Coach Dan Bylsma on Penguins defeating the Kings

Following Thursday game in LA, here’s what Penguins coach Dan Bylsma had to say about his team beating the Kings…

On if he watches Olympic goalies during the regular season:

“I said I have to ask this question after the Buffalo game. Seeing Ryan and now seeing Jonathan here today, it’s one game I could see live. But I saw the Phoenix game, I saw the San Jose shutout, I watched all his game here today, obviously I think it was six or seven shots in the first and three go in. It’s not a good outing for him. I get to see a lot. But he’s got a body of work that’s more than just this game.”

On scoring four goals on a team that normally doesn’t give up many goals:

“I loved the start of the game, we get the first goal of the game there in the first minute- face-off goal where there is a lot of hunt and fight in that puck and that goal. We get at the lead and then you know, you saw the power play be a factor. We get the five-on-three, we get two goals, so you’re looking at 3-1, with two power play goals against a team that doesn’t give up two goals a game in the first period. To get the first one- I look at the score- I know we got the first goal against them and we’re a minute deep in the game. I thought it was big against a team that doesn’t give up a lot.”

On the importance of scoring on a team that is struggling offensively:

“They have struggled, but again they’re a team that months of struggles scoring goals, they don’t give up any. We talked about this game, a 0-0 game and a 1-0 game, maybe for 60 minutes. To be able to come out, jump on them, and get that lead- I thought our power play, we took advantage of the situation. We got our first give-on-three in what seems forever and we were able to cash in.”

On Jonathan Quick being pulled:

“Again, we were able to jump out early. We got the second chance goal on the great play by Jokinen from Malkin’s kind of empty net goal and we got the power play. I thought we did a good job of shooting pucks, shooting a lot of pucks. We did that, we were able to get the second one and then the third one. Unfortunately for their side and unfortunately for Jonathan, it’s three goals on six shots in the first period.”

On Jeff Zatkoff’s play:

“Jeff against his former team and former organization and the opportunity to go in there. I thought through the first 25 minutes of the game, he was solid. They had some shots but not a lot getting through. The second half of the game, he made several big saves. The key save against Williams there ion the third period, big glove save at that point in the game. I think the guys were fighting hard for Zats there throughout the game and throughout the end, just trying to get him the win.”

On watching players from the Team USA play:

“You know, it’s been different from the start of the season. When you play the Rangers and you’re watching the guys on their team like Callahan and McDonagh. You look at them, they’re guys you battle against- maybe not like in the past, but you look over and you see guys and how they’re playing. You pay a little more attention to their whole game and even, you know, when you’re watching scout games, you’re watching these guys and even cheering for them a little bit. Same thing tonight, you see Dustin over there and Jonathan and you’re watching a little bit more closely. I wasn’t cheering for them tonight, but you do watch them uch differently when you know down the road you’re going to be possibly on teh same team.”

On Team USA’s Olympic roster:

“We thought we could be a good skating team. We thought we could be a smart team. We know we can be a hard team to play again. Maybe you look at other team’s skill and the power they have with goal scorers and goal point-getters and all-stars. Our guys might be the best guys to play against those guys So, I think we’re tough to play against and that’s kind of how we put our team together. We were a post and a goal away from a gold medal in 2010, and this is a team we think is better than that.”