The Kings did not practice at Toyota Sports Center on Thursday. Instead, Anze Kopitar, Dustin Penner, Dustin Brown and Darryl Sutter spoke with members of the media in the early afternoon.
On the difference in the last three games, compared to the first two:
“I think we’re playing up to our potential, or closer to our potential than we did in the first two. Even though the first two we had the chance to win them both, we didn’t feel like we were playing very solid hockey. But the last three have been a little bit different, and there are still some areas that we have to clean up, but we feel like we’re getting there.”
On the confidence of being able to close the series at home:
“Staples Center has been a good place for us this year. It’s going to be tough. I mean, everybody knows that the fourth one is the toughest one. So we’re going to have to get focused tonight and get ready for tomorrow and just play our game and be on top of our game.”
On what his response would be had he been told earlier in the series that the team would have a chance to close out a series victory at home:
“I’ll take it. I mean, just like I said. We had the chance to win the first…[two]. We came up short. Maybe we got a little bit lucky in game number three, and Quickie was on his game, so that helped us, obviously. But the last couple of games, we feel like we’ve been playing some pretty good hockey. We’ve been scoring some goals on the power play, which always helps. Now we’ve just got to continue doing that.”
On whether his goal that ended a long drought has lifted his overall play:
“I don’t know. I mean, it certainly helps when you get a goal and you feel better about yourself. It doesn’t matter. I can still look at it – I’ve scored what, one goal in 22 games now? But nobody’s talking about it right now, because I did score. It doesn’t matter. This time of the year’s all about the team play and whatever you’ve got to do to make the team successful.”
On whether this playoff series is “different” from any previous playoff series he has been through:
“Well, we played them last year and it was pretty physical. We played Vancouver a couple times, and those are always pretty physical. I mean, yeah, maybe, I guess just watching some other games and maybe it’s not as physical. But we all know that playoffs is a totally different type of hockey. Everybody’s trying to get some bumps and hits, and that’s just the way it goes.”
On whether St. Louis will be more physical and desperate in Game 6:
“Yeah, for sure. They’re going to come out with a good push, and we just have to match their intensity, really. We realize they’re going to be a desperate team, and with desperation comes urgency and lots of emotion. We’ve got to make sure that we match all of those things.”
On Voynov’s game-winning goals:
“It was nice. He’s been one of our top D all year. He’s been obviously huge for us here in the last couple games. It was just nice to see him join the play and win it for us, especially last night.”
On whether he has a “different appreciation or approach” towards “killer instinct”, having won a Cup:
“Not really, no. It’s another game. We certainly realize what’s at stake, and we definitely don’t want to go back to St. Louis. We have to get ready for the game just like any other game and get focused, have a good start, just like we always say, and go from there.”
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