On his hat trick:
I mean, my mates did a lot of the work, pucks kind of bounced to me and it just happened. It wasn’t anything special tonight.
On whether it’s a “goal scorer’s gift” to be in the right spot:
You go to the net, and good things are going to happen. That’s the way you score your goals, pucks drop down in your feet and you tap ‘em in. It’s nothing different than what we usually do. Guys make good plays, win battles, and get pucks to the net, and usually when you go there, you get rewarded.
On Tyler Toffoli and Tanner Pearson’s play in the preseason:
I think they both have [picked up from where they left off last season]. Obviously they both gained a lot of confidence in the playoffs, played great for us, and they worked hard this summer to make sure that they were ready to go this year. They put themselves in the best situation this year to get you to win.
On playing with two younger players:
It’s a lot of fun, it doesn’t matter how young they are, who they are. They’re good enough to play in the league, they didn’t have anything given to them, they had to earn their way up here. They played a long time in the minors, and they got it all by hard work.
On the 4-2 win over Anaheim:
Guys are just trying to find their game, we’re trying to get our systems down. Yes, it’s nice to win, it’s nice to beat anybody. I think we’re more worried about what we’re doing out there in our team game and how it’s coming along throughout the preseason.
On moving back to center full time:
I enjoy it, it gives me a little more freedom to get moving, it’s fun. Obviously I’ll play wherever they tell me to, but I enjoy playing center, yeah.
On his summer:
I took off. I came back on the 25th of August. I was around for like three weeks before camp started. I don’t skate back at home, so I came back a little earlier and start skating again here.
On whether the youth of Toffoli and Pearson has rubbed off on him, or vice-versa:
Hopefully a little bit of both. I mean, they make it exciting to play with them. They play with a lot of speed, a lot of skill, and for me it’s fun. If they get the puck, I know we’re going north, and you just kind of take off, so it’s been fun.
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.