After the Kings 6-2 win over the visiting Calgary Flames, coach Darryl Sutter shared the following thoughts…
– On the overall game: “Well, it was a really good start to the game and then a couple untimely penalties and then we get up 3-2 late in the first so we just regrouped, not too many changes, just reset.”
– On how the team can improve: “We are still trying to play complete games. We’re coming off a game where we did not, and then the game prior to that where we had to score five goals in the third period, which you aren’t going to do very often, or ever again; so we still have a lot of work we’re trying to do with the guys in term of getting their individual games to where they have to be for us to be successful.”
– On the impressive home record: “You know what? I couldn’t care less with the way the schedule is, I didn’t even know if we were at home. I thought it was an afternoon game.”
– On Ellerby possibly being in danger of losing his spot in the lineup given his reduction in minutes: “We don’t look at it like that. We were looking at the team we were playing. They have some significant offensive weapons that you have to…We’re not going to put a young player in that position. So it’s got nothing to do with how Keaton played, or what you’re saying. You’re trying to be very critical of a young player that we’re trying to make a better player.”
– On taking advantage of Calgary’s lack of size: “They have great skill up front. Very mobile defensemen. You take Giordano and Bouwmeester as a pair, and then you put Butler and Wideman…You know what? There game’s played…Do all that stuff. It’s got nothing to do with size. It’s got to do with, I just said, high end offensive players. You got guys like Jarome and Cammy…You know what? They’re awesome offensive guys. So you got to have…You gotta try to get the right guys on the ice against them. Simple.”
– On Quick’s performance: “I thought he smothered pucks. There was not anything that was…I guess the best way, in hockey terms he covered everything real well.”
– On what he was most happy with over the last 40 minutes: “We won the second period. It was one-nothing. That’s what I was most pleased with.”
– On the team’s recent offensive production being because they are getting better chances: “I don’t think so.”
– On burying the chances: “I think we’ve got our defense involved a little bit more, but I don’t think that…I mean we’re not getting any more chances. I’ve said it. How many times you keep asking the question? Every time you don’t score, you’re offensively challenged. You’re challenged. Our scoring…We break it down by who we’re playing. You know certain home/road, things like that, lines. All that stuff. And we still have some guys who are offensively challenged. Quite honestly.”
– On the victory giving Kings an edge for next game: “I don’t think so, quite honestly that’s not their style and that’s not ours. We play to win games, it’s not about retaliating, looking for something extracurricular is not the game we play, we’re going to have our heads set on playing a disciplined game.”
– On if he expects Carter to score every game: “Yup. Why not? Somebody asked me about it the other day. I said, ‘he’s money.’ He leads the game in game winners. Do I expect him to do it every game? Yup, that’s how we can win every game.”
– On Clifford taking on more of a physical role: “It’s how Cliffy plays. I don’t think he’s taking it on. I think, historically that’s how he plays. That’s his game, right? We’re not asking…We’re not looking for…Physical role has got nothing to do with fighting. Zero. Quite honestly.”
– On the progress of team: “Got lots of work to do. As a team…individually we have lots of work to do. If you break it down by position, by who plays with who, they’ve got lots of work to do.”
– On if this is the best he’s seen Voynov play in his career: “I think in the playoffs last year he was quite a bit better. Again just go look at stats. It about doing what you gotta do to win games.”
– On the standings and if he knows if they’re fourth in the conference: “Actually we started the game in ninth or tenth, didn’t we? (7th) Seventh? I think by the time the game started we weren’t. It’s gonna change, right? Everyday it’s going to change. Shortened season, it’s a tight thing. It’s running three and a half furlongs. It’s a little shorter. There aren’t too many corners to go around. It’s just one (corner) and get your friggin nose up there and get running again. It’s a 48-game schedule, so you know what? I can tell you I did it before, and nobody else can. I know how hard it is for the players.”
– So it’s not baseball, but it might be horse racing?: “It’s a 48-game schedule, so you know what? I can tell you I did it before, and nobody else can. I know how hard it is for the players. They’re [worn out] after every game. That’s how the schedule is. And the guys that travel with us know that also. By the time I get on the plane, the media guys are already sleeping. Games must be hard on them too…It’s not easy. We need lots of guys…the big thing we talked about is energy, and when you don’t practice, when you have such a young team – most nights we’re the youngest team. I think, every game we’ve played, we’re the youngest team out there.”
– On if there’s a chance Richardson gets in the lineup: “Yeah, there’s a chance.”
– Any time soon? “There’s a chance.”
– A good chance? “A good chance.”
– On it being nice to have a young team with a Stanley Cup already behind them: “Not a lot of these guys. Quite honestly. We got seven or eight guys that haven’t even played a playoff game.
– On if Mike Richards is OK: “I don’t know, did you talk to him? It’s not a question that I’m gonna answer, right?”
– Closing comment: “Set your clocks ahead. Tomorrow is a busy day. Don’t forget that you guys.”
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