On his game-winning goal:
“It was a little bit of a scrum on the half wall there. I just wanted to make sure I got loose just in case those guys got the puck. Coming our way, I wanted to make sure I was in a decent position to come back. Then, once I saw Kinger get the puck, I just kind of opened up. I knew I was by myself in front of the goalie, and I was able to put it in.”
On whether he was surprised to have that much space:
“It doesn’t happen too often, but I’ll definitely take it. I saw my guy going into the pile, and again, I just wanted to stay out of it and it worked out for me.”
On the team’s performance:
“There’s no secret to it that we didn’t have a very good start. Bernie came up huge for us right off the get go. In the second half of the game, I think, we picked it up a little bit. Maybe it was a little bit of a case of the game in Detroit where we outplayed them and didn’t get the result. Maybe that was the case tonight. But it doesn’t matter how they come, as long as the points at the end of the night are in our bank, and that’s what we’re looking for.”
On the importance of a win over Detroit, considering the last game between these teams:
“I think every win’s important, really. You don’t look back. You’ve got to look ahead. Going in, we felt confident because we knew we could…outplay them like we did in Detroit. Like I said, we didn’t have the best start, and Bernier was able to hang in there and keep us in the game. After that, it was kind of a wakeup call after the first. We’ve got to pick it up. We did, and we managed to pull through.”
On Jonathan Bernier’s performance:
“I don’t know if there’s much to say. You guys saw it out there. He kept us in [it] in the first. He was making some big saves. That goal was a little bit of a fluke, but he was making the saves he was supposed to, and that’s all you really want from your goaltender.”
Now THAT’S what I call supporting the puck!
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I’m falling in love with the Kings all over again…
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Kingstane9 Reply:
February 28th, 2013 at 8:52 am
@Anaheim Kings Fan, Congrats!
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My take, a view from the other side and a boat load of video for all you late nighters…
Kool Hand Kopitar: http://kingsnewsdaily.com/kool-hand-kopitar/
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Robyn Reply:
February 27th, 2013 at 11:28 pm
@Paul Armbruster (KingsNewsDaily.com), Thanks Paul! How are we supposed to sleep if you guys just keep posting such good stuff?
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jp Reply:
February 27th, 2013 at 11:30 pm
@Paul Armbruster (KingsNewsDaily.com), Thanks for all the links in your post—I needed some reading material. FYI: the banner ad at the bottom of the page is for the Ducks.
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Paul Armbruster (KingsNewsDaily.com) Reply:
February 28th, 2013 at 9:18 am
@jp, You must be visiting their site then
I try to control those ads but dux tix keep popping up. Not sure what I can do about it other than curse google.
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Real 7 Reply:
February 28th, 2013 at 8:27 am
@Paul Armbruster (KingsNewsDaily.com), a crowd on the half-wall, Erickson falls after checking Lewis, then Kinger with a BRILLIANT pass to Anze….it all happened so fast that I had to watch it a half-dozen times…wOw!!
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Honestly, you all might hate me for this, but LA didn’t deserve that one. Bernier stole this one for LA. In LA’s last 2 games they got off to poor starts and had to rely on big 3rd periods. Hopefully D.S. can keep the Kings grounded and they can find a way to get off to better starts. Had they had a better start against CHI, we wouldn’t have to keep hearing about how they haven’t lost in regulation yet.
Other than that I love the 5 game winning streak, 7-1 in 8 outscoring opponents 25-11. I just hope D.S. reminds then not to read the papers and play 1 game at a time.
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KingsGRT Reply:
February 27th, 2013 at 11:25 pm
@Scott, I agree altho i think we played a pretty solid 2nd against the Ducks to go tied into the third.
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phil sykes Reply:
February 27th, 2013 at 11:26 pm
@Scott, disagree .. i saw the kings win 2 of the 3 periods
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KingsGRT Reply:
February 27th, 2013 at 11:27 pm
@phil sykes, Agreed altho i thought the 2nd was close
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What's the frequency, Kenneth? Reply:
February 27th, 2013 at 11:35 pm
@phil sykes, Me too. I was expecting them to get stronger throughout the game, which I think they did, particularly after a bit of a disappointing first.
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KingsGRT Reply:
February 27th, 2013 at 11:26 pm
@Scott, They just got a big 3rd period where they only needed a winning one
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phil sykes Reply:
February 27th, 2013 at 11:28 pm
@Scott, detroit had hardly any quality chances the last 2 periods – advantage kings
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Robyn Reply:
February 27th, 2013 at 11:32 pm
@phil sykes, I will say this. The defense managed to keep most of Detroit’s shots to the perimeter where it would be easy for Bernier to track and/or force the shooter to go wide, which happened on several occasions.
I did not have the best view in the house as I had the goalie’s backside to me all night, but from what I was seeing (and screaming, trying to drown out the Dreaded Things fans), our D really stepped it up. Our offense, however, was all freakin dump and chase all damn night. I was getting seriously pissed off seeing this dump and chase because it’d go right back to the Wings and then they’d put it back in our zone and our guys would struggle to keep it away from the net…
In the end, we won. That’s all that matters (for right now; Friday, however, look out…).
