Terry Murray’s postgame thoughts…
(on the special-teams win…)
MURRAY: “We were due, were we not? [smiles]”
(on the game-winning shorthanded goal…)
MURRAY: “You put some of the pieces in place, pursuing the puck, putting pressure and getting down ice quickly, like Richardson. He’s quickly pursuing the puck that is cleared, and forcing a play. It ends up that Stoll gets the puck and now it’s a big goal for us.”
(on the importance of special-teams play…)
MURRAY: “I’ve also said, the power play can win you a game but the penalty kill can lose you a game. It ended up tonight that the penalty killing was outstanding at a critical time. We kept the flow going. Lots of guys were intense and on the puck and doing the right things. It was a great team effort in the last 10 minutes of the third period.”
(on Richardson’s hat trick…)
MURRAY: “I’m sure he’s pretty happy, coming back to Colorado and getting that hat trick. … There were a lot (of hats thrown) in L.A. Probably in his house there were a few. But he earned it. I made a change with the Kopitar line. I wanted a more responsible player up there in that situation, and Richardson responded. He grabbed the opportunity and then to finish it off the way he did was very rewarding for him, no question.”
(on the power-play goals…)
MURRAY: “On Kopitar’s goal, we were, `Let’s get it to the back end, let’s get shots to the net.’ And then they go down low and it’s in the net and we’re saying, `Good play.’ [laughs] It was nice to see. There’s been a lot of time, a lot of effort, put into that in the last several days, so to get rewarded with timely goals like that tonight was critical, really important.”
Keep practicing that PP coach, it did ok tonite. Hell, if we could get 2 PP goals every game I like our chances !
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Super game for Ritchie.
I talked him up some when it was announced he would be filling in for Parse, and I got asked what I was smoking.
lol, nice game Ritcie, and another game winning goal to go along with the hat trick!
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TM takes a lot of heat for his line changes, let’s give him credit for putting Richardson with Kopi. That line was very good for the shifts they played together and were rewarded with Richie’s 3rd of the game.
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DougS Reply:
October 24th, 2010 at 12:02 am
@JB,
My sense is that was a reward for scoring his first goal, which was Richie at his best: making an opportunistic and aggressive play at exactly the right moment.
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Richie Rich was a beast all night and thank God it payed off for him. You can put him on any line and he’d play his heart out.
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USHA#17 Reply:
October 24th, 2010 at 10:00 am
@Chaz, The kopitar monster was on the loose, too.
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Everytime Richardson was on the ice he was pouncing on loose pucks and driving the net with speed, awesome to watch. I have mixed feelings about Simmonds penalty. It did not look intentional.
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Dominick Reply:
October 24th, 2010 at 12:22 am
@408kingfan,
I think being drafted by Colorado had something to do with it. Nothing like sticking it to your old team. I don’t want to take anything away from his great play tonight, but let’s see how he plays next game.
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rontheking Reply:
October 24th, 2010 at 9:15 am
@Dominick,
dude,
please don’t say “sticking it to”…at least for a while.
thanks,
your friend,
Wayne S.
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Hat trick Reply:
October 24th, 2010 at 9:45 pm
@408kingfan, I think that Co player was wearing goggles the way he dove!
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Hopefully we start to see some consistancy with the PP. On a side note, Stevens(I think)is doing a great job with the PK. I don’t find myself throwing my hands up in the air as much, saying “here we go again” when we get a penalty.
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Darrell Reply:
October 24th, 2010 at 12:49 am
@Dominick, I’ll give them credit for making improvements. That first goal was a great play, and they probably should’ve gotten another from Loktionov later in the game. Still not impressed with what we’re doing on the blueline, and it would’ve been nice to put the game away at the beginning of the 3rd when we had the double minor, but it’s a step in the right direction.
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TM has moved Richie up to the Kopi line a few times in the last 10 minutes of games –> defensive responsibilities. This is at least two games in a row that Richie has been on the most effective line (Richie-Schenn-Simmer in Phx).
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It’s funny how Richie can get a bit lost in the shuffle of players. We can get kinda worked up about the young guys who maybe have a bigger up-side but are yet to prove themselves. But he reminded me why I was so high on him last season. When he gets an opportunity he makes the most of it. The guy works harder than anyone else on the ice, going after loose pucks, trying to create turnovers. And his speed/skill sure helps his efforts. Sorry for looking right past ya Ritchie, congrats on a great game.
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Is NO ONE going to say it? WTF is up with Johnson? He makes bad choices he cant hold a puck in the zone to save his life and every pass thrown to him bounces off or over his stick. Hes lost right now
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puck73 Reply:
October 24th, 2010 at 8:59 pm
@I’m Just Saying”, In Phoenix he absolutely was. Last night he stayed mostly at the blue line and was very careful when he pinched in. In the future, this is the way he needs to play because he has plenty of speed and stickhandling ability to be very good in this league as long as he lets the game come to him. Where he has gotten into trouble is when he tries to emulate Doughty..He cant! NO one can !
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Hat trick Reply:
October 24th, 2010 at 9:47 pm
@I’m Just Saying”, IMO he’s not the sharpest tool in the shed but he’s got skills. Once he ups his on ice IQ like Doughty he’s gonna be killer.
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