After the Kings beat the Jets 4-2 in Los Angeles on Saturday night, here’s what was being said in both locker rooms – including quotes from Jonathan Quick, Blake Wheeler, and both coaches…
Kings Head Coach Darryl Sutter on the quick start to the game:
“I think both teams had a high pace to their game. Give the guys credit for coming all the way back and have the teams basically waiting for us.”
Sutter on momentum going into the playoffs:
“I do not know if anybody coasts in. If you look at the team that went to the finals last year on the other side, Boston, they had a rough stretch after the deadline and went all the way to the Stanley Cup Finals, so I do not think there is any coasting goes on, period. You are just trying to refine parts of your game, very simple. You are trying to take care of your own business first, you are not a playoff team until you clinch the playoff spot.”
Jonathan Quick on if he likes where the Kings are right now:
“No we can get better. For sure, there is a lot we can improve on, and like I said we’ve been playing good hockey but we want to play better hockey. So we got Minnesota coming on Monday. They are a great team. They are looking to get ready for the playoffs, and cement a spot there in the top eight. We will have our hands full on Monday, and have to get ready for that.”
Quick on his last save:
“Kind of a little scrum in front. I lost my footing a little bit, and then the puck went to the side. I can’t remember who took a shot from the corner. I was just trying to get coverage. Luckily it hit my skate. I don’t know if it was going in, it might have been going wide.”
Marian Gaborik on the chance to be the best regular season team in franchise history:
“I think it says a lot. We just have to prepare ourselves for playoffs. I think you have to finish very strong and prepare for playoffs. Play our system. I think it’s very important to have these next couple of games at home and get some points and wins, and just go from there.”
Gaborik on playing for the Kings:
“Takes awhile to get used to the system. I mentioned before this team works very well in terms of a system. Everybody is on the same page, everybody is trusting each other. Like I mentioned before, it is like one big machine, I try to fit into that system and play the right way on both ends of the ice. Just got to keep going.”
Winnipeg Head Coach Paul Maurice on the game:
“It taught us a really good lesson in the first period, we just gave them so much ice to play on. Some nights your hand is going to be there and some nights they’re not. If you play hard, then you have a chance, but we were looking for a smoother way to play that first period and it just wasn’t going to happen.”
Maurice on consistency:
“There’s a learning lesson in this one, how do we wind ourselves up to play against that team, and that’s what our focus will be in the next game.”
Maurice on goaltenders:
“I understand how it looked in the first period, but I’m not putting that one on the goaltender’s feet. I’m not saying they’re not responsible for the pucks… Shame on us, there’s a 20 man group out there.”
Blake Wheeler on the game:
“There is no explanation. They came out with the kind of energy you need to start a hockey game. We didn’t. That’s what happens. After the opening period we figured it out a little bit. We stopped playing on our heels so much, stopped playing on the end of our stick, started trying to engage a little bit physically, and it’s amazing what happens when you try to get on the body a little bit and not play on the end of your stick, the puck finds you a little bit more, makes the game a little bit easier.”
Matt Halischuk on the game:
“It was the start. When you get behind like that, 3-0, especially in their building, it’s going to be tough to come back. In the second period we definitely found our game there, started to simplify things, and it was definitely a learning lesson to make sure we come out like that to start the game.”
About John Hoven