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brian spain Reply:
February 28th, 2013 at 8:12 am
@Robyn, They have to dump and chase when The Red Wings have 4 guys across the blue line, you take what they give you, the Kings just weren’t skating hard enough to recover the puck in the first period. The dump and chase worked on Kopi’s goal, because King and Lewis skated after the puck at recovered it. You only skate the puck in the zone when you can, in the first the Wings stopped the skate in every time.
jess Reply:
February 27th, 2013 at 11:30 pm
@Scott,
Not a big picture man are ya?
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HockeyNerd Reply:
February 27th, 2013 at 11:32 pm
@Scott, Detroit didn’t deserve that one either. Watch the Kopitar goal and see why he was able to get alone with all that time and space.
Sometimes Hockey’s like that. The team who plays the least badly wins. In any case, yes DS WILL keep these guys focused and see they get off to better starts.
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Robyn Reply:
February 27th, 2013 at 11:33 pm
@HockeyNerd, I agree with you and Scott. The Kings didn’t deserve because it was a poorly played game (I mean really, dump and chase then turn it over? Really???) BUT they came out in the 3rd period determined to win more than the Red Wings (who were comfortably riding their one fluke goal).
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src Reply:
February 27th, 2013 at 11:32 pm
@Scott,
No disagreement here. Just carma biting the Wings in the butt. The Kings outplayed them last time and came out short. Now Kings outplayed and win. Go Kings.
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phil sykes Reply:
February 27th, 2013 at 11:33 pm
@src, disagree . kings outplayed the wings 2 of the 3 periods . thats the game i saw
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src Reply:
February 28th, 2013 at 1:46 am
@phil sykes, Read your post the first time:)
Mikey J. Reply:
February 27th, 2013 at 11:33 pm
@Scott, We’re not going to hate you Scott. We’re just not going to the believe you.
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Kingsfanforlife Reply:
February 27th, 2013 at 11:44 pm
@Scott, Agree
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mash-ola Reply:
February 28th, 2013 at 12:14 am
@Scott, Kings didn’t deserve this win any more than the Wings didn’t deserve to win the last game in Detroit two weeks ago…
It is what it is… and at the moment, it’s pretty nice!
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Duncanz Reply:
February 28th, 2013 at 12:25 am
@Scott, Detroit came in to town with a pretty good opening gambit and deserved their barely legit one goal lead.
However Kings rode out the storm and eventually found a way to claw back and push back.
Detroit couldn’t find a way to add to their tally and Kings scored too well fought for goals and really should have generated more after forcing Detroit to take multiple penalties on two occasions.
So Kings deserved their win.
Detroit would have left town laughing if they’d won the game on a random, ridiculous hop off the goalie’s helmet.
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Shotongoal Reply:
February 28th, 2013 at 7:34 am
@Scott, you’re right in that they won a game when they didn’t play there best for 60 minutes, but that’s what good teams are supposed to do. Bernier did his part early in the game by keeping things close, but the D-men and the forechecking had a lot to do with keeping DET off the scoreboard in the 2nd half of the game. And, the forecheck absolutely led to the game winning goal. So I see it as a team effort to win a game when they didn’t ALL play their best for the whole game.
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however kings were very fortunate in the last 12 seconds – my god that cross ice pass was headed for not 1 but 2 wide open redwings for an easy …. horrible blown coverage ….
thankfully the pass was a lil too hard and rocketed out of the zone – so the game was over … during the line celebration i saw richards telling doughty , with doughty listening intently to his adivce .. i could tell richards was telling him …. “we got lucky there – there were 2 guys wide open next to bernier – stay out of the corner and protect home plate ” … doughty nodding his head over and over …… purely conjecture on my part , but it sure seemed like that was the advice ritchie was giving him … the kings started running around at the very end and it could have easily cost them if only the pass was a better one
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easy goal*
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Might’ve gone in thinking they were going to dominate the Wings again, and looked past them a little bit. Detroit seemed to have someone chase the puck everywhere not matter what, short handed, line change, they pressured the puck. Kings had no time at either end. Wings were trying to shoot high, esp after the goal.
Good news is, at least the Kings were one of those teams that capitalized on the Wings few mistakes, despite their own shortcomings–Hockey Gods help those who help themselves. Not a bad thing to plant in opposition’s head–can’t make a mistake, can’t make a mistake.
Kopi’s goal was sweet, how many guys would/can pull the goalie all the way across, and then go far side?
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Shotongoal Reply:
February 28th, 2013 at 7:37 am
@PhoolishGM, I don’t think this team overlooks anyone. DET had fresh legs and hadn’t played since Sun, plus they are a good team. The Kings scrambled early on and got big saves from Bernier and then found their game late in the 2nd and to the end of the game.
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