February 12 postgame quotes: Darryl Sutter

On the win:
I thought we were probably the better team right through. We had a lot of opportunitites, and you’re worried about missed opportunities.

On whether he’s happy with the shots “domination”:
Well, if you’d look at every game we’ve played Calgary this year, other than the last game when we had sick guys up there, if you look at the games, they’re the very same type of games.

On what he has been seeing from Tyler Toffoli:
I think he came back from his mono, had a really good couple games, and then he probably hit the wall a little bit again, and then the last three or four, I think him and the line have carried us. Jeff Carter himself probably could’ve had what, five goals tonight?

On what Jeff Carter’s line has done well:
Same thing they did last game and the game before. You’ve got to work and you’ve got to play close together and you’ve got to pass the puck on the tape and you’ve got to maximize your skill set and you’ve got to take hits and you’ve got to go to the net and you’ve got to backcheck and you’ve got to forecheck. So if everybody else does that, then they won’t have to carry us all the time.

On whether he has seen a difference in the team’s play over the last three games:
We played really well in Florida the game before that too, and I’ve said it on the record for saying we made mistakes that cost us the game, and when you make mistakes when you have a lot of guys who don’;t have the experience of pressure games, then that’s why we are where we are, and hopefully they’re learning in a hurry.

On how many games the Kings will have to win to make the playoffs:
We’ve got to win the next one. Jeez, you guys, you can only get points at a time. How the hell do I know how many points you need? Christ, if we lose the next one, then you’re going to say we’re playing [road apples] again. I know. It’s tough to make the playoffs. You know what? When you asked that question, how many times have I said it I said it before the season started that it’s going to be tough to make the playoffs.

On the importance of the four-point swing game:
You know, we won the last one before against Chicago before we went on the trip. We went on the trip and we had a tough game against Washington, and then we played really well the rest of the trip, so you you come home with two wins under your belt, so hopefully on the long trip, we’re gone, what, 11 or 12 days? You hope it doesn’t affect you the first game and you hope you have a good game your first game back. If we’d have lost tonight, it certainly wasn’t cause of effort. That’s the way the game is.

On whether it meant a lot to see Barry Melrose honored:
No, what meant a lot tonight was the jersey. I hadn’t seen that jersey since 1979, I think. So when I saw it, I was thinking of Eddie Shack and Bob Pulford, Bob Berry, Marcel Dionne – players like that who wore that jersey. [Reporter: What do you remember about then? A lot of people used to joke about that jersey.] I loved that jersey. Hanging in the room before the game, it was great to see all that color.

On having seen the Washington Capitals recently:
Yeah, we did. Obviously we’re familiar with it. We should be able to use watching ourselves against them. We’ll see. They’re a big team, they’re a fast team and they’re a physical team, and there’s obviously a lot of firepower. [Reporter: Won’t be giving out any roses on Valentine’s Day that day, huh?] Is that Valentine’s Day? Too bad we didn’t get to wear our yellow jerseys again.