Payne, Doughty, King preview tonight’s game versus St. Louis

Davis Payne, on any feelings towards the Blues, a team he previously coached:
It’s a long time ago. I’m black, white and silver, and this is about our team beating their team.

Payne, on whether he has paid much attention to Martin Brodeur’s comeback?
We’ve seen everything we need to see. He hasn’t won all those games without us understanding what he’s about. The team was able to beat him in the finals in ’12. Our goalie guy will make sure we’re lined out pretty good on what exactly Mr. Brodeur’s trying to do. Lots of different things, but we’ll be aware of it.

Drew Doughty, on how the change in defensive personnel is affecting the team:
We’re obviously missing two guys who are very good players, but we also have other guys who have stepped up to the plate and our playing bigger minutes and playing well for us too. Brayden coming in, he’s a young guy with experience in this league. I think he’s played well. Greener has helped him, being his partner for a little while here and kind of teaching him the ropes. I think they’ve done a good job. I think Marty and Reg have been pretty good, pretty steady so far this year. I think me and Muzz have had our ups and downs and I think that we can be better.

Doughty, on how he affects to players leaving the team:
It’s just part of the business. You’re going to lose guys. With salary cap, you’re not going to be able to keep the whole team together every year, especially after a cup win. Guys are going to be making more money due to winning the cup. The other guys that are put in these situations, that are playing more minutes just have to perform. We have full confidence in guys who are out of the lineup every night, or a lot of nights, that when the do get in they’re going to play well and they’re going to do their job for us. We’re not worried about losing a few guys. We love the group we have in here and we know everyone can do the job.

Doughty, on the discrepancy between the team’s home and road records:
I don’t know what the reason is for that. It’s not the travel. It’s not sleeping in hotels. We’re used to that, we’ve been in the league for a long time. We’re used to those kinds of things. I don’t know why there is a difference. Obviously we have our home fans at home and it’s more comfortable playing in that rink, but we can be better on the road and we know that.

Dwight King, on whether playing at home will make a difference:
It’s a familiar place. Obviously we’re playing another good team again tonight. The setting plays a little bit into it, but I think it’s just the work that everyone puts in now will decide the game.

King, on whether the team is missing certain intangibles to their game despite the statistics indicating that the team hasn’t played particularly poorly:
I know what you’re saying. Obviously it’s more than just a stats sport, a stats game. Obviously this is somewhat a proof of it. There are other things that contribute to wins other than shooting pucks at net and attempts at net and possession. Usually when you have those, things are going your way. At the end of the day, it’s about putting the puck in the net and stopping it from going in yours. It’s the matter of the attempts put at the net. I think we just have to bear down a little bit. We’re giving some pretty good chances up and teams have been capitalizing. We’ve got to find ways to score.

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