In the Room: Kings and Stars talk 5-4 win by Dallas

Following the Kings wild 5-4 loss to the host Dallas Stars on Saturday night, here is what was being said in both locker rooms:

Kings Head Coach Darryl Sutter on the team’s play in the first period:

“I think we both had great opportunities in the first period. They scored on theirs and we didn’t. It was an exciting first period.”

Sutter on not capitalizing on the power play:

“Our power play is not going to win or lose this game. The power play gave us a chance in the third. I thought our penalty kill was not as good as our power play.”

Sutter on being bothered the team has one road win this season:

“Yes it does. I think what bothers me most is the season series. If you base it on the three games and then break it down as individuals, you’re going to see why we lost the series.”

Sutter on getting rebound goals:

“Generally most goals are scored in the league off screens, tips, and rebounds. I thought tonight was an exciting game.”

Sutter on the earthquake during the game:

“There was a lot of them during the first period.”

Kings Defenseman Matt Greene on the team’s poor play in the first period:

“It was a bad start by us. We came out of the gates slow, and they capitalized on some chances. When we got behind the eight ball we turned it on a little too late. We made it close there but obviously that first period did us in.”

Greene on the team’s poor record on the road this season:

“We have got a lot of them (games) left. We have just got to go to work and we still have two more on this (road) trip and we have to salvage the points that we can. We have to do a better job of picking up points on the road.”

Greene on the Stars’ strategy to success:

“They buried their chances in the first (period). They got some key goals after that they put through and they got the fourth and fifth goal in the second. They held on and that was it. We played a good game and we just didn’t have enough time.”

Kings Forward Mike RIchards on fighting back after teams poor first period:

“It was a good fight back. But obviously not the way you want to blow the deficit in the first period. Even in the second (period) there with penalties. It’s a little bit frustrating but we came back as a team. Obviously there’s things that you can build on every game, and the first period was one of those tonight.”

Richards on if the Stars surprised them tonight:

“We knew they were a fast team. We played them twice in the past couple of weeks. We knew what we were going to get.”

Richards on the team’s poor play on the road this season:

“It’s frustrating. It’s just one of those things where you have got to get more comfortable playing on the road. We’re used to playing at Staples (Center) and having a crowd behind us. When you are on the road you have got to create your own momentum. That’s what we need to start doing.”

Stars Head Coach Lindy Ruff on the team’s play tonight:

“It was a good thirty eight minutes. I didn’t like the goal at the end of the second period that we gave up and I didn’t like the way that we played in the third.”

Ruff on the Stars’ penalty kill:

“The penalty killing was fabulous in the first period. I think that generated some energy for us and led to us going the other way. If you get scored against, we might’ve been in trouble but the guys did a real sound job.”

Ruff on Dallas’ play in the third period:

“For me, it started at the end of the second with a missed assignment. Puck battles we lost…pucks that were picked off out of our zone. We got trapped playing in our zone. We’d get it out, change and they’d come right back at us. It wasn’t good enough – that part wasn’t good enough. At one point I changed up what we were trying to do to see if we could generate a little bit more.”

Ruff on the debut of Jason Demers:

“I thought he had a good first game. He lost his guy on the fourth goal in front of the net but his energy was good and he did some good things. I liked his game.”

Ruff on building on the two-game win streak:

“I think we can but we have to be better. It’s really hard to stand here and talk about how we played so well for almost forty minutes. We’ve got some guys that have to grab hold of moments in a game and be able to change it. That shift at the end of the end of the second period was pretty disappointing when we take a 5-2 lead and we’ve got the momentum. That’s the disappointing part of the game for me and I think that leads to the type of third period we had. It’s great to win two games but we won’t continue to win if that’s the way we’re going to operate. We’ve seen it too many times.”

