Instant Quotes from Kings and Blackhawks Locker Rooms…
Coach Darryl Sutter on the overall game:
“I think that we have a couple of guys that are frustrated with their own games. I think we battled back against the Stanley Cup Champions after being down 2-0. I think the guys that are playing well are confident guys. I think Kopi and Jeff continue to lead us. We had a good first period; there was nothing wrong with our play or our performance. You’ve got to coach them up but they aren’t young guys, they are veteran guys. They are having a hard time right now whether it’s the schedule or just where they are at with their own games, that’s something they need to deal with themselves for sure.”
Sutter on going into Olympic break:
“We’ve got one game left and we’ll plan on playing the best game of the year. I’m sure every team could use a break mentally, we’re not special. I look forward not back, and we’re as close to winning as we are losing.”
Sutter on Tyler Toffoli:
“When you are struggling to score you are trying to find some continuity so Tyler has moved over to that side and has done a good job with Jeff and Kopi. Kopi and Jeff and Tyler…we’re a puck possession team.”
Dustin Brown on the team’s performance:
“We played a pretty good team. I thought we played hard, I don’t think that is ever a question in this room. We made a couple of mistakes, against a team like that you can’t make mistakes. It’s trying to figure out and find our way back. We are a capable group in here, and we know what we have. I think when we are on our game, those little break downs don’t happen. It’s just important for us to work through it together. There are 20 guys in this room.”
Brown on the physicality tonight:
“I think against a team like Chicago, they are a very fast team, and one way to slow them down is to try and punish them when you can. It’s being smart about it. They are not the most physical team. When we are on our game we are more grinding, physical team and we just got to eliminate the mistakes.”
Brown on penalties:
“It’s just finding that fine line. It’s been a problem of ours all year, how many penalties we take. We have a good penalty kill, but over the course of the year when you are killing that many penalties it wears on those guys that have to kill. In most cases those guys that kill also play big minutes for us elsewhere, so if we can try to eliminate those penalties, or limit those penalties, it goes a long way in keeping those guys fresh.”
Tyler Toffoli on an electric feeling affecting them tonight:
“I think we all wanted to come out and play our game. We have a big, strong team, and that’s what we wanted to do. We came out, and they got a couple quick ones, and we just had to fight back the whole night.”
Toffoli on tonight’s game:
“We have to find a way to be consistent. We finally found ways to score and now we have to just tighten up and play the way we’ve been playing for the past little while. We were pretty tight defensively. Chicago’s a good team but we needed that coming into tonight.”
Toffoli on the Kings energy level:
“I think we’ve been creating a lot of chances the past couple of games. You look at some of their goals, they’re getting goals off the post and in and we’re getting posts and out. So, it’s just not really going our way. Hopefully we’ll start turning around soon and we get back on track.”
Toffoli on creating great chances:
“You look at Kopi’s goal, it went off his stick and went in. It was a good bounce for us. We had a couple chances that hit the post and went the wrong way. We just got to find a way to keep creating those chances and eventually they are going to keep going in for us.”
Toffoli on brushing this off:
“Forget about it right now. We don’t have to think about it at all. I think we realize now that we can score goals again. We just got to forget about it now and be ready to play on Thursday. “
Blackhawks coach Joel Quenneville on Patrick Kane’s grandfather passing:
“It was a special game for him tonight. I wasn’t aware of it until after the second period, but he’s a proud guy and I think his grandfather meant a lot to him and it was probably an emotional night for him, but he played an unbelievable game.”
Quenneville on the game recap:
“It was a great start, we had some excitement in our game. It was pretty incredible how many Blackhawks fans were here today, I think that helped our game. They had their run early in the second and had a lot of momentum, they had a lot of good chances in the second, but if you get off to a 2-0 lead in this building it certainly helps you.”
Quenneville on the overall game:
“Scoring late in the second period turned out to be a huge goal for us and it kind of gave us a little momentum and a little life exiting the second period. We got some fortunate post bounces tonight and they didn’t, which could have been a differential.”
Marian Hossa on Patrick Kane’s performance:
“He did what he can to play the best game and it was a big night for him.”
Hossa on the standings:
“We try to worry about our game and how we play and if we play well enough to win hockey games, eventually we are going to get close and close and that is our goal.”
Patrick Kane on the passing of his grandfather before the game:
“It was a tough day overall. He was one of my great friends growing up and it is just really sad day. It was important to get the win but, anytime you get someone taken away from you that is so close to you and means so much, it was tough to hear that right before the game. “
Kane on his play:
“I knew before the game that this team was going to have a good response after the last game in San Jose. That was a tough loss in a shootout. Great game overall, it was nice to come back and put up some goals… we scored a lot tonight and it seemed like everyone was moving it pretty good… It was a great effort from everyone for sure.”
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