Friday: Kings quotes – Brown, Mitchell, Martinez, Stoll

On Friday afternoon, Kings players Dustin Brown, Willie Mitchell, Alec Martinez, and Jarret Stoll sat dowm and shared the following after practice at the team’s training facility in El Esgundo…

Q. (On Anze Kopitar.)

BROWN: I said this about Kopy the other day, he’s a hockey player. He does all the right things at the right time. For him to be able to switch back from wing to center, I don’t know, is a really big plus for our team from a utility standpoint. A lot of it’s just because of his skating ability.

Q. Four and a half minutes of ice time in the third period. You made the most of it.

BROWN: That’s how it goes sometimes. Ty is another guy like that. See some of the goals that those guys score, they’re goals that probably if it was someone else, they wouldn’t have gone in the net. That’s why they’re goal‑scorers.

Q. (On Coach Sutter.)

MITCHELL: Last year we came in and lost only a handful of games under him. At that time we didn’t believe in ourselves enough, how good we are, our capabilities.He came in, it was a lot of pats on the back, a lot of massaging. I think when you win, you have success, you need some different things. I think it’s a little bit more of what everyone knows what Sutter is, and Darryl is keeping guys on their toes in the playoffs.

Q. (On Coach Sutter.)

MITCHELL: More the question should be, Can I tell when he’s happy (laughter)?

Q. You said it’s less about communication, more about motivation. How does he motivate?

MITCHELL: I think he’s very tactful. I think at first, times you might take it a little bit personally. Kind of does it with everyone on the team.Like I say, he’ll do it where he think he can do it. He’ll lean on our captains, our veteran players, our star players at certain times. He knows if he’s leaning on those players, sometimes the young players are going to see that and say, I better get my butt in gear. As I said, sometimes in the moment you’re not sure what he’s doing. I think sometimes if you flip it over and look through his eyes, you can see what he’s trying to accomplish.

Q. Everything is calculated?

MITCHELL: Absolutely.

Q. Does it help to know what you’re up against as far as the Blackhawks will not wilt?

MITCHELL: Game 2 is Game 2. It’s another game. There’s no carryover from it. It’s a new match that’s going to bring new problems, new challenges, new positives hopefully. Yeah, I think most of our core group knows the team quite well. Their core group has been together for a while. Ours is starting to shape up like that. Played against them a lot in the past here. You know what to expect. We know how we have to play against them to have success.

Q. (On Corey Crawford.)

MITCHELL: He’s a good goalie. Good goalies just park it and move on to the next one. Like I said, tomorrow is going to be new challenges for us. Do what every team tries to do in the playoffs, go to the net hard, create traffic, go after rebounds. That’s how you score for the most part. We’ve had a few games that haven’t been that way, usually tight hockey games. Protecting the hard areas is what is going to make the difference.

Q. (On Coach Sutter.)

MARTINEZ: I think sometimes it’s on in the locker room after games, in the lounge or something. We get a chuckle out of it sometimes. But, you know, what he does is very calculated. I guess you would say he’s a man of few words with you guys. Oftentimes he has a lot more to say with us behind closed doors. He’s pretty funny to watch sometimes.

Q. Is he very direct with you guys? How is he with individual coaching with you?

MARTINEZ: If you’re doing something he doesn’t like, he’s going to let you know. If you’re doing something he does like, he’s also going to let you know. He’s good. He’s not as vague with us as he is, I guess, in front of a camera.

Q. (On Coach Sutter.)

MARTINEZ: We were laughing. I think he gave the double peace sign at the end of his inaugural press conference. We got a kick out of that.

Q. Is there a healthy respect for him because of his coaching record with other teams, his long playing career?

MARTINEZ: For sure. I think there’s a lot of respect for him, the things that he’s accomplished both as a player and as a coach. He’s been around the game for a long time.

Q. (On Chicago’s transition game.)

MARTINEZ: They’re always a concern against a hockey club like this. They look to generate a lot of opportunities off the odd‑man rush. They’re good at making plays off the rush. That’s something we have to improve on a little bit. A big part of that is not turning the puck over at the blue lines to give them those odd‑man rushes. We’ve looked at video, probably watch more today. They’re a good hockey club. They’re going to generate opportunities. We’ve got to limit the amount we give them by turning pucks over.

 Q. (On winning faceoffs.)

MARTINEZ: Obviously faceoffs are huge. It’s a 50/50 battle every time. It’s not just the centerman. All five guys have to help winning those draws. I guess it’s pretty simple in the fact that when you have the puck, they don’t. So I think puck possession is part of it. But it’s also part of our game, too. Forechecking, cycling the puck down low, hopefully grinding other teams down.

Q. (Question regarding faceoffs.)

STOLL: You got to know where they are. You don’t want to give them too much space, but you also don’t want to be on their hip. There’s got to be a buffer zone there, otherwise they can spin off you pretty easily, too. Starting with the puck is the main thing. We have to start off with the puck as much as possible. If we can be 60, 65%, for our team that’s what we want. Make them work for it to get it back. That’s the easiest way to start with the puck, is win the faceoff. Get to our game before they get to theirs.

Q. Even when you don’t play your best, as long as the game is still on the table, you’re going to still be motivated. Has that developed under Darryl? If so, why?

STOLL: I think you have to know when your push needs to be there. There’s parts of those two games where it seems like it was a dead game at points, not much was going on maybe for either team at times. Definitely third period we needed to have a push. Third period in Game 1 we needed a push, didn’t get the push we wanted. Darryl brings that out in us. We bring it out in ourselves. If you’re a young, inexperienced team, maybe you don’t know when those pushes should happen or how to play in those situations. We realize it. The team across the way, they realize it, too. It’s just the way it is, the way you play.

Q. (Question regarding special teams.)

STOLL: Yeah, you never want to go five‑on‑three, especially against Chicago in the playoffs. We had to battle to get that kill. Start with faceoffs, start with blocking shots, you know where the one‑timers are. You got to know where everyone is on the ice, who is out there.We did that, killed it off. Just finding a way to win.