This is a travel day for the LA Kings. However, prior to leaving for New Jersey, several players and coach Darryl Sutter took some time to answer a few questions. Here are 10 tidbits from those conversations…
– Sutter reflecting back on last night’s 3-1 loss: “(We) played better in Game 4 than we did in Game 2. Differences, missed opportunities and (Martin) Brodeur’s play last night.”
– Sutter on the team’s mindset heading into Game 5: “Go play on the road. No big deal…(just) continue to play the way we’re playing. That’s why you play series. Unfortunately, we have some spoiled people that think that everyone wins 16 in a row or something. A little confusing to me.”
– Jeff Carter on the keys he’s taking away from last night’s game: “Obviously a little disappointing. Would have liked to have got a win on home ice. But we’ve got to move on from that. Think about it last night, move on, get ready for Saturday.
– Carter on Brodeur last night: “He did what he had to do for their team. He made the big saves, he played well.”
– Trevor Lewis on the keys he’s taking away from last night’s game: “Oh, I think we definitely had our chances to win the game, but we knew they were going to come out hard. They did a good job at that. We got to refocus and prepare for Game 5.”
– Lewis on Martin Brodeur last night “He played really well. He stopped a few breakaways. We hit a couple posts. But he’s a great goalie. We know he’s going to do that.”
– Lewis on the team’s confidence: “We knew the fourth game was going to be the hardest. It’s the Stanley Cup Finals here. It’s pretty tough to sweep. We got to make sure we’re prepared and get ready for Game 5.”
– Justin Williams with his overall thoughts on Game 4: “Elimination games, I don’t know, the teams you play against are there for a reason. It’s not supposed to be a sweep all the time. You’re not supposed to win every game. That’s when their character comes out, when their backs are against the wall. They played a great game, battled hard. We just didn’t quite have enough.”
– Williams on what he liked about the Kings’ performance last night: “Well, what I liked is our power play moved around pretty good. We had ample opportunities to score and get ourselves a lead. We weren’t able to do it. The power play’s going well. On the other side of it, I don’t think we were as good as we could be in the neutral zone, defending the rush. We’re going to get better at those.”
– Having already won two games in New Jersey, is it easier going back to that building: “I don’t think so. I think we just play every road game the way we have throughout the season here, throughout the playoffs. We just don’t let any distractions bother us. We go in, we play our game. We know the Prudential Center’s going to be rocking, just like when we had to go back to Phoenix and play Game 5, go back to Vancouver and play Game 5. The arena’s are going to be rocking and we’ll have to be ready for them.”
MayorsManor will be in New Jersey for the next few days. So, be sure to follow along on twitter and/or facebook. We’ll have all the news and notes from practice, pre-game skate, Game 5 and anything else that goes down in Newark.
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I would have loved to watch the kings win at home. But too set a new record and win the cup is a lot more exciting…. GO KINGS GO
KOPITAR FOR MVP