Following the Kings morning skate at Toyota Sports Center earlier today, Drew Doughty shared some thoughts on his partnership with Jake Muzzin (something he openly lobbied for in the pre-season), a milestone coming up, playing against his friend Logan Couture and LA’s developing rivalry with San Jose. Take a look at what he had to say…
On how his game has grown from playing with Jake Muzzin:
“Muzzin and I are really, really good together. When we’re both on, we’re not going to have any chances against. We’re going to be in the offensive zone, we’re going to be creating chances because we’re so good at moving the puck together and so good at getting by guys on their forecheck. We never spend time in our zone. When Muzzin and I are on, we have so much fun out there. We bring the fun back into the game. It’s not like we’re just robots just doing exactly what we’re supposed to do, we kind of wing it a little bit and we have fun with it. We love playing with each other and we’ve grown to a great pair. I think we could be a pair for many, many, many years in this organization.”
On how Muzzin has changed:
“He’s gotten so much better defensively. He takes a lot more pride in playing better defense. When he’s playing physical and when he’s on the ball, he’s tough to get around. He’s a big body, has a good, long stick – he’s a great player. Like I said, when we make those turnovers and we get the puck, we’re usually going to break it out of the zone and not spend any time in ours.”
On playing against his friend Logan Couture:
“I enjoy beating him that’s for sure. I don’t like losing to him. A lot of times I don’t really get matched against him, I’m always against Thornton, so I don’t see a lot of him on the ice. But when I do, obviously I’m aware he’s a great player in this league now and one of their top players, so he’s someone we have to pay special attention to. I have to shut him down, that’s the bottom line. Regardless of the bragging rights back in the summer, I just want to beat this team overall. It’s not just him – I don’t like [that] team and there is a rivalry with them right now.”
On the rivalry between him and Couture:
“It’s fun. We both had our fair share of things – the one year they beat us in the playoffs, then last year we beat them in the playoffs. So, no one really has the edge at this point. As a team, I would like to get the bragging rights back for the summer.”
On the toughest part of playing against Couture:
“He’s good at both ends of the ice. He’s very good offensively, has a good shot, good vision. He’s really good. Defensively, he’s always on the PK. I know he’s a good shot blocker, I know he enjoys that part of the game. So, it’s fun because a lot of times against good offensive guys, you only have to worry about them one way, but for him, you have to worry about him in both zones.”
On the Kings overall rivalry with San Jose:
“It’s evolved big time. They beat us in the playoffs a couple years ago. It was a heartbreaker really. I think we were even up in the series at one point. The game we ended up losing the series in, we were up 4-0 or something crazy like that, and blew the lead. Obviously, last year we beat them in seven games. Both teams don’t like each other very much. We are in the same division, have been for a while. It kind of seemed like San Jose was always the better team my first few years in the league, but now the Kings are back and we have a great battle every game.”
On Joe Thornton beingone of the more difficult forwards in the league to defend:
“We don’t get to see the guys in the East too much, so I kind of just know which guys in the West are hard to play against. He’s up there, top five easily. He’s such a big body, he’s so good with the puck, he’s a great passer, he’s really just good at every aspect of the game. He plays physical, he plays hard. Every time he comes into our barn, I look forward to the challenge and winning it.”
On playing in his 400 NHL game tonight:
“That’s cool. I didn’t know that. I’ve been in the league for six years now and time has flown by. It just seems like yesterday I was 18 and I was just making my first year in the league. I’ve had so much fun. Hopefully I still have a long healthy road ahead of me and I’m looking forward to continuing it here in LA… I can’t believe how much fun I’ve had in this league and how much fun I’ve had with this team. I’ve developed so many relationships with the guys off the ice. I wouldn’t rather be anywhere else. I am happy to be here and I’m happy to have played all 400 for the LA Kings.”
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