As part of Thursday night’s post-game media scrum with Kings coach Todd McLellan, two themes started to develop — and they centered on his backup goaltender, along with one of his defensive pairings. Here’s what he had to say…
On if he’s losing any confidence in goaltender Pheonix Copley, given his .792 save percentage through 4GP this seasons:
We’ve seen him do it over and over again. He’s played what, [10] periods for us this year and we’re going to lose confidence in him? Not a chance. He’s a good goaltender, our guys believe in him and it’s hard when you haven’t played for a while. We played back-to-back he got the shitty end of the of the schedule. That’s the way it goes. Would he like to have one back? Yeah, but we’d also like to have the shorthanded goal back and that’s on the team.
On Copley’s pad being just a few inches away from making the save in overtime:
That’s how it is. I think he’d like to have that one back. I bet he would tell you that. He probably got tangled up a little bit and didn’t get over there in time. [He] would likely make that save quite often. But it happened and we move on.
On Andreas Englund finding a role on the Kings, despite coming into the season without a defined position in the team’s defensive group:
[Maybe] not clear to this room, but certainly clear to us. We knew what we were getting and what we expected to get from him. He’s our shepherd, he kind of takes care of the group, and he does it the right way. He’s very well admired in the locker room. I think he’s gotten better; every night I think he’s gotten better. There’s no slippage in his game. He brings the physicality, doesn’t take stupid penalties, his mouth isn’t running off. He just plays the game, he shepherds the group, and we’re lucky to have him.
On the development of Jordan Spence this season, and how that third pair has become a solid duo:
It certainly has, we feel good about them on the ice. They can eat some good minutes up. They both play a role on special teams. Obviously, Andreas is on the penalty kill and Spenny a lot more on the power play. We’re getting quality minutes out of them in those situations. One’s a heady player, sees the ice well, and has a booming shot – that would be Spenny. The other one is physical and patrols. We have separate ingredients on that line. Spenny has, like Andreas has, improved nightly. He looks more confident; just the way he pivots around pucks, the way he is choosing to shoot them. They’re both certainly getting passing grades right now.
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Copley needs to go to the AHL and work on his form and if he gets claimed, although unlikely , so be it.
Call up Ritchbich!