January 23 morning skate quotes: Darryl Sutter

On the important stretch of four consecutive divisional games:
Tonight is. Tough stretch of games that we’re coming off of and coming in to.

On what he has liked about Jeff Carter’s recent stretch of play:
Since we got him, I’ve liked him. He’s a pretty good player, isn’t he? [Reporter: He is.] Yeah, I think so, too. [Reporter: Aside from the release that he has, what does he do to be able to put himself in position to score goals?] He’s a great skater. He has a great feel to the game. He’s a great X and O’s guy. He can play four-on-four. He can play five-on-five. He can play four-on-three. He can take faceoffs. He can play right wing. He can play center. Great release. I mean, I’ve got a great release, too, but I don’t have 20 goals this year. [Reporter: Not for lack of effort, though.] Not for Jeff, either.

On what he is “hoping for” with the Jeff Schultz and Tyler Toffoli call-ups:
It’s not what I’m ‘hoping for.’ There’s been no competition for our defense here, and I think it’s really showed in our performance. I think that because of Greene’s injury, he’s been in and out all year, and once we lost Keaton, there’s been pretty much, whether you’ve played good or bad, you’ve got to play, and I think we’re getting closer to what we talked about this last summer, where we wanted eight defensemen.

On any reports on Toffoli from Manchester:
Didn’t get no reports. I mean, we were on the road and they were in St. John’s, so the closest we could get anything was a note in a bottle. And I haven’t gotten it yet. Thirteen forwards, extra forward. [Reporter: So, again, more competition?] No, you need 13 forwards.

On what has stuck out about Anaheim’s success:
Well, they’ve got 17 more points than we do, so what sticks out is they’ve got 17 more points.

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