Phaneuf: "Our fans are going to be passionate and loud"
by Craig Medaglia @craigmedaglia / Ottawa Senators
As the Sens get set for their first elimination game of the playoffs tonight, Dion Phaneuf talks about resetting after Game 5, the atmosphere at Canadian Tire Centre and more...
On moving on from the loss in Pittsburgh in Game 5:
We're not even talking about last game today. That's been dealt with. We've looked at what we have to do better and today's a new opportunity for our team. This is a game that we get to play in front of our fans and we get to bounce back from the effort that we weren't happy about in our last game.
On the team's current playoff run:
I've enjoyed every minute of it. I don't look at just the playoffs but the whole year. The way that we've dealt with a lot of adversity, a lot of different scenarios, a lot of different guys coming in and out of the line-up...there's been a lot of different storylines. I think that the whole year and the way that we've found a way through a lot of different circumstances and different adversity has made us a resilient group and we're going to have to use that tonight.
Preparing for Game 6:
We like where we're at right now and we've got an opportunity here to even the series up at home in front of our fans that are going to be passionate and loud. The one thing that really sticks out for me is how our building has really amped up the energy in this last round. You can feel it as players, it's contagious and it really gets your energy level up. Tonight should be another one of those atmospheres.
On playing an elimination game:
The bottom line is that we have to find a way to have our best game tonight. We know where we're at, we know where the series is at so there's not much more to be said than we have to go out and play a really good hockey game.
On facing the Penguins in this series:
I think the major thing that they've done is that they came as advertised. We know that they're the defending Stanley Cup champions for a reason. They've got a lot of depth and I think they've shown that but their skill and the way that they work is one thing that we expected. I don't think they've done anything we hadn't anticipated but they've played a hard, skilled game and we can expect that again tonight.