May 6 quotes: Sutter, Kopitar, Scuderi

Darryl Sutter, on Jonathan Quick and comparing him to other goaltenders he coached:
“You know, I think…we talked about that last year because when I came he was hot, and he just kind of stayed there. So you just try to manage his practice time and then during the playoffs, he basically played hurt. So it was all about his mental preparation. You learned that right away about him, and then I think over the course of the summer with the two surgeries, and then never being quite ready, I think there was a curve again for him. In terms of comparing him to those guys, I’m not sure I’ve ever seen [those] guys hurt. And then, having to come back and recover – I know the year we went to the finals in Calgary with Kipper, he missed the six weeks with a knee. Right after we got him he missed. So then he just came right back and played every game, and he was right on top. So I think the difference would be that Jonathan’s had to learn the rehab and the training part of it…to get sharp, and now he’s on again.”

Sutter, on whether Slava Voynov has lost some minutes with seven defensemen:
“Not really. I mean, he lost three or four, but we’ve been using him to kill penalties. We want to keep Keaton killing penalties. We want to get Marty more involved. So it’s not that we’re pulling minutes away from him based on performance. [Reporter: Just circumstances?] Yeah.”

Sutter, on whether Justin Williams has been the Kings’ best player:
“You know what? That’s the one thing about Justin. Big games, it doesn’t matter when it is. If it’s regular season or [playoffs], he shows up. I don’t know if that translates into being our best player, but again in a low scoring series like its been, I said it the other day with three guys with the most opportunities for us, and he’s one of them, and that’s consistent. When you break it all out, he’s a guy that touches the puck more in the offensive zone than any player on our team every game. He sort of goes underneath the top guys, the kids. And that’s a huge thing, puck possession in the other zone, touches.Even when you have guys that are struggling, that’s why, and he very seldom struggles with that.”

Anze Kopitar, on Jay Bouwmeester:
“He logs a lot of minutes. Any guy that does that, you want to make it hard on him as much as you can. We’re trying to get some hits on him. It’s very unlikely you’re going to run him at any point, because he’s big and he’s pretty quick. But every time you can wear him down just a little bit, and just a little bit more, it helps you in the long run.”

Kopitar, on how Bouwmeester has affected Alex Pietrangelo:
“They seem pretty comfortable with each other. Pretty much everybody agrees on it – they’re one of the top pairings in the league, the way they play and the skill that they possess. Again, it’s just a matter of making it hard on them.”

Rob Scuderi, on the too many men on the ice penalties:
“It’s not a penalty you should be taking this time of year. That’s for the players to figure out. Every once in a while there might be a snafu with who’s up next, but for the most part you know who’s going out next, and it’s up to you to call your guy and make sure that you take your position.”

Scuderi, on playing with seven defensemen:
“It’s a coaches call. At times you can get lost in the shuffle a little bit, especially if you’re trying to match lines. But overall, I thought for me personally, I didn’t see much of a change in my ice time or the way I was used. Maybe for some other guys it might have been tougher to get into. But we’re trying to do whatever helps us wins a game.”

Scuderi, on Alec Martinez:
“I thought he was really good. He skates the puck incredibly well. He gets up the ice. He’s a secondary option on the rush once we crossed the blueline, and he did all those things that he’s donefor us over the past couple years.”