Not sure what happened there, but here are the Anze Kopitar postgame quotes…
(on the three drought-ending goals…)
KOPITAR: “I don’t know if it was pre-arranged, but it was definitely a good feeling when I scored. For myself, and I’m pretty sure for Teddy and Brownie, that was a couple monkeys jumping off our backs there. I thought it was a pretty big game to score in, too. I’ll take it, and we’ll go from here.”
(on the relief of seeing the puck go in…)
KOPITAR: “You know, I was worried at first. When the referee pointed to the penalty box, I thought we got a penalty and my goal was going to be disallowed. I would have been really sorry, but it’s a relief. I think it was 14 games for me. You try not to think about it, but it’s always there. You watch some hockey on TV, on your off days, and you see soft goals going in and you think, `I might as well get one of those.’ I’ll take one right off my ass. You try not to think about it, but it sure effects your game. The net looks smaller, or the goalies look bigger. But now it’s behind me, behind us, I should say, and we’re up and running now.”
(on beating San Jose…)
KOPITAR: “They’re first in the division, and divisional games are always important. Too bad we gave them a point, but we’re not going to get greedy. We got two, and that’s the most important thing for us. I think we’re right on their heels now, and we’ve got to push.”
(on getting five points against San Jose so far…)
KOPITAR: “I think, for our confidence, it’s big. We came here, and the first one we lost in a shootout, and then this one we won in OT. That’s a hard place to play in. The crowd is right on top of you. It’s loud all the time. The place is rocking. I’ve seen some teams come in here and just melt down. I think we really showed our character. They scored in the last minute of the first period, but we never let down. We came right back with a strong second period and we scored three goals. Even when they scored that fourth goal, we didn’t let down. I think there was still seven or eight minutes to play. Looking back, last year, or previous years, we would just melt after that fourth goal. We stuck with it.”
Hey! Clutch save by the big guy in the suit! Good job.
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“I’ll take one right off my ass.”
I see now. He’s talking about a deflection. He must have seen one on TV and thought it was funny. Great line Kopi!
I don’t think we as fans can overvalue what his overall message is here.
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The man cares, and all he wants to do is win. I LOVE that!
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Prediction. Kopi unleashes tonight. One, maybe two goals.
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I want to see a 4 point night from the big guy with sunken eyes
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Dewey deserves two assists on Anze’s goal. Take a look at the replay. A cardboard cutout could have scored on that. I dont mean that as a knock on Anze in any way. It is meant as praise for Doughty. He saw a teammate in a slump and almost singlehandedly broke him out of the slump. The set up on that play was unbelievable. If this kid stays healthy he has a chance to be a generational player.
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“I’ll take one right off my ass.” is a great quote
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Love that Kopitar said it was a shame that they gave the Sharks a point. If you review carefully the blown call by the refs in the final minutes of the games. The refs in fact gave the Kings two points. The goal by Marleau did in fact go in and the ref blew the call. If the refs ego did not get in the way the Kings would have blown a big lead and lost the game in regulation.
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