Comments from Kings captain Dustin Brown following the team’s morning skate, in advance of tonight’s Game 6 vs. the visiting Chicago Blackhawks…
Brown on the importance of Game 6:
“I think everyone is well aware of the situation, where we’re at, what we need to do, and the importance of the situation. And the importance of getting it done tonight. But, we have to go out and play the game.
On what type of game the Kings need to play:
“The game we play is a grinding style, get through the neutral zone and our puck management is probably key. If you look at Game 5, it’s a track meet because we’re turning the puck over and trading chances. We can be better through the neutral zone – force them to dump the puck and do things they don’t want to do with it. That’s the type of game we need to play.”
On if he watched the New York – Montreal game last night:
“Not really, I just saw the final score… It’s just one of those things, sometimes you have time [to watch], sometimes you don’t.”
On if he grew up a Rangers fan, being from upstate New York:
“I tried not to like the Rangers, just to be different. I started liking Vancouver, because they played them in ’94. I liked the Quebec Nordiques too, for some reason.”
On the mood inside the room:
“This group, I say this all the time, we’ve been through everything as a group. We’ve faced different types of challenges. Our approach to every game is pretty much the same, as silly as that sounds sometimes. This is no different than being down in a series. It’s just about going out and playing our game. When we do that, when each of us our focused on what we need to do individually, our jobs come together collectively as a group. Our approach to the game, regardless of the situation in the series, or situation in the game, we go about it the same way.”
On the feeling around the room being comparable to ‘just another game’ in January:
“That’s just a result of being through it. Not only being through it individually, but there hasn’t been very much turnover in this group. When you go through it together, that lends itself to the trust system you have and knowing the guy next to you, what he’s capable of and knowing you can rely on him to do his job.”
On if he’ll be treating tonight like it is Game 7:
“This is an opportunity to close out a series, which is always the hardest thing to do. Knowing how they play at home, and how desperate they’re going to be tonight, if we’re not looking at it as a Game 7, then there’s something wrong with us.”
[…] MORE: Pre-game comments from Dustin Brown can be found here. […]