Heroic Halak talks about 53-save effort

MONTREAL -- The hero of the night had to stand on a riser that was nearly a foot off the ground during his postgame press conference in the Montreal Canadiens dressing room. Jaroslav Halak smiled nearly the entire time.

The Canadiens goalie was outstanding in Game 6 Monday night. He made 53 saves, including 18 while Washington was on the power play, to help his team to a 4-1 victory and give it a chance to steal this series back at Verizon Center in Game 7 Wednesday.

Eric Fehr was the only Capital to beat Halak on Monday, and that was off a redirection right in front of the net.

"You can't stop them all," Halak said with a smile.

He nearly did. He has now made 90 saves on 92 shots over the last two games, but Monday night's performance was arguably his best ever. Here is a portion of what he had to say about it:

Q: It was an amazing game and after it, are you happy with the entire team?

Halak: You know we came out strong in the first period and we got the lead again like the last game. I think that was really huge for us because we were playing at home in front of 21,000 people that were screaming really loud tonight.

Q: Describe walking out for the start with everyone screaming your name.

Halak: It's a great feeling, especially in the playoffs when you're in a game like that and no one even gave us a chance tonight. But we stuck to the game plan, we were playing hard, and it paid off at the end of the night. It's a great feeling, but we have one more game ahead of us and we have to get ready.

Q: Do you have another one like that in you?

Halak: Oh, I don't know. We'll see what happens. Every game is a different game. There might be some bad bounces next game, but I'll just try to do my best.

Q: What did you like about your game tonight?

Halak: You know, the win, that's what I liked about the game. We play the game to win the game and it's a great game when you win, and tonight was a huge game for us.

Q: What did you think of that 5-on-3 kill in the first period?

Halak: I think our guys did a great job because they didn't have many shots on me, they blocked so many shots. Hal Gill on the left side did an amazing job there and he gave them no chance to pass it or shoot it. He was like a second goalie out there.

Q: If you had to write the story for us tonight, what words would you use to describe your performance, and don't be so humble.

Halak: I don't know. I would say another day in the office. That's what I would say.

Q: Are you exhausted after a game like this one?

Halak: Yeah, I was tired at the end of the game. Good thing we didn't have to go to overtime.

Q: Do you think Washington's hands might be shaking right now?

Halak: Oh, I don't know. They have a great team and we still have to be aware of all the guys on the ice.

Q: Stats are stats, but your glove hand was a weapon tonight. Were you just feeling it with the glove tonight?

Halak: You also have to get a little lucky to be good, and good to be lucky. I was just trying to have fun and do my best, and it was working.

Q: OK, but that glove stop on Joe Corvo in the second period, was that lucky or good?

Halak: I don't know. I don't know. Somebody was in front of me, I think my D, but I saw it so I had a good view of that.

Follow Dan Rosen on Twitter at: @drosennhl