After dropping their fourth straight game on Monday night, the Kings find themselves with just a single win in their last 10 games played. Goals have been hard to come by and the players have been inundated with questions about what’s gone wrong and how to best address it. Drew Doughty had talked about the feeling of personal expectations earlier in the day (linked here). Now, team captain Dustin Brown shares some thoughts on the mounting pressure inside the locker room…
On the overall game vs. the Chicago Blackhawks:
“Sometimes when you’re losing, that’s just the way it goes. Losing streaks and winning streaks are very similar in their nature. Sometimes the winning streak, you’ll play good for five or six games, then you’ll play not very good for four or five and continue to win. We have a 2-2 game, we have the momentum, and they find a way to get a goal. Greener is trying to get out of the way, it goes off into the net. It’s breaks like that that can change a game, but we also have a responsibility to kind of make our own breaks. That’s how you get out of a slump, it’s not sitting their saying this happened to us, it’s about finding a way. It’s easy to be good when things are going good. It’s times like this that we have to come together and find a way to do it.”
On the Kings energy level in the game:
“I think it’s a lot of things. I think it’s always exciting- part of it is playing the Blackhawks, coming into our building. They’ve been one of the best teams in the league for the last few years. For us, I think, tonight energy wise was I think our best night in awhile. We have to keep plugging along. I know it’s a broken record, but we’re not going to get out of it by doing anything different. We know what type of team we are, we know what we have to do as a team. It’s a matter of doing that.”
On if there is a difference in the locker room as opposed to other seasons:
“There’s no finger pointing. There’s definitely frustration. I think if you’re not frustrated and you’re in this room, then there’s something wrong with you. It’s one of those things, it’s a double-edged sword. At the end of the day, you take twenty guys that are going through what we’re going through, you’d rather have them be pissed off and frustrated rather than not really give a, you know. We’re all on that one side of the line and at the end of the day we have to pull through together.”
On if he thinks the Kings are progressing:
“I think we’re making steps in the right direction. Again, there’s a lot of pucks laying around the net, we have to find a way to get to those. We got to a few tonight. Toff’s goal is exactly the result of getting to the net, Carts makes a good play wide. Those are the types of goals that are going to help us get out of it.”
On if he noticed all of Chicago’s fans in attendance:
“It’s always the same with those Detroit, New York, Chicago, Toronto, all the Canadian teams really. That’s what happens when some of the bigger cities come in.”
On if he noticed that Staples Center was extra loud:
“You notice it- they get a three goal lead there late and they get a little louder. It’s not overwhelming by any means.”
On if the Olympic break will be good for the Kings:
“When you’re talk about our season, it’s such a double-edged sword. We don’t practice, we just play games every other day, the way it’s a grind. We don’t have time to practice but you have to be mentally ready to go every other day or back-to-backs. I think it’s important for guys to kind of get that rest. For most guys, it’s probably more of a mental thing. To get away, get refreshed and be ready to come back because we know what’s ahead of us the last twenty games.”
More from the Kings locker room – Willie Mitchell opens up about what’s going on with the team here.
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