Terry Murray’s postgame thoughts…
(on the game…)
MURRAY: “Well, the bottom line is winning games in the National Hockey League. I’m very pleased about the fact that we came back (from the road trip) and got two points. It was a very hard game for us. This is something that’s talked about — every time I’m involved in this — coming back after a long road trip, that it’s hard, emotionally and mentally, to get yourself going. Physically, you’re tired to begin with, so I liked the way we dug in. I know they outplayed us and outshot us in the third period, but at critical times, we responded.”
(on scoring the third goal so quickly after the Devils’ goal…)
MURRAY: “That was a great response. That was a much-needed response. That Stoll line went right back out there immediately. Scuds shoots the puck at the net, and there was a nice little redirection for Stoll to put it in. But that’s the kind of intensity that line showed us all night long. They were real good. They were on the puck, they were smart with the puck in the offensive zone and still, at the same time, very responsible on the checking part of the game.”
(on Stoll’s play this season…)
MURRAY: “He knows that, as the second-line center iceman, the secondary scoring is very important. One of the strengths that Stoll has, of course, is shooting the puck, carrying the puck with speed and shooting the puck. We want him to take advantage of that shooting ability more often, even if it’s just putting pucks on net to generate some second and third opportunities from other people on the team, it’s a good decision. His attitude right now is paying off for him.”
(on Quick’s play…)
MURRAY: “He was real good in the third period. They’re just opening up the flood gates there. The D are pinching down. That’s the first time I’ve ever seen New Jersey Devils D pinch as often as they have. It’s just a very aggressive attitude, to stay after us. I’m sure they were talking about us coming back (from the road trip) and that there was going to be fatigue in our game. And they were right. We needed Quick to be good, and he was.”
You could tell by the words of TM that he was very relieved to get this win..it was no walk in the park.
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The way the Kings went into prevent defense was sickening. What kind of strategy was that? Being there it was just awful. We are so lucky that Quick kept playing, because everyone else just quit.
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tantrum4 Reply:
October 30th, 2010 at 11:43 pm
@Krusher,
Whaaa! I’m sure you wouldn’t have minded if that was game 7 in the Stanley cup final. A win is a win, no matter how they get it.
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Krusher Reply:
October 31st, 2010 at 12:10 am
@tantrum4, It was not game 7, the Devils were all over us and it appeared that it would only be a matter of time before they beat Quick. I hate the prevent defense in football and in hockey it may be worse.
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Danielle Reply:
October 30th, 2010 at 11:57 pm
@Krusher,
I wouldn’t say it was sickening, but it certainly was boring. They seemed to get a little lazy with it. But as tantrum4 says, a win is a win.
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Krusher Reply:
October 31st, 2010 at 12:11 am
@Danielle, Yes it was truly boring and frustrating. It was like they asked Quick to bring home the win. I was thinking that I was glad I didn’t bring a potential new hockey fan to this game.
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Dominick Reply:
October 31st, 2010 at 1:33 am
@Krusher,
Sometimes you take what the other team gives you. The Devils were pushing for offense. Their D was pinching in on the strong side. They were double teaming the points to break up the counter pinch, and keeping the puck down low.
The Kings did a great job of deflecting the attack to the outside.It wasn’t pretty, but if the Kings would have pushed back, the Devils would have found some holes, and alot of those long shots from bad angles, would have turned into shots from the slot, or clear cut breakaways.
There were alot of shots, but not alot of 2 on 1′s, or players breaking in on Quick alone. In fact, that wasn’t the case at all in the 3rd. The Kings maintaned position, no matter how hard the Devils pressed. It was a battle that was worthy of praise, not complaints.
puckbob Reply:
October 31st, 2010 at 9:45 am
@Krusher, next game stay home
Christian T Reply:
October 31st, 2010 at 8:23 am
@Krusher,
When a team is pressuring like New Jersey was you really have no choice. If the Kings played differently they would have been scored on. Boring maybe. But I’d rather have boring at that point then the excitement of the past when we would have given up that lead. Be happy that we can win with 3rd period defense. That’s what will win when we get to the playoffs.
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I’ll take boring hockey games every time if the team wins. I however wasn’t bored watching.
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As much of how awesome this team is I’m not complaining except for the fights. 2 fights on the whole year…come on now! This is LA we love our goons dropping them.
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Tyler Reply:
October 31st, 2010 at 12:43 am
@Tyler, Okay 3 fights….still.
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crown Reply:
October 31st, 2010 at 7:39 am
@Tyler,
I see this as a good sign and here’s why:
You got to pick your spots. We shouldn’t be looking for fights unless we’re down by two or three goals and in need of spark. Fortunately, this has not been the case yet this year as most of our deficits have been 1-0 and most teams won’t ‘accept’ a fight knowing the intent is to change momentum. 2) The fights we have had are stepping up to protect a player in need.
I think it’s safe to say this team protects their teammates and when we start playing the Ducks and other chippy teams, we’ll start dropping the gloves.
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puck73 Reply:
October 31st, 2010 at 8:41 am
@crown, I agree. I also agree with @kc23, when Westgarth broke that Avs players jaw in the 1st preseason game in Denver it sent a message to the rest of the league. Also, even though Raitis wasnt afraid to drop the gloves, looking back to last season it was apparrent that he wasnt the deterrent that Westgarth, Simmonds, and Clifford appear to be.
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Tyler Reply:
October 31st, 2010 at 2:37 pm
@puck73, I hear you guys. I just wish we were a goon team like Philly.
I’ll take 2 points, no fights and a boring third period. If the worst we can say is that we had a boring third period in a win when we are atop the NHL right now, me thinks things are pretty good.
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at the end of the year, nobody is going to care if the points are won in boring games or not. 2 points is 2 points and they can be the difference between home ice advantage or not.
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