Following the Kings first road win of the year, a 3-1 victory over the host Dallas Stars on Tuesday night, here is a quick sample of what was being said in both locker rooms:
Kings Head Coach Darryl Sutter on getting a win to end the road trip:
“Yeah, it was a good win. It’s too bad we didn’t do that more. We deserved points in Carolina and got points in Philly. That’s the way it goes.”
Sutter on the power play tonight:
“Yeah, how many shorthanded goals is that now? Four? [Trevor] Lewis’ goal was a big goal for us. Takes us into the third period winning a period.”
Sutter on Drew Doughty’s play tonight:
“I said yesterday that Drew is getting stronger. So it was a strong game. Playing against that line Drew’s got to play a lot of minutes. Not much we can do about it. He’s got to play a lot of minutes.”
Sutter on Quick’s play tonight:
“I think he’d tell you that this was the best game of the trip for him.”
Sutter on Trevor Lewis’ play since coming back into the lineup:
“He’s going to work. I talked to him last night about getting him back into the penalty killing a little bit because that’s what his role is on our team. We switched Jarret [Stoll] and Mike [Richards] partway through the first period, and put Richards with [Dwight] King and [Dustin] Brown and that helped us a little bit, I think. And putting Jarret Stoll with Lewis and Clifford helped us a little bit. You’ve got to find ways to score when you’re not scoring. Still the top end of your lineup has got to score goals. 5-on-3 you’ve got to score a goal. Gaborik had some really good looks. If he is sharper he probably scores on a couple of them. That’s the way it goes.”
Kings goaltender Jonathan Quick on the overall game:
“I think there’s some things I need to clean up a little bit. Going into the third period it was a tie game, and we were able to win the third period on the road. So that’s, especially against a team like Dallas, quite an accomplishment, so we can take that momentum and carry it back home.”
Quick on the defense not allowing many chances tonight:
“That’s what they’ve been doing for the past six years. I’m very lucky to have the group that I do in front of me, and the way they play all five men come back and help out down low, so that’s huge.”
Kings captain Dustin Brown on the overall game:
“We have been struggling on the road. In terms of results, I think tonight was a big win for the feeling in the room. That can go a long way. As a group, we’ve been through a lot so a four-game losing streak is not going to deter us. To get a win on the last game of a road trip and go home feeling good – it’s about using that feeling to get to work tomorrow morning and going from there.”
[Bonus audio content with Dustin Brown is down below]
Stars Head Coach Lindy Ruff on the power play:
“Right now, it’s a major problem. It gave them energy and gave us an opportunity to go up by a couple. Our mentality on the power play has to change. We started off passing through seams and then we give up a shorthanded goal which really hurt us.”
Ruff on creating net presence on the power play:
“We put Roussel in for the last one and he did a really nice job. It was probably our best looking one. Otherwise you end up hoping for the perfect shot and if there is someone in that lane you don’t get it. Things have to change. It’s not working. We’re going to change it. It’s my responsibility to change the mentality. It has to change.”
Ruff on the Stars overall play:
“When I look at this sheet and see 19 giveaways, we aren’t going to win hockey games. That’s where I have to change the mentality. That’s my job to change the mentality. Enough of the pond hockey. We’re sitting at 4-4-4 and we have to get going the other direction. We will start with simple and build it back up again.”
Stars forward Shawn Horcoff on how turnovers impacted the game:
“It’s a good lesson. We’re right in that game obviously 1-1, at home, going into the third period. We gave them scoring chances, we gave them the goals. I think we were talking a little bit about it here after, that’s definitely an area we have to sure up. You see the good teams that have already made that adjustment and already made the commitment to playing good team defense; especially being comfortable in a tight game, and we’re not there yet. I have full confidence that we’re going to get there. We’re working at it and we’re going to keep working towards that. We have to be more comfortable in those tight games and just being patient, and sometimes in games like that it’s just one mistake, it’s the team that makes the one mistake that results in a win and it’s a good lesson for us against a good team that has been there before obviously.”
Horcoff on being outscored in the third period at home:
“We want to win. We want to win at home. I think when you lose a couple and give a couple away you press a little bit and I think when that happens we’re pressing for offense. By doing that, we’re giving other teams grade-A scoring chances. That just can’t happen, it should be the opposite. We should be patient and we should be able to rely and fall back on a team game. We know that we have offense. We have confidence that there are four lines that can go out there and get a goal, and we don’t need to press for that. We need to be able to be a little bit more patient.”
Stars forward Cody Eakin on the overall game:
“We don’t like the way we finished. There were periods of that game that we liked because we played the right way. We definitely didn’t like the way we finished.”
Eakin on how the team can put together a full 60 minutes of hockey:
“I think it’s something that has to come from within the room. Shawn Horcoff was saying after the game that we have to start being more comfortable in tight games. When we’re tied going into the third or when we’re up going into the third, we have to play the right way. Guys want to win and guys are trying hard. We just have to play smart.”
Eakin on if they have to learn how to win:
“I think it’s learning how to win. Our guys have all been in situations and it’s just a matter of it coming from within the room. We have to buy in and get on the same page. The way we have been playing our third periods haven’t been getting results so we need to change it.”
Eakin on Coach Ruff’s mention of lack of energy in the last few games:
“I felt we were more energized to start off the homestead. We need that energy and we need to continue it. It came down to the third period and the fact that we gave them opportunities.”
Stars defenseman Brenden Dillon on the overall game:
“It’s frustrating. We really wanted to put an emphasis on this game with how the last couple have gone, and we know we have to improve our home record. This is our home rink. Our fans. We just have to be better.”
Dillon on if turning the puck over affecting the game:
“Our game is to play to our strengths, play to our speed and getting the puck up ice quick, and that involves not turning it over. This is a five-man unit we believe that that’s where things are going we have got to trust in each other and if plays don’t that way then obviously there’s good teams in this league that are going to make you pay – and they did tonight.”
Dillon on losing five-straight games:
“Honestly, we’re not happy. We have high expectations in this group, and we know we have a good group in here and we can be better and take that next step. We have a couple [games] at home that we have to focus on and get this train back rolling.”
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