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MIKE MODANO'S PLAYOFF DIARY - MAY 10 Retaining home-ice advantage takes some pressure off team 05/10/99 Saturday's game was another great win because we came back twice from being down one goal. We keep finding ways to win, and that's given us success all year. The most important thing is we've stuck to our game and haven't gotten off track. That determination has really paid off. I think there's a lot of urgency on our team, especially to win the home games and keep home-ice advantage. If we do that, then we put the pressure back on them. But we realize we need to tighten up some areas that hurt us in the last game. We may make a few line changes, and we need to make smarter plays with the puck at the blue line and not get caught up in certain situations. We gave them a little more room through the neutral zone, and the result was four goals. We have to be a lot smarter with and without the puck. Still, that was big to win the first two games. We've worked hard all season long to get the home-ice advantage, and it would be a shame to let it slip away. In the end, to be a good playoff team, you have to be a good team on the road. We've learned a lot about the Blues the first two games. They're a very explosive offensive team. They've got the guys who can move the puck and make the great plays and passes. If we allow that to happen, then we can really be in trouble like we were last night. The key is to make simple plays through the neutral zone. We've got to be better positionally and not allow them to go cross ice with those passes. Their wingers had had a lot of time to make plays. We've been in tight games all season. When you keep putting yourself in those situations, you learn to deal with it. When we're up a goal in the third period, we're very smart and very determined to not allow poor plays with the puck and put ourselves in danger. Right now, we're pretty relaxed. Everybody's contributing, and everybody's playing well, and that takes a lot of pressure off the guys who are expected to play well. When you're 6-0, that helps a lot. Winning cures everything. Mike Modano's diary, as told to Staff Writer Bill Nichols, will appear in The News during the playoffs.