Post-game comments from Kings captain Dustin Brown following LA’s 3-2 loss to Chicago in Game 4 of the Western Conference Final…
On what he says to his team right now:
“We’re down 3-1 in the series so it’s about preparing yourself to win a game. Right now you take it one game at a time. Game 5, we’re going to have to go in their building and find a way to get the job done. That’s all we’re focused on as a group and as individuals.”
On the line change that resulted in the third goal:
“I don’t know really, quite honestly. I haven’t seen it.”
On what was successful in Game 3 that the Kings need to bring to Chicago:
“Neutral zone. The key for them is their transition game, they have really good puck moving defense men. You see it tonight, turnover, they can move it right back up. That third goal, like I said I haven’t seen it, it was going one way and then it came back the other.”
On the teams’ confidence:
“We’ve been through a lot as a group. We’ve never been faced with a situation like this. We’re learning on each other at this point. It’s not going to be one individual or one guy, it’s going to be us as a group if we’re going to be successful. That’s been the strength of this team for a few years now, really relying on each other and trusting each other when you get in a tough spot.”
On he and/or Anze Kopitar not getting a lot of opportunities:
“How mobile their D are, they don’t give you a lot of time and space, especially on the rush. You get by one, they almost cheat on the play in the sense that that second guy’s coming right away. Where you can catch them is if they over play it, but we haven’t been able to find those open guys. In the first, it was a good example, they over played and we had a 2-on-1, 3-on-2, and got a great scoring chance. But we don’t have enough of those right now, we have to be quicker.”
On Chicago’s speed:
“I mean they’re a quick, fast team. Their transition, though, that’s where it gets really hard to handle because you’re ultimately going one way and they’re going another. You just have to limit the mistakes through the neutral zone.”
On the Kings biggest change after their strong first period:
“I couldn’t tell you.”
On if the Kings we’re overconfidence because Duncan Keith was out of the line up:
“We’ll our game plan, our attitude, doesn’t change regardless of who is in the line up for them. I mean we come out, get an early goal in the second. Give up a late goal, that’s something you don’t want to do, especially a team like this. That’s just how it went.”
On the Kings’ lack of scoring:
“We have to find a way to get more pucks to the net. They played their game well, especially in the third. They limited opportunities, pushed it outside. We have to find a way to get to the inside. We have to get our shots by the first guy, they had a lot of blocked shots tonight. You have to get it by at least the first guy, they have layers. If it’s blocked in front of the net at least you have a chance.”
On how Anze Kopitar and him can come out of their scoring funk:
“Right now, we’re not worried about who is scoring or Kopi’s or mine offensive struggles. Right now we’re just focused about finding a way to win and doing whatever we have to do individually and collectively to do that. That’s all we’re concerned about.”
On what makes it tough to score on the Blackhawks:
“I think their willingness to block shots. We have a lot of zone time, and we’ve had a lot of zone time, moving it top. It’s their willingness to block shots. We have the three high there, we have to get it by that first guy. They’re willing to blocks shots but it’s a matter of finding a way to get it by.”
On if he is feeling angry, hopeful or frustrated:
“Probably neither right now. We’re not happy in the situation we’re in, but they have to win four games and right not they’ve only won three. We still have life.”
On the Kings trouble winning on the road:
“I don’t think…you’re not going into a do-or-die game thinking we’ve struggled on the road. We’re going into this game thinking, we need to win. We have to find a way to grind it out on the road and find a way. Your record on the road doesn’t play into it going into a game like Saturday.”
On how the Blackhawks are winning:
“Their neutral zone is a one man fore check and they have (unintelligible) sitting in the G zone, so he’s beating that F1 and still has some guys, I mean depends on team to team, but they have layers of guys. He’s doing a good job of getting by that first guy.”
On the Blackhawks continuously tying the game:
“We’ve been pretty good at protecting the lead and throwing more pressure than we give up late in the second. That’s a bit of a momentum changer for them. Again we make one mistake early in the third. You can’t give a guy like (Marian) Hossa that type of opportunity.”
On averaging two goals a game:
“It’s hard to sustain that but we’re going to have to find a way. We’ve gone through a lot of stretches as a group where we haven’t scored a lot of goals and found a way to win. I think it goes a long way if we can score more than two. I thought we just have to bare down our chances, we had some opportunities to score some goals tonight. Crawford made some good saves, but we just have to find a way at the end of the day.”
On the Kings turnovers:
“It’s not what makes us successful that’s for sure and we understand that in our room. Now it’s a matter of refocusing and preparing not to do it again.”
On the expectation on the Kings to win at home:
“We don’t come into a home game expecting a win. We had this stretch games because we worked hard for it, not because we expected it or assumed we were going to win. That’s not to say that when they scored that third goal, we don’t think we’re coming back as a group. I think everyone fully believed that but tonight it didn’t happen.”
We also have full comments up from the LA Kings morning skate as well. See the links below.
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Ive been a fan of this team for about 25 years, but they’re done. They have proven that they can’t win on the road…. so two wins in chicago to take the series… please!