June 2 postgame quotes: Darryl Sutter

Darryl Sutter addressed the media following the Los Angeles Kings’ 4-2 Game 2 loss to the Chicago Blackhawks Sunday night and indicated that Mike Richards, who was jarred by a heavy collision with Dave Bolland that went un-penalized late in Game 1, was scratched from the game due to “symptoms.”

On when he made the decision to take Mike Richards out of the lineup:
“Right after warmup. He was fine today, then I think just once his blood got pumping tonight, the adrenaline got going, there were symptoms. I went in right after warmup, he was sitting there and I said, Unless you’re 100%, you’re not playing.”

On the lineup adjustments made with Richards out:
“Quite honestly, once I knew he wasn’t playing, I said, Jeff, you’re playing center. Tyler, you go up and play right wing. Really didn’t affect that line at all. Obviously, it’s a big hole. Same thing we talked about last year. Different spot in the center. At the same time I thought we handled that part really well.”

On whether he has any expectations on when Richards could return to the lineup:
“I don’t really know. Literally I talked to him for a minute before the game. I didn’t feel, and he didn’t feel, he should play either. [Reporter: Robyn had to get stitched up as well?] Yeah.”

On Game 2 loss:
“I thought we played all right. You know what, we gave them some wide-open opportunities that they scored on. One is a forecheck right away early in the game. We didn’t make the play on the wall we could have made. Then the goal at the end of the first was a read play.”

On whether pulling Jonathan Quick was a “mercy hook”:
“No, no, I think we play five games in the next 10 days.”

On how much the back-to-back games affected Quick:
“I don’t think at all. I think it’s no different than it would affect him than any other player. I don’t think that should be an issue. Quite honestly, I didn’t notice that as an issue for either team, back-to-back.”