After dropping the first three games of the season — all games they could have won — the Kings found a way to not only stage another comeback, but finally close out a game on Thursday night. Following LA’s first win of the young season, Anze Kopitar shared some thoughts on beating the Colorado Avalanche…
Kopitar on the Kings coming back from being down 2-0 to eventually win the game
It’s not the start that we wanted, getting scored on pretty early in the game again, but it showed character. Going down two against a team like Colorado, it’s not the easiest task to shut them down for the rest of the game and scoring a few goals. I thought we showed quite a bit of character today. Obviously, there’s still a few things we can improve on, but we’ll take the win and go from here on out.
On playing with Adrian Kempe
There’s not a whole lot of new stuff that I didn’t know before. He’s very fast, protects the puck really well, forechecks really good. We were able to get the forecheck going and have a bit more of sustained pressure in the offensive zone.
On the team attacking the net more in this game
To start, maybe we were a little bit too hesitant to be aggressive. We didn’t want to be over aggressive, but then we caught ourselves on our heels a couple times. After, I think we got the forecheck going, like I said before, we got a little bit more of a sustained pressure and special teams are always big. We were able to find a couple on the power play and roll from there.
On the team being able to roll four lines tonight
We want to play an aggressive game. Maybe at the beginning we gave them a little bit too much respect and kind of got caught on our heels. Then, after was the kind of game we want, with the flow. We started forechecking, being more aggressive, spending more time in our zone. Ultimately, that’s what we want to do and that’s what you have to do in order to score goals.
On if the team was able to carry any momentum from their strong third period on Tuesday into tonight’s game
When it goes well, you’d like to think that you’re carrying over momentum, but when it’s not going particularly well, you kind of want to forget it very quick and move on. We’ll take the positives and roll, we’ll go on the road and try to win a couple games.
On what he saw leading into the game winning goal
I knew [Kempe] was standing in front, so I was just trying to surprise the goalie and their d-man. Instead of maybe turning a full-180 to show that I was gonna pass, instead I just wanted to kind of make a quick play and it ended up working out.
On if a win against a Cup contender like this shows that the Kings can be competitive against any NHL team
Yeah, we believe that for sure. We believe that we can be competitive. But in order to be competitive, we gotta check all the boxes – meaning, the power play has to be firing, the PK has to be firing, we have to stay out of the box, and we have to have a good forecheck. The big picture has to come together for us to be competitive. The work work ethic is there, we’re definitely not lacking there. Yet, we have to learn and improve in some areas and learn how to win. I think tonight was a good indication of what we have to do to win a hockey game.
Kopitar on his milestone game tonight and the long connection with Dustin Brown – He's like a brother to me. We've been through down times early on and then the highs of those championships. Great having him alongside me for 15 years. Hope we can keep this thing rolling.
— John Hoven | The Mayor (@mayorNHL) January 22, 2021
Bonus Quotes from Gabe Vilardi
Vilardi on his goal — Walks gave it to me, I wanted to shoot right away, wanted to go short-side high. I was lucky it sort of went off his helmet and in. I'll take it.
— John Hoven | The Mayor (@mayorNHL) January 22, 2021
Vilardi on his confidence and team success
Obviously it helps when you’re winning. I think everyone can say, when you’re winning you feel good after the game most of the time. So it’s coming. Four games in here, it’s coming. I don’t think I’m playing great out there. With my line, I think we can do more still. I think we have to get more o-zone grind shifts. I think that’s where I’m at my best. Brownie is unreal below the hash marks in the o-zone. On Lias, that was my first game playing with them and he was awesome tonight. We just have to keep playing well and keep winning games. When you’re winning, it makes things that much easier. When the team is winning your confidence definitely goes up.
On any challenges that come with changes to his wingers every few games
Sometimes it’s refreshing almost. Sometimes it’s just, I don’t want to say different vibes, but there’s a different feel off playing with each guy. Everyone thinks the game differently. So it depends. When you see that Colorado team and those three guys — Rantanen, MacKinnon, Landeskog — they’ve been playing together for 3-4 years. When they’re out there, they just flow in the o-zone. You’re watching the games, it’s pretty cool to see. I think that comes with playing with guys for a long time and developing that that chemistry almost, you know where they’re gonna be. Same thing in Boston, that top line, they’ve been playing together for so long. So it definitely makes things easier when you’re with a guy for a long time, but like I said, also when you get new limemates, it’s kind of refreshing and almost gives you a little kick in the butt.
Additional notes and stats:
– Anze Kopitar (0-2=2) tallied two assists tonight. His six assists on the season are tied for first in the NHL (Jack Eichel, BUF). He has consecutive multi-point contests (0-4=4) and five points/assists over his first four games this season (0-5=5).
– Kopitar played in his 1,078th regular season NHL game, tying him with Luc Robitaille for third place all-time in LA Kings franchise history. Only Dave Taylor (1,111) and Dustin Brown (1,187 and counting) sit above him on the list.
– Drew Doughty (1-0=1) scored his first goal of the season tonight and the Kings’ first goal of the night on the power play. It was the Kings’ first 5-on-3 power-play opportunity this year.
– Gabe Vilardi (1-0=1) scored his second goal of the season on the power play to tie the game at two. It’s the second power-play goal of his career.
– Adrian Kempe (1-0=1) scored his second goal of the season to give the Kings the lead late in the third period. He has goals in back-to-back contests (2-0=2).
STATS CHECK
— Kings took 4 penalties tonight. Lowest of the season
— J. Quick now 5-3 on his BDAY
— John Hoven | The Mayor (@mayorNHL) January 22, 2021
– Blake Lizotte (1-0=1) scored his second goal of the season on the empty net to secure the King’s lead in the third period.
– Andreas Athanasiou (0-1=1) tallied his first assist of the season tonight, extending his point streak to four-straight games (3-1=4). It ties his career-long point streak (Nov. 11 to Nov. 19, 2017: 4-2=6).
– Jeff Carter (0-1=1) recorded an assist on Doughty’s power-play tally, giving him five points in his last four contests (1-4=5).
– Sean Walker (0-1=1) recorded his first point/assist of these season on Vilardi’s goal.
– Alex Iafallo (0-1=1) notched an assist on Kempe’s goal.
– Trevor Moore (0-1=1) posted his first point of the season with an assist on Lizotte’s empty-net goal.
More postgame comments linked below.
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