On whether the new lines will stay intact for Game 6:
“We’ll practice tomorrow and see where some banged up guys are and shift from there.”
On the benefits of the new lines:
“I think it moves some minutes around for the wingers, not so much for centermen. It probably took a little fatigue out of some guys’ shifts.”
On the team looking for stronger penalty killing on the road:
“Well, it depends what you call penalty killing. The goals that we’ve given up really aren’t penalty killing. One was a faceoff goal in San Jose, and one was basically a point shot goal with a deflection. The difference is numbers, really. Last night we had three penalty kills. It’s really not a matter of ‘where it is.’ It’s ‘less is better.’”
On what the return of Matt Greene brings to the defense:
“First off, it’s some experience. Really when you look with Robyn being on the ice, and then Scuds being on the ice, and then Greener being on the ice. When you look at San Jose, too, it’s the very same. They have either Hannan-Stuart always on the ice, or Dan Boyle always on the ice, or Vlasic always on the ice, so it gives you settle-down experience even though they’re all different types. But it clearly gives you some composure in your own zone and composure with the puck.
On how to change the pattern of the home team winning every game:
“By winning. That should be a good way of doing it. It’s not that easy. I mean, ‘how do you change that?’ That’s like fixing a hole in your boat. [Reporter: Actually, you can fix a hole in your boat.] So is it impossible to win on the road? Well, then how do you change that? We lost 2-1 there twice. If we’d have won 2-1 in overtime, you wouldn’t be saying that. I mean, that’s how close they are. It’s not much difference.”
On Todd McLellan’s assertion regarding Jonathan Quick’s performance that “There were a number of goalies in the league that could have performed that way [in Game 5]”:
“We’ve seen it during the coach of the season. He had his struggles early, and he’s been better the last two months. For teams that are still playing, that’s a fact. [They] have outstanding goaltending.”
On whether Game 5 was the team’s best performance in the playoffs:
“Best in the series. We’ve won what, seven games and lost four? So don’t expect much more. That’s about as good as you can get.”
On whether the road team having their center touch their stick on the ice first causes a faceoff advantage for the home team:
“Yeah, I think it’s important…because our centermen really focus in on what other guys do. We watch a lot of it and break it down and watch a lot of it. Obviously, you watch Thornton – he’s playing pucks to be boards a lot, but it’s basically a slap play, so we want his stick down. So that’s the importance of it. It’s not easy beating those big, strong guys that have good hands. So there is something there about having your stick on the ice. I mean, two guys last night – Kopitar and Joe, that’s a lot of faceoffs that they took. Lewie won it – Lewis and Fras both won key draws in our zone. They’re talking about Lewie because he won one for a goal, but still, you’ve got to win some faceoffs. You have to, and he’s not easy to win against.”
On Anze Kopitar “bearing down” on faceoffs to improve his faceoff percentage:
“Well, they have to bear down. As a team, we still have guys that are really struggling with it. Our percentages have [gone] up, and it does manifest in how much time you have the puck or how much time you play in your own zone.”
On “fundamentals” playing a major role at this time of the year:
“I don’t think there’s enough of a difference in teams, so it comes down to the reason teams are still playing – I say it over and over – when you go from 30-to-16 and then you go 16-to-8, the reason is because you’re fundamentally sound. That’s why you’re still playing at the end of the day. So then it comes down to the individual execution of it, and you just try and get everybody to do that. It’s just basically a repetition.”
On the status of his family’s farm:
“They’re a little bit behind, just because it was a late spring. But they know the deal. I was hoping not to get home until like the 15th of June. [Reporter: This year it’s later than that.] Yeah, it could be. Last year I got home on the 14th. [Reporter: it ended on the 11th. This year it could go as late as the 28th.] Yep. That’d be too late. [Reporter: Too late for the wheat?] No, too late for me to help them.”
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