On what he liked over the game’s final 40 minutes:
“We had a good start of the game and then a couple of untimely penalties and then gave up a three-on-two late in the first. We just…settled down, regrouped. Not that we made any changes, we just come in, reset.”
On the Kings making Staples Center a difficult place to play:
“We’re still trying to play a complete game. We’re coming off a game where we didn’t, and the game prior to that where we had to score five goals in the third period, which you’re not going to do very often or ever again. So we’re still trying – a lot of work to do with guys in terms of getting their individual games to where they have to be for us to be successful.”
On the team’s impressive home record:
“You know what, I couldn’t care less about it. The way the schedule is, I don’t know if we’re at home. I thought it was an afternoon game. I…figured I had to get there before we set the clocks.”
On whether Keaton Ellerby is in danger of losing a spot in the lineup, considering his minutes:
“We don’t look at it like that. We look at the team we were playing [that] has some significant offensive weapons that you have to [be aware of]. I’m not going to put a young player in that position. So it had nothing with how Keaton played or what you’re saying. You’re trying to be very critical of a young player that we’re trying to make a better player.”
On whether there was an effort to use size as an advantage:
“They have great skill up front and a very mobile defense. When you take Giordano and Bouwmeester as a pair, and then you put Butler and Wideman, you know what? Their game…has got nothing to do with size…They have some high-end offensive players, and you’ve got guys like Jarome and Cammy. You know what? They’re awesome, offensive guys. So you’ve got to try and get the right guys on the ice against them. Simple.”
On Jonathan Quick’s performance:
“I thought he was smothering pucks. I guess the best way in hockey terms was he was covering everything really well.”
On what he liked over the game’s final 40 minutes:
“We won the second period. It was 1-0. That’s what I was most pleased with.”
On whether the team has gradually been getting better offensive looks:
“I don’t think so. Our defense evolved a little more, but I don’t think that. I mean, we’re not getting any more chances. I’ve said it a hundred times, but you guys keep asking the question, and every time you don’t score, ‘you’re offensively challenged.’ We’re scoring. We break it down, like who we play against, certain home road, things like that. Lines, all that stuff. We still have some guys that are offensively challenged, quite honest.”
On whether he expects more chippiness in the two-game set:
“I don’t think so. Quite honest, that’s not their style, and that’s not ours. How you win games is not retaliating or looking for something extra-curricular. That’s not the game we play. You know what? We’re going to have our heads set around trying to play a disciplined, hard game.”
On whether he expects Jeff Carter to score every game:
“Yep. Why not? Somebody asked the other day about him. I said ‘He’s money.’ [He] leads the league in game-winners. Do you expect him to do it every game? Yep. That’s how we can win every game.”
On whether Kyle Clifford is taking on a more physical role:
“That’s how Cliffy plays. I don’t think he’s ‘taking it on’. I think historically that’s his game, right?…Physical role’s got nothing to do with fighting. Zero, quite honest.”
On how close the team is to where it wants to be:
“Got lots of work to do. As a team, you know what? Individually we’ve got lots of improvement to do if you break it down by position, by who plays with who, all those things. We’ve got lots of work to do.”
On whether this has been the best play he’s seen from Slava Voynov:
“I think in the playoffs last year he was quite a bit better. You’re…again just going and looking at stats…It’s about what you’ve got to do to win games.”
On what he remembers about Kelly Hrudey:
“I coached him his last year. He and Mike Vernon, we were lucky to have two guys…[They] hadn’t been a very good club, and coming into that they had Irbe in goal before that. They brought Kelly in, and then Vernie in, and they were both older guys. The best thing about Kelly, Kelly was a strong guy in the locker room. He was at the end of his career, so I obviously had never seen him when he was at his best on the ice. He was an awesome guy in the room. He could’ve been the captain of the team. You can’t say that about many goalies. That was the strength. He was still a voice of reason, and he was still really good with young players. So that’s the number one thing that I always said, that the reason we made the playoffs that first year in San Jose when I went there my first year was because of Mike Vernon and Kelly Hrudey.”…He was an awesome guy. You know what, he lives in Calgary, so it’s not like he’s going away. Good to see him. That’s another good deal, right?
On whether he looks at the standings:
“It can change, right? Every game it’s going to change. Short, tight thing….It’s running three and a half furlongs. It’s a little shorter. Too many corners to go around. It’s just one and get your friggin nose up there and get running again. It’s a 48-game schedule, so you know what? I can tell you I did it before, and nobody else can. I know how hard it is for the players. They’re [worn out] after every game. That’s how the schedule is. And the guys that travel with us know that also. By the time I get on the plane, many of you guys are already sleeping…It’s not easy. You need lots of guys…the big thing we talked about is energy, and when you don’t practice, when you have such a young team – most nights we’re the youngest team – just, I think, every game we’ve played we’re the youngest team.”
On whether there’s “any chance” Brad Richardson gets into the lineup:
“Yes, there’s a chance.”
On whether that may happen soon:
“There’s a chance.”
On whether there’s a “good chance” that Richardson gets into the lineup:
“A good chance.”
On whether it’s nice to have such a young team that has won a Stanley Cup:
“Not a lot of these guys, quite honest [played for us in the playoffs]. We have seven or eight guys that haven’t played a playoff game in their careers.”
On whether Mike Richards is “fine”, considering the hit he absorbed:
“I don’t know. Did you talk to him? That’s not a question that I’m ever going to answer, right?”
On whether Darryl Sutter is “fine”:
“Yeah, I’m good. Set your clocks ahead. Busy day.”
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