Peter Laviolette

I don't think it was necessarily the score and a shellacking by Buffalo, but they've got to continue the good defense, and they've got to put some offense on the board.

They've got to put some goals in the back of the net, especially five-on-five.

You know, just a couple of years ago in New York, we ended up playing the Kings in the second round.

And you're absolutely right.

I don't know if there's a team that forces things or disrupts things more on the ice.

there's games that you can go down into Carolina and you can walk off with a 3-1 win and you're in your room just hating the way you played.

I mean, you know, you got out attempted at the net 95 to 38 and you're like, gee, how did we even... But a win's a win in the playoffs and you take it.

And that happened a couple times for us.

Well, I think the one thing for me is that you have to match them in that aggressiveness, that skating and that physicality and that battle that they have.

You have to match it.

And a lot of teams have that already in the playoffs.

But the one thing for me with them is you have to be physical.

You have to be heavy on the puck.

You have to play the game fast.

And if you don't, you're going to be second everywhere against that team.

It's their forecheck.

It's the way that they slam the offensive zone.

It's the way that they close fouls.

forward in the neutral zone on defense.

It's not this passive backward game.