For the third straight game, Todd McLellan’s LA Kings went to overtime. After Anaheim scored first on Monday, they eventually built a 4-2 lead in the second period and entered the final frame of regulation with a 5-3 advantage. However, Adrian Kempe eventually recorded his second career hat trick to help the Kings tie it at 5-5 and push things into OT, earning LA a valuable point in the standings. Rookie Trevor Zegras spoiled any thoughts the Kings had of coming away the extra point, though, dishing a pass to Adam Henrique and giving the Ducks a 6-5 victory.
Following the game, McLellan shared several thoughts:
On the resiliency of the team over the last two games
The St. Louis game we were happy with the resiliency. Tonight, we’re really disappointed with the mistakes. Six goals against is your answer. We had some dismal performances by some individuals and yet there were others that had great games, really played well. Half the team was ready to play, the other half still isn’t ready to play, and the night is over. That’s disappointing.
On if this game was too much of the track meet style of game that they want to avoid
No, I don’t think it was track meet at all. I didn’t feel like it was going up and down the ice. We were really, really sloppy, made way too many individual mistakes. The turnovers off our tape, the lackadaisical play, how we handled some of the 2-on-1 rushes, power play gave up a shorthanded. Had nothing to do with a track meet, it was just sloppy. The hardest game to play is when some guys are really on and other guys are really off because it just screws everything up.
On Adrian Kempe scoring five goals in his last five games
Four or five games ago, we asked him to find a way to contribute a little bit more. He certainly has offensively.
On the play of the Moore-Lizotte-Kempe line tonight
They had, other than their first shift when they got scored on, after that I thought they won the majority of shifts they played. Throughout the night they were willing to forecheck, they had a tenacity to them that kept a lot of plays alive, a lot of simple plays – strip pucks, make one pass, shoot it. They didn’t have to get cute, they didn’t try to over-create, they were pretty consistent the whole night.
On the disallowed Kings goal late in the third period
An official signaled good goal on the ice. Right away, we went and looked at the video and thought that was our only chance – if we could get away with a good call on the ice and then they wouldn’t have enough to turn it over. They got together, they did what they were supposed to do, they overruled it. Then, it was up to us to challenge. We didn’t feel like we were gonna win that and we didn’t want to put our team shorthanded in the last four or five minutes, three minutes, probably.
On if he feels he has to protect some players from getting frustrated by their lack of production
Nope. If you’re not playing well, you can still find a way to contribute. You can bring energy to the bench, especially in these empty buildings. You can’t sit on the bench like a house plant and not contribute. Whether you’re getting your minutes or not, there’s some guys that play a lot of minutes and they need a little uplift every now and then. Recognize a block shot, recognize a big hit, a face off, a good line change. If you’re not getting your minutes because it’s not going really well, you can still find ways to contribute. We’re learning that as we go, especially playing in front of empty buildings where there’s not a lot of energy. If it really affected our team dramatically and I have to protect them, even the good guys wouldn’t have played well tonight. I don’t think that’s an issue.
More postgame quotes:
Kempe Postgame Quotes After Scoring a Hat Trick in Kings OT Loss to Ducks
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The concept of “won the majority of shifts” is something that is not talked about enough.
I like this coach. Unfortunately, we still have to read from dolts who don’t understand that the Kings are in transition and keep asking for Blake, Luc and Todd’s heads.
It’ll be a mixed blessing if the Kings make the playoffs. They’re not deep enough to go far, but making the playoffs diminish our chance of another decent draft pick.
Pondering…