On whether there were “inspirational speeches” between the second and third periods:
“Not a lot. It was a two-goal game. You get one early – that’s what we were thinking – you get one early, well, we’ll scrap [out] another one. We didn’t think we were going to get four, but it worked out for us.
On whether he wanted to score to keep pace with Jeff Carter:
“Yeah, that ship has sailed, I think. He’s got, what, 15 now? I’ll let him beat me, but I’ll try to keep pace as much as I can.”
After several years of L.A. struggling to score, how Carter’s presence feels:
“Yeah, it’s pretty nice to see, to be honest with you, not worrying about goals all the time, because he’s been getting [them] pretty regularly. Hopefully he continues plays like that and scoring goals for us. We obviously need him.”
On whether St. Louis’ physical start came as a surprise:
“No, I don’t think so. They have a big team. We knew it was going to be a physical game. Quote-unquote, with Darryl, it was going to be ‘heavy lifting’. Those guys wanted to push us around a little bit, and we stood up pretty good and held ground and pushed back. That’s what you want to do on home ice.”
On whether the third period was the Kings “game” that they wanted to exhibit:
“Yeah, I think so. It’s skating, it’s making plays through the neutral zone. It’s been paying off the last couple of third periods. Now we just have to convert it to a 60-minute game and play a little more consistent.”
On when the Kings felt good about their chances after trailing 4-1:
“The tables started turning in the second period a little bit. They were starting to back off. I guess…it’s a 4-1 lead, you let up a little bit. We started sensing that if we got one by the end of the period, 20-minutes to go and a couple goals behind, anything’s possible. We managed to get that second one in the second period. We drew a couple of penalties. We didn’t score a power play goal, but we gained some momentum off that.”
Way to go Anze, way to put the game away.
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I might be a bit late to the party here, but I just got back from the game… and what a game it was. Legendary.
There was a suite full of drunkenly obnoxious Blues fans right behind my section and they were counting their goals like they do in St. Louis. When the Kings started coming back a couple of us would mock them with our own counting. By the time we tied it up, the *entire* section had joined in. It was amazing. By far one of the best games I’ve ever been to.
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Kings x Reply:
March 5th, 2013 at 11:29 pm
@FiG17, this game reminds me of the comeback win against Dallas when we scored five in a row. Almost as good but not quite. Still really damn good though
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Verno Reply:
March 5th, 2013 at 11:46 pm
@Kings x,
I was thinking the exact same thing when everything started rolling and held off on commenting to my friend until the game was in the bag.
That game against Dallas was one of the most exciting comes backs I’ve ever seen live. This came close, but you’re right, “not quite”.
But, of course, everyone still misses Crawford
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Keep on rollin boys!
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Mikey J. Reply:
March 5th, 2013 at 11:37 pm
@Kings x, Yeah, and a one two…
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Kudos to Kopi for his near perfect English as well as understanding such terms as “the tables started turning”. That reflects immersion into a language which is quite difficult for any non-English speaker to accomplish.
Also, nice goal!
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Jon G Reply:
March 5th, 2013 at 11:31 pm
@vindogla, The phrase that caught my attention was “that ship has sailed”. This guy is impressive.
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jp Reply:
March 5th, 2013 at 11:32 pm
@vindogla, The story goes that his grandmother started teaching him English at a young age. But dude speaks five languages—he’s just gifted in that regard. And in regard to hockey, too.
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Fortunato Reply:
March 5th, 2013 at 11:32 pm
@vindogla, pretty intelligent insight. Are you an educator, or perhaps an immigrant who speaks English as a second language?
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LGK! Reply:
March 6th, 2013 at 1:01 am
@Fortunato, Just watches NCIS…
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Duncanz Reply:
March 6th, 2013 at 2:16 am
@vindogla, Can anyone remember how thick his accent and minimal his vocabulary were when he first arrived off the steamboat?
Now, he sounds just like a regular Canadian hockey player, only more proficient!
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Mik3ysfv Reply:
March 6th, 2013 at 4:26 am
@vindogla, I caught that, too. Any doubt he is the best center in the league, bar-none?
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I gave my seats to a family member and watched it on TV. What a mistake.,
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Datacloud Reply:
March 5th, 2013 at 11:36 pm
@Fortunato, At least you get to watch games on TV. I work in SF during the week and have to put up with the crap that SJ tries to pass off as “hockey”. :p
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shiny Reply:
March 6th, 2013 at 12:03 am
@Datacloud, Ew, you have to deal with Clowne nonsense? I’m sorry
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Did the sky start falling before the Kings figured out how to take the game over?
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shiny Reply:
March 6th, 2013 at 12:04 am
@Dominick, I think it’s “opposite” day. Cuz Bernie was looking a bit “Quick”-like in net tonight then JQ came in cool as a cucumber. It was very odd to see LOL
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KC23 Reply:
March 6th, 2013 at 7:27 am
@Dominick, No, it is falling because Bernier didn’t magically become our number 1 goalie after a few good games.
