Sitting idle for a few weeks didn’t seem to bother Matt Luff – at least not on the ice. He drew back into the lineup on Friday night for the first time since February 18. One day later, he scored a key goal in the Kings 4-3 come-from-behind win vs. the visiting St. Louis Blues.
After the game, Luff shared the following comments:
On if his goal tonight is a confidence booster
Yeah. Any time you can help contribute, especially in a comeback win like this one is huge. It speaks to our team’s character being down what we were, coming back and winning. Anytime I can get back in line up and produce and help the team out in any way, whether it’s just a solid couple shifts here and there. Just to get wins is nice being in the lineup.
On getting over the hump and closing this game out
It shows a lot about each guy in the room. There’s a gut check moment for us, and we proved through that second and third what we can do. It just speaks volumes about the leadership in our room. [Anze Kopitar], just showing his night with three points. [Drew Doughty], being so talkative and so helpful. Top to bottom, was huge for us.
On his thoughts on Kopitar being on the ice when he scored
The funny thing was when I gave it to him there, I kind of was like, ‘I should go change for [Dustin Brown]’ and then something to my head was like, ‘just do a little button hook, there’s a little bit of a hole’. Luckily it worked out. Pretty cool to say Anze Kopitar assisted one of my goals when it’s all said and done. It’s just a huge goal, just huge.
On his attempts to become a regular part of the lineup
I haven’t really changed much, just believe in myself. My parents have been huge. I’ve been talking to them and just working through everything. I got good friends back home too. My Xbox crew, we’re not really talking about it, we’re just keeping it light. It’s just huge. I can’t really explain, it’s kind of a good feeling just to trust myself throughout the whole thing.
On if Kopitar’s big night will get him the national recognition he deserves
Kopitar is a Hall of Famer through it all, everything for the Kings. He’s probably the best 200-foot player in the game, next to a couple other guys. You look up and down the league, I don’t think any team wouldn’t want him as their number one center. He just does so much on and off the ice for us. He’s just one of those guys you can always turn to. And he’s one of the guys that’s been helping me a lot through this past year and a bit, just making sure that I’m confident, not throwing away pucks. What he does off days for us young guys is huge. I think how he is and recognized throughout the league, those people aren’t really paying attention to hockey.
More postgame comments linked below.
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