WASHINGTON -- Mike Sullivan was concocting new ways to say 'Just play.'
That's when you know the break's been too long, that the Penguins and Capitals both really, really need to take the ice and ... well, just play. Which they will, as the whole of the hockey world will witness, at 7:38 p.m. tonight for Game 1 of their seismic Stanley Cup playoff series inside what's sure to be a throbbing Verizon Center.
"Just compete," by the way, represented today's variation after the morning skate.
“We will try to put our best game on the ice tonight," Sullivan told us in the media room. "We will play hard. We’re going to do everything within our power to play the game we're going to play. We’re going to get to our game as consistently as we can. We’re going to compete. I think that’s the most important thing. We’re just going to compete. We know it’s not going to be perfect out there. But we’re going to compete. We’re going to do our best to get to our game."
This is awesome. But wait, there's more, without a breath's pause.
"That’s all we can control. That’s all we can do. And then we’ll react. We’ll play from there. What I’ve said all along about these players is that I love their ability to react and respond with whatever challenges or adversities that we face throughout the course of a game, the season or this game. We’re going to try to bring our best.”
