Coyotes captain Shane Doan picked up another goal against the Kings on Thursday night, now giving him 73 points (including 35 goals) in 93 games vs. Los Angeles – his best totals against any NHL team.
It wasn’t enough though. Despite coming back from being down 4-0, Phoenix ultimately lost by a final score of 7-4.
Following the game, here’s what Doan had to share…
On the Coyotes getting back to playing how they did at the start of the season:
“We got back in the second [period] and took over for half the second and the third…We know we have a good team, we know we are a good team, we know we can win games. Once we start winning games, we have to continue to play the exact same way. We can’t try to think you’re a little bit better than you are. The system that we play, it works when we do it. When we try to get outside of it, we can look pretty bad.”
On Thomas Griess playing and Mike Smith being pulled:
“Griesser played unbelievable. Smitty couldn’t really…I don’t know, one of those goals really weren’t anything to do with him. Second, third shots and re-directions. We have to be better and go back to us playing the way we are supposed to play.”
On how much of a roller coaster tonight’s game was:
“It kind if looks like our season, where we can be so good at time and then we can be so bad at times. That’s where as leaders, we have to talk and stick to what is fundamentally working for us. That’s really what our game is. Keeping it simple and doing things right the way that we know to instead of trying to get off our own page.”
On Rostislav Klesla being out:
“We miss Rusty lots, but fortunately for us, we have a lot of young defensemen that are really good. Rusty’s been huge for us, but we have Stone and Rundblad… we have NHL capable defensemen, but there’s a reason why Rusty’s in our top 6 and he’s important to us.”
“He is special. I wouldn’t trade him for one playing in the league. He is a special player that is going to be and is unbelievable and will be unbelievable for years and years to come.”
On Ekman-Larsson’s strengths:
“His strength is that he is a special hockey player that has unbelievable skill. He is competitive and he is one of the best young guys that you’ll ever ask for on your NHL team. Everyone in this room loves the kid and at the same time, he is arguably as talented as I’ve ever played with. I’d put him up there with anybody that I’ve ever played with talent-wise. He’s just really special. I think him and Keith Yandle back there on the point give us a lot. We’re fortunate.”
On what player he would compare Ekman-Larsson to:
“It’s one of those thing that nobody wants to ever say because it’s such a huge compliment and such a hard thing to live up to. But his personality and the way he plays the game, with his stick and how smart he is, he has a lot of things that look like Nicklas Lidstrom. He’s a kind of lanky guy that gets his shot through. I’ve obvious never gotten to play with him, just against him a lot. Obviously to compare anyone to him is almost blasphemy, but at the same time, if there is anyone you could come close to, it would be Oliver.”
On how Ekman-Larsson is off the ice:
“He is one of the most humble, genuinely good people you will meet. I think that’s why I light up the most. As good as he is as a hockey player, as amazingly talented as he is as a hockey player, what really gets me excited, and I think is 100 times more important, is the type of man he is. You just get excited when you can talk to him, because he’s everything you want in a player.”
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