Several players took the ice well before the 12:00 announced practice time to get some shots on goaltender Martin Jones, though for most of the members of the Los Angeles Kings, Sunday morning was used for treatment and to recuperate as the team prepares to travel to Vancouver to begin a road trip that will pit them against a pair of heated division rivals.
Prior to heading to the airport, Drew Doughty shared several thoughts on the team’s efforts to generate offense, as well as what he expects from Monday night’s tilt against the Vancouver Canucks.
On generating offense:
I think most of our shots are coming from the top, from the D-men. Those are still good opportunities, but I think we can create a lot more down low, even off the half-wall. Guys like Kopi and Richards and Justin Williams – those guys can make plays and they can score from that spot, so if you can get them the puck, they can drive the seam and get shots through. I think a lot more pucks would go in. Our breakouts have been pretty good, I think. But, yeah, we just need to get more traffic. Bang the net, get rebounds. And we need to score. We’ve been getting some good shots, but we just haven’t been scoring, and that’s the bottom line. To win games for our team, we need to. We could’ve won a couple times last night, but we didn’t because we didn’t score.
On whether he would like to activate more:
Yeah, I want to activate more, for sure. I think I have been. I’ve been trying to, anyway. I’ve been trying to create as much offense as I can, five-on-five and on the power play. Us guys are out there on the power play for a reason, because we’re supposed to make a difference, and we’re supposed to score goals for our team. When we’re not, it’s frustrating. You feel like you let the team down. So I know all of us in here are really looking forward to getting that opportunity next time and capitalizing on it.
On whether he is excited to go to Vancouver:
Yeah, it’ll be fun. It’ll be good to play them. I always have fun there – loud rink, and it’s fun to beat ‘em there.
On what he expects from the Canucks:
They’re going to bring a lot of energy. They make good plays. Obviously you’ve got to shut down the Sedins. We saw last time they came here when they’re not creating offense, they kind of slack on the defensive end, [and] we took advantage of that, and I think they were like minus-two or three. So as long as we play them well defensively and frustrate them in that sense, I think we can take advantage of the offensive game for us. We just need to keep that crowd quiet quick, and it should be good.
Rules for Blog Commenting
Repeated violations of the blog rules will result in site bans, commensurate with the nature and number of offenses.
Please flag any comments that violate the site rules for moderation. For immediate problems regarding problematic posts, please email zdooley@lakings.com.