Stoll on the Stars, skill, stats and snapping them back

Last hour we heard from Drew Doughty, who shared some thoughts about the Kings match-up tonight with the Dallas Stars.

Now, we turn to some comments from Jarret Stoll…

“We know they’re a good team,” said LA’s third line center. “They have a lot of skill and a lot of guys that can hurt you. You have to be on the right side of the puck, you can’t be in a track meet against a team like that. They have some skilled guys who can do some damage on the rush. So, it all comes down to managing the puck, being on the right side of the puck and thinking the game, being smart. Offensively, I think when we do those type of things, we’re getting chances because of that – we’re in their zone because of that, we’re on the forecheck because of that and we’re getting pucks back.”

One weapon the Stars will be without tonight is their captain, Brenden Morrow. He’ll miss the game with an upper body injury.

Back to Stoll, how about his faceoff numbers lately – he was just 6-for-15 (40%) last night vs. the St. Louis Blues and 8-for-18 (44%) on Saturday vs. the Detroit Red Wings.

By contrast, he won 58% and 67% of the draws versus the Anaheim Ducks last Wednesday and Thursday. And for the season, he’s won 55.3%, slightly down from his 57.5% last year.

Has something been bothering him in the last few games?

“No. Sometimes you just have those games. You hope you don’t have the 20 or 30% games. If you have a 44 or 50% game, that’s about (as low as) I want to be. Then, you have those games where you’re exceptional.  I had a lot (on Saturday vs. Detroit) where I felt like I had it, snapped it back hard and it went off my toe and went right to them. I had about four of them like that. It was just one of those games. On the other side, I have games where I shouldn’t win the draw and I win it. So, it all works out in the end and it’s a matter of making sure you win the big ones and don’t lose most of them.”

Another thing Stoll is probably hoping for is a goal.  He hasn’t had one since October 18 vs. St. Louis and it was his only marker of the season, so far.

The Mayor
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