Stars Defenseman Jason Demers on assessing his first game as a Dallas Star:

“I think it was a good game. Anytime you beat Los Angeles, especially for me with my history against them, it’s always fun. I think the guys had a great effort. We were a little up and down, a little inconsistent tonight, but I think we got the result and guys really played the right way and we’re dedicated and committed to getting the two points. That’s huge for us moving forward.”

Demers on impact of penalty kill in the first period:

“It held us in there and Kari too. Kari played great the whole game. He had a lot of shots, a lot of tough shots. He held the door for us early and the PK did a great job. That’s what you need from your PK early, it gave us momentum and then our talent up front took over.”

Demers on his hit on Jarret Stoll:

“For sure [got me into the game]. It’s nice to get something like that out of the way right away; lined up perfectly. That kind of shocks you into the game and it’s nice to get that out of the way and along with the two points is always fun in the first game here… I know [the fams] like it a little rough and tough, so I tried to win them over quick.”

Demers on his power play goal:

“I just moved it to [Trevor] Daley and he made a great play breaking in and creating a net drive so it opened up the middle for me and [Ales] Hemsky gave me a great pass and I just tried to hit it as hard as I could. I was one-on-one against [Jonathan] Quick and I just tried to get it up high and pick a corner. It looked like I picked the right side.”

Demers on playing with Dallas after playing against them for so long:

“I’ve always hated playing against Dallas in this building. It’s one of the tougher buildings in the league. It’s fun to be on their side; a lot of guys on this team that gave me headaches over the years and it’s nice to be playing with them and mixing up with them. It happened quick, the whole trade, and I’ve had one day with them. They’ve welcomed me great and made me feel right at home right away. I couldn’t ask for any better reception.”

Stars Forward Jamie Benn on the earthquake during the game:

“It was probably when they were coming onto us in the third. That might have been the earthquake.”

Benn on the overall game:

“We got off to a good start – that’s what we wanted. They took advantage of a couple of mistakes and got a power play goal. We responded well, got a power play goal ourselves and Kari shut the door.”

Benn on the penalty kills early in the game:

“It was huge. Those guys did a great job and obviously it can change a game and I think it did tonight.”

Benn on the third period:

“I think we sat back a little too much during the third period and you have to give them credit, they are a good team. They have proven they are the champions of this league the last couple of years. Our goalie played great, our defense did a good job and we were fortunate to get that win.”

Benn on Jason Demers first game as a Star

“I thought he played pretty good tonight. He got the game winning so I would say he did a good job tonight in his first game here. We are happy to have him.”

Stars Forward Tyler Seguin on what the team’s thoughts were going into the third:

“We were confident. I think we’ve had trouble with that going into the third early on in the season, but tonight we were confident. We’ve done this a few times now where we’ve shut down the third or found a way to win in the third. We did it in Los Angeles; we did it in Phoenix the other night, that win [tonight] felt pretty good.”

Seguin on the impact of the penalty kill in the first period:

“That’s huge, especially to start the game. That’s a big momentum boost, most definitely at home. When you look at their last games, they’ve been really good on the power play and winning special teams and that was definitely a key to our game tonight; winning the special teams battle. That kill to start the game was pretty good for us.”

Seguin on what Jason Demers brings to the team:

“He’s very outgoing, very social; brings very good things into our locker room. I knew him before this trade and I knew he was going to help out. Obviously he wanted to make his presence known early on in the game. I thought he had a great two-way game and that great shot.”

Seguin on his goal assisted by Kari Lehtonen:

“I’m playing wing now, so I didn’t have to go all the way back. I hopped on the ice and kind of cheated. I don’t know if he looked up and knew I was there. I think he just was kind of throwing it up the middle of ice because no one was there and it was good timing. I said to myself before the game that if I got a breakaway I was going to shoot five-hole and I shot there. I couldn’t see it go in but it went in a little bit.”

NOTE: If you missed our pre-game odds with guest Mike Heika of the Dallas Morning News, click here to see if any of the predictions came true.

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