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Just looked at the standings, and the entire pacific division is currently in position to make the playoffs. Of course, the odds are that won’t happen.
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The Red Wings won consecutive Cups with Mike Vernon in goal for the first and Chris Osgood in goal for the second.
That is certainly not typical.
The Oilers maintained their dominant years with two goaltending tandems (Fuhr/Moog, Fuhr/Ranford). But that is not the predominant model for post season success. this is a historical anomaly. An oddity really. . .
Georges Vezina, Terry Sawchuk, Bernie Parent, Ken Dryden, Billy Smith—when their respective teams went on prolonged Cup runs, it was with one default and dominating stopper in the pipes. that is the model for success.
Sutter has two outstanding goaltenders, but I’m thinking Sutter needs to come to grips with the fact that while Jonathan B is plainly good enough to deserve his starts, he has not a second of SC playoffs playing time; Jonathan Q has not only entered the SC playoffs record book, has not only been the best player on the ice through 4 consecutive SC series, has not only won the Conn Smythe Trophy, but has won a Stanley Cup.
In many ways, the Kings are better now than they were in 1011-12 (they _couldn’t_ have come from a 1-4 deficit to a 6-4 win last year!). The offense has often struggled, but the one big, nagging question has been in goal. It hasn’t always been the familiar dominance fans have come to expect. And yes, in this truncated season you’ve got to give Bernier his starts— but this team doesn’t need a goaltending ‘controversy’. Bernier needs to be a solid #2, Quick needs to be the big dog in goal. That is the path to Cup2.
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wes Reply:
March 5th, 2013 at 11:49 pm
that’s supposed to read ’2011-12′, not 1011-12. yeah, that typo is 1,000 years out of line!
. . . whatever other silly nonsense might be in that post?
it’s late
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wobsse6 Reply:
March 5th, 2013 at 11:53 pm
@wes, Quick is special, and has proved it…Bernier is good. Need both goalies in the regular season, especially back to back nights. I love them both.
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shiny Reply:
March 6th, 2013 at 12:08 am
@wobsse6, Hey, thank you, somebody who isn’t like “Quick is it. Period.” I mean, Bernier is great. He’s awesome. He could make some team a fabulous #1. **But Bernier himself has to come grips that he is currently #2**
Quickie is something special and he’ll probably lead us to Cup #2 but for now, we need him to get as much rest as possible during this crazy ass month so that he can be fresh and stellar in goal during the playoffs. We need Bernier to be his cucumber self during the regular season so that it takes some of the pressure off Quickie.
Work load = split
JD Reply:
March 6th, 2013 at 3:47 am
@wobsse6, @shiny. Bernier knows this is quicks team, he also knows he has no chance at being number 1, that’s why he asked to be traded. Lombardi made that perfectly clear with the 10 year extension. We still bernier to get starts, and play well, or we’ll end up in another hickey situation
“Yeah, it’s pretty nice to see, to be honest with you, not worrying about goals all the time,”
That is the most revealing quote about Kopitar. Read into it all you want – and you’re probably going to be right no matter what.
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mrbrett7 Reply:
March 6th, 2013 at 6:33 am
@LGK!, He’s a team first guy and always has been. All he really cares about is winning. He knows how talented he is, and the goals/assists will come. But if he isn’t scoring, and the team keeps winning, he doesn’t care at all.
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@shinny, nothing wrong with Berniers play tonight. Anyone who blames him for any of the 3 goals scored on him wasn’t paying attention. Also Quick has only lost 1 out of his last 4 before tonight so nothing wrong with Quicks game either.
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KC23 Reply:
March 6th, 2013 at 7:29 am
@Dominick, Ya mean we’re not trading Quick?
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What's the frequency, Kenneth? Reply:
March 6th, 2013 at 9:13 am
@Dominick, To be perfectly blunt, they all went tweeners. One occasional tweener in a situation like that, or a couple that go 7-hole, okay. Three straight tweeners, not okay.
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Can’t wait for the “view from St. Louis.”
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Hopefully Carter’s production will rub off on the other forwards and we can get some balanced scoring. Kopi has to feel a sense of relief knowing there is another sniper for the opponents to worry about, not just him. As for those who are concerned about Doughty, let him concentrate on the D-side, especially with the youngsters on the blue-line, the goals will come later.
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KC23 Reply:
March 6th, 2013 at 7:33 am
@Seals2Kings, … and Carter is only our number 2 player in total points and only 1 point ahead of our number 3 player in total points. I’m not worried about DD either. With Muzzin playing this well, DD is going to start to get more space.
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KingsGRT Reply:
March 6th, 2013 at 8:14 am
@KC23, and with the chemistry the two are developing DD is making muzz look like he is gonna give voynov a run for his money.
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Watched the game with my son and I thought it but didn’t say it during the third because I didn’t want to jinx the game but wow, have we got the Blues’ number! Those guys can not beat us for anything; they must hate, hate(!) us in St. Louis.
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Go Kopi Go!
GO Kings Go!
Way to Go!
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