November 8 postgame quotes: Martinez, Toffoli

Alec Martinez, on the 60-minute effort:
Yeah, for sure. I thought that we had a start that we wanted. I think that was something that we’ve been trying to take more of a focus on, especially here at home, and especially against a club like that.

Martinez, on absorbing more responsibilities with only five defensemen:
Well, it wasn’t just me. I think it was all five of us. Obviously you’re down a D-man the whole game. Everyone’s going to get more minutes.

Martinez, on whether the game went as well as it could have, given the circumstances:
Yeah, I think so. We’ve all played with each other in practice. The rotation in practice, you end up playing with everybody, and I think with the guys here, we’ve been here long enough where we know each others’ tendencies regardless of whether they’re your normal partner or not. But, yeah, I think it was a good team win. I think everyone stepped up, and throughout the year you’re going to face adversity, whether it be injury, or here in this instance, cap space. I’ve never come across anything like this before, but that’s the hand youre dealt, and I think we did a good job with it.

Martinez, on Vancouver’s challenges in advancing the puck:
The coaches always talk about the five-man connected. I think that’s one thing we talked about before the game, is that we wanted to sharpen up our neutral zone forecheck. I think that’s one of our strengths that we get those pucks turned over and get ‘em back into the zone so we can go on a forecheck and do what we do best. That was a focus going into the game. I think we did a good job.

Martinez, on how much momentum the Kings gained from killing the five-on-three:
Obviously you don’t want to take penalties, and you don’t want to go down five-on-three, but you look at it the other way, it’s also an opportunity to build momentum and get something going the other way. Fortunately we were able to do that.

Tyler Toffoli, on the 5-1 win over Vancouver:
I think we came out really strong, and I think we just kept our feet moving, kept getting pucks to the net and putting a lot of pressure on their defensemen.

Toffoli, on getting four pucks past Ryan Miller:
Just shooting the puck, getting to the net and bearing down on our chances, and I think we did a good job. Gabby got us started there, and we just kept rolling throughout the whole game.

Toffoli, on his goal:
Marty walked the line, and I was in front alone. I got a piece of the shot, and the rebound just came right to me, and I had an open net.

Toffoli, on the Kings’ breakouts:
Yeah, I think that was one of our best games of the season so far, the full 60 minutes. It was a lot of fun. We had the puck for a lot of the time, and when they were on the forecheck and in our zone, I think we did a good job keeping on our man and staying strong on pucks and getting good breakouts.

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