Quick: “There’s definitely work to be done”

The term “midseason form” can be used inaccurately at this time of year. It certainly received a healthy spin on Twitter Tuesday night when Jonathan Quick made an array of excellent saves on Teemu Selanne, Nick Bonino and Cam Fowler during a first period four-on-three Anaheim power play with the Ducks already leading 1-0.

Anecdotally, yes, the rhythm of saves was representative of what Kings fans are accustomed to seeing midway through the season from Quick. But the potential Olympic starter has played a total of five periods since the preseason began, and the level of play team and league-wide is not yet up to midseason form, as Quick revealed during a conversation following Wednesday’s practice.

Jonathan Quick, on whether it was good to go a full 60 minutes:
Yeah, it’s good to kind of just experience that workload, you know? That was the longest I’ve left my skates on in a long time. It was good. It was good. It was a tight game, so you get to experience the late power plays and penalty kills and six-on-five situation, stuff like that. So it was good.

Quick, on finding his rhythm during Anaheim’s first period power plays:
You see tons of pucks during practice and whatnot, but it’s obviously different when you get out there. It’s a little different. You can’t get game experience any other way than playing games. So it’s an important process. At times you just want to get the season going, but it’s important to know that those games you’re playing now are going to help you down the road.

Quick, on whether he’s at where he feels he should be with two preseason games remaining:
No, there’s definitely work to be done. Myself and the team in general, everyone has stuff to work on, stuff to get better. We’re definitely working on it, and we’re definitely going into practice with the right attitude and trying to get the most out of practice.

Quick, on what was considered a strong performance against the Ducks:
You know, I don’t think they dressed their full lineup. I think we were a little more heavy as far as veterans go. During the day you’ve got to practice to win it. It’s not easy to win games. Regardless of who you’re playing in the lineup, their guys [that] dress, it’s important to always try to find a way to win.

Quick, on what he’s fine tuning in advance of the season:
I don’t think you can say there’s any that you’re happy with. Just overall game, there’s a lot of things – whether it’s your timing or reading plays – those are the things that you kind of need that game experience to kind of pick it up and feel a hundred percent comfortable.

-courtesy KingsVision