On what he liked about Thursday’s road performance:
“I think it was pretty well distributed through our lineup. We’ve been getting a lot of shots the last seven or eight games. Trying to continue that.”
On “greasy” goals and trying to drive to the net:
“I don’t think it’s ever a problem for our team. I had to stand at the press conference in Los Angeles after we lost 2-0 to Dallas and we had 72 shots [at the] goal. Last night we had 74. That’s two of the highest totals I’ve ever seen. We lost one game 2-0 and you were all asking ‘What was wrong with the team?’ There was nothing wrong. You know what? It goes in. Sometimes it doesn’t.”
On whether anything has changed with a power play that hasn’t scored in four games:
“No. We’re just trying to put lots of pucks to the net. We were…good at it again last night. Tyler should’ve scored. He hit the goalie in the mask. It’s the way it goes.”
On whether elements that reinforce the Kings’ identity came together Thursday night:
“[We’ve been] trying to play the same way every night lately, and…[we] still need a little bit more out of our fourth line and a couple of our defensemen.”
On whether he’s seen much of Minnesota:
“Yeah, enough. They’re really underrated offensively. I think they’ve got nine guys that can…they’re a high-scoring team.”
On who had the best opposite-hand shot during the team-wide scrimmage to open practice:
“They’re all bad. Actually, Drew and Slava are both pretty good.”
On whether the opposite-hand game was to let the players have some fun:
“Yeah. I was watching the lacrosse guys and they switch hands, right?…They slide and switch…I said, ‘Let’s see if those guys can do it.’”
On Gordie Howe having an ambidextrous shot:
“You know, in Chicago we’d do that once in a while. Chelios was just as good lefthanded as he was righthanded. He’d dominated those things out there. He’d just get the puck. He’d be wheeling and dealing. It affects skating, right? It affects how you skate…It affects their balance. It’s funny.”
On Mike Richards appearing to have a good righthanded slap shot:
“I told him he looked like Ian White. Tee it up.”
On the Kings’ standing within the division:
“It makes no difference. It has no bearing on anything, quite honest. I never ever did put any bearing on it. It’s just a friggin’ waste of time. The only time it ever mattered, quite honest, was when you had to come out of your division in the playoffs. You used to play two rounds in your division before you could go out. And I think the new conference, going forward, you’re going to have to win a round in your division…So then it’ll have some bearing. But now…who cares? I don’t even pay attention to it.
On whether the team’s objective is having home ice advantage or being in the top four:
“Our objective? Make the playoffs. That should be everybody’s. At the start of the year, everybody says their objective is to win the Stanley Cup…that’s [road apples]. You’ve got to make the playoffs. And the best way to look at that is just because if you make the playoffs, you can win the Stanley Cup. If you don’t you have no chance.”
On his match-up philosophy:
“Basically, there are some coaches and teams that just stick strictly to their matchups. But I like coaching against those guys, because I know I can beat them. There are teams I know that we have a good chance of beating because I know what I can do. [Reporter: Is that just a matter of waiting for that opportunity when you see it?] You know, you shouldn’t coach thinking that you’re tied or losing. I like coaching against those guys. That’s why some of them don’t last very long. That’s not a problem. It’s one of the things why they overtimes and extra points on, right?…It’s zero-zero when it starts, right? That’s what they’re trying to coach. Zero-zero.”
On whether Dustin Brown reminds him of a “throwback-style player” and is consistent with his physicality:
“He has to be, or else he’s not a very effective player. It doesn’t matter if he’s a captain or not. If you get to play with a top-five player in the NHL in Kopitar, you better be consistent. That’s not criticizing Dustin Brown. If you’re going to play with him, you better be. Otherwise, you don’t. You’re overlooking…Brownie didn’t have a very good year last year. In fact, at this time of the year last year, you guys were all talking about ‘Dustin Brown was going to be traded because he’s having a bad year.’ So why was he having a bad year? He wasn’t very consistent. Right? He’s a better player this year because he’s better on the power play. It’s simple. Because we’ve tried to identify him as a net-presence guy, and he has to be there. So if he’s not going to be there, he’s not going to play on it. So we’ve made him do it, and if he doesn’t do it, he’s not on it. It’s simple.”
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