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Iginla looks to himself, teammates to be better

Zdeno Chara, Jarome Iginla, Dennis Seidenberg, Tuukka Rask

Tuukka Rask #40 of the Boston Bruins makes a save on Jarome Iginla #12 of the Pittsburgh Penguins during Game Two of the Eastern Conference Final of the 2013 NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs at the Consol Energy Center on June 3, 2013 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. (June 2, 2013 - Source: Bruce Bennett/Getty Images North America)

Out of everyone in the Eastern Conference finals, Jarome Iginla’s position is unique. It wasn’t too long ago he was a member of the Calgary Flames, deciding if he wanted to get traded to play for Boston or Pittsburgh.

When he made his decision, he did so knowing that it was entirely possible for the Bruins and Penguins to face each other deep in the playoffs.

“I chose Pitt. I’m thrilled,” Iginla said as he prepared for this series.

You have to wonder if he’s privately asking himself ‘What if?’ after two big losses at home. If he is though, he didn’t show signs of it in his postgame interview last night. He seemed calm given the circumstances and focused as he answered reporters’ questions following a 6-1 loss.

“We got out-competed tonight and outplayed,” Iginla admitted. “There’s no question about that. So we’ll all look at ourselves. I know I need to be better, we all want to be better in this room, and we all believe we can be. You know, the Bruins played well, but we also didn’t play very well at all.”

The pressure will be on Pittsburgh to take Game 3, but a 2-0 deficit, even with both losses coming at home, isn’t an insurmountable hole to dig out of.

“Our next game is our biggest game,” Iginla said.

Iginla will enter it with no points and a minus-three rating in this series. You can’t put the Penguins’ losses on him, but he’s certainly one of the players with the potential to set a different tone for Pittsburgh going forward.

You can watch his postgame interview below: