a way to keep puck possession in their zone. Maybe we didn't sustain that enough like we normally do in their zone. When you're constantly giving up pucks and you have to backcheck, it's tough to get your offense going. We've got to protect it better and just be smarter and more patient in their zone.
Q: Do you think they were frustrating you or trying to get under your skin a little bit?
Toews: That's part of it. Every team is trying to do that to us. Maybe we took a few penalties that we shouldn't, and that's maybe what cost us the game too. We've got to be smarter. We don't want to be that team. We've said all along that we're going to be smart. We've seen other teams take stupid penalties against us, but we're not going to try to let them suck us into playing like that.
Q: Chris Pronger always plays on the edge. Do you think he took it up another notch tonight?
Toews: Yeah, that's his job. He's going to keep getting better as the series goes along. To us, he's just another guy out there. We've got to focus on making his job tougher.
