Although the Kings out-shot the Wild 44-24 and out-hit them 46-22, they gave up a season-high four goals (for the third time) and that was too much for an offense that’s unable to score more than two goals right now. Final score 4-2, and here’s what they were saying in the Minnesota locker room after the game…
Coach Mike Yeo on the overall game – “It was nice to have a good start. It was nice not to have to sit here and talk about another attempt or a great job coming from behind and I thought we were sharp right from the get-go. We expected them to have a push. Certainly it was tough losing (Brodziak) tonight and I thought our guys really rose to the challenge.”
Yeo on losing Kyle Brodziak – “Obviously it increased a lot of ice time for (Koivu), (Cullen), and for the lines. We started to roll those lines real frequently but also with Cody Almond. I thought not only did he step into that situation and play key minutes for us, but that was a big goal he scored. They had some good momentum going at that time and you could tell that took a lot of life out of them.”
Rookie goaltender Matt Hackett on making his first NHL start – “I can’t even explain it. It’s been crazy. Best 72 hours of my life so far. Like I said, we got to keep it going and I’m just living the dream right now. Just got to jump in there and do the best you can. Today I had time to think about the game, usually I have a pre-game map, but I was so excited I didn’t really get to sleep. I was just focusing on what I was supposed to do and I felt like it went pretty well tonight.”
Hackett on communication during the day – “I turned my phone off. I don’t want to think about that stuff. I just want to play my game and I don’t want to focus on stuff that’s going on outside the rink.”
Defenseman Marco Scandella on his goal, the Wild’s third of the night – “We got the puck, brought it up the ice quick, two guys were driving to the net, so I picked it up and (Heatley) gave me a great pass. Great play by (Heatley) and I tried to get a shot off quick…I knew there was a delayed penalty so as soon as they touched the puck it would have been frozen so I went for it.”
To read postgame quotes from Kings coach Terry Murray click here. Also, click on the player’s name to read comments from – Jack Johnson, Trent Hunter, Anze Kopitar and Dustin Brown.
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