Terry Murray’s postgame thoughts…
(on the shootout success…)
MURRAY: “It’s always good when we score, but we know we went through some difficult times last year with it, so we’ve been on both sides of it.”
(on overcoming the second period…)
MURRAY: “There was a whole lot of momentum gained with all the power plays that Boston had. They really started to feel comfortable with the puck, and had a real attitude when the game got tied up. They really came at us with a lot of heavy play. They were banging us around pretty good, but we hung in there. The three lines that ended up playing, I thought they played their butts off. They really dug in and did a great job. And the same thing on the back end, with a lot of great attitude to pull it out on the road.”
(on being 4-0 so far on this trip…)
MURRAY: “It says a lot about the gusy in (the locker room). Everybody is working and pulling for each other. The goaltending has been great. The special teams have come through at the right times, and needed to here tonight. The penalty killing was outstanding tonight. It takes a team to do that. It’s not going to be any one line or individual. It takes a team, and each guy is a part of the group in there.”
(on getting two power-play goals…)
MURRAY: “Puck movement. We talked about five guys having to be in the right place and working hard for each other. Certainly, the guys away from the puck have to be available and doing the right thing. The first goal was just that. A great pass by Doughty, a hard pass up top, for a one-touch redirect for the shot. On the second goal, with Kopi, I thought there was just a tremendous job in front of the net with the screen by Zeus. I think there were two guys at the net, but in particular, Zeus was right at the goaltender. When you get that kind of body positioning, it’s hard for the goaltender, and that was a huge goal for us.”
(on the Kings’ road success…)
MURRAY: “To me, it’s a group of guys. Everybody is playing for the group, for the team. that’s certainly what you have to have. A reliance on one guy or one line, to get on some kind of roll like winning four in a row, it’s not going to happen in the game today. The playing field is too level. You have the pieces of the puzzle in place, and guys are feeding off each other. A lot of encouragement going on, and you get some momentum. It’s nice to keep it going.”
I love that the kings are controlling their own destiny. It sucks to get to the end of the road and have to rely on another team winning or losing. Good 2 points…keep it rolling tomorrow!
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Wow, watching the Oil and Flamers…the Oilers suck real bad. Patty-o a healthy scratch for their last game…
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Amazing road trip. Best one in decades. Quick is da man!!!
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2:14 of ice-time for Ivanans; kindofa wasted roster spot. And did his mere presence prevent Kopitar from being decked? Clean hit, no doubt a part of hockey. But don’t anyone ever say that other teams are intimidated by Ivanans. He can’t even make Team Latvia; how in the hell is he on ours?
And good job, TM, sending out a flat team to start the game again. And way to do absolutely nothing to get them to play better during the game. His best coaching move apparently is to say, “Hey, Quickie, steal us another game.”
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cristobal lay off the TM bashing. they have won a few in a row, it can’t all be luck.
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Wow! Great two points in Boston. Any points from tomorrows game will be a bonus. Boys looked tired and slow tonight, but they battled through it for the points. I think Quicker helped steal an extra point for us tonight.
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Jet…awesome…LOL!
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Loving every minute of this awesome ride. Quick is the man, Kopi is a beast and Dean deserves whatever he wants for building a franchise that is poised for a great run not just this year, but for the foreseeable future.
One point, does TM have another adjective he can pull out besides “Heavy Play”. C’mon!
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I like the play of putting Moller in for Parse. Don’t know what’s up with Parse lately might be thinking a little too much. I like Moller’s style he just brings it hard every shift. Get in there, skate and play hard and get off the ice.
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I’ll take Parse over Moller any day. Moller just can’t push the bigger forwards off the puck defensively. Parse does need to improve his consistency however.
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@BringBackTheShieldJersey
We read enough of the nagging when the kings slip a couple games in a row, so can we NOT read it when theyve won 5 straight? There’s a reason why these guys are where they are, coaches, players, etc and you’re on a forum bitching about it.
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HeyBringBack
Last time I checked it was the players responsibility to come out hard. This is professional hockey, not “go get one for the gipper,”.
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One thing that is becoming very evident from this team is that they do not seem to panic, regardless of the situation they find themselves in. There is clearly a lot of confidence in their goalie and now they have the confidence in themselves to know that if they stick with it and play within the system TM has brought they can compete in every game. This doesn’t mean that they will win every game (although it would be nice), but it does mean that they have a chance in every game. And perhaps the students (the players) pick up from the teacher (TM) that there is no need to panic, as he seems to bring a calming attitude to the team.
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Yeah, no kidding! You know it’s just possible that there’s this normal situation where the home team is all amped up for half a period and the road team has to weather the storm and bring calm to the game. It’s a pretty standard thing, and the Kings have managed to weather those storms so far on this trip.
The first two minutes in Columbus were more harrowing than they should have been, against a not-so-good team, but the Kings did a better job today against a better team, so I think the negativity is unwarranted. I also think they were more competitive on the boards than they have been given credit for, by some.
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Anyone who has been following this team for more than six months, and who has a memory greater than that of a goldfish, should be able to see that this is the sort of game that the Kings would have lost last year. They would have panicked and started flailing, or given up. If I had a fiver for every intermission interview I heard where the Kings were down and someone said, “We just have to stick with our system,” or “We have to get back to playing our system,” and then they didn’t, I might be able to retire now. Add that to the post-loss interviews where someone said, “We didn’t play our system.”
Well, this season, they’re keeping their heads, they’re sticking with TM’s system, and guess what? They’re winning. So HawKings’ point is very well taken.
So I put it to Mr. Shield Jersey, aka Eeyore: The Kings are even making a believer out of Helene Elliott. Are you seriously going to be a bigger ass-biter than her? Does it make you feel like a big man, or give you some other perverse kind of satisfaction to pick at scabs that aren’t there and scratch until you draw blood from healthy skin?
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If the team wins and someone makes a critique, people are all, “They’re winning, what are you complaining about?” If the team loses and someone makes a critique, people are all, “Man, here come the haters.” Heaven forbid anyone say anything negative when they win. Or lose. Or ever.
It’s called taking an objective look. It’s called debate. At 2:14 of ice-time, is Ivanans worth the spot? I say no. Feel free to disagree. The team came out flat, again. I think this reflects proper preparation; to me, largely a coaching issue. Feel free to disagree.
Repeatedly do the Kings start flat. At home and away. Coaches want the player to play more consistently.
KC23 and others say it’s the players job to be ready. Fine. But it’s the coaches job to recognize trends and make adjustments. TM doesn’t do it. You don’t want a coach that over-reacts, but one who reacted at all would be nice.
DougS: that the players are good with stock answers in interviews is really perceptive on your part. Most every player on every team gives these answers. Here are some more: We’ve got to keep getting the puck in deep; We need to tighten things up in our own zone; (goalies name) really kept us in that one; We need to get better on the forecheck; We need to get more pucks on net; We need to get bodies in front of their goalie.
Now if you don’t think the team would be improved by getting some productivity out of Ivanans spot, ok, say someting constructive, for once. And, if you think that repeatedly starting games flat is a good thing and bodes well for the future, then, in keeping with the Eeyore theme, then you’re an ass.
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Shield Jersey… i agree about DragoNans… much rather have that roll filled by somebody who does more than bring the team down… its literally like being on a penalty kill when he is out there… aka, we’re at a 1 man disadvantage… much rather give westgarth his slot… id be very sad to see Ivanans resigned in the off season… westy is worthy of promotion
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Shield–the difference isn’t the stock answers–it’s that they’re doing what they say they have to do, as opposed to saying they have to do it next time. I can’t believe you can ignore that.
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