November 7 postgame quotes: Kopitar, Martinez, Shore

Anze Kopitar, on the game overall:
The start certainly wasn’t the greatest, but then again we’re down two-nothing and we get a late goal, which makes it a one shot game. And then pretty much the same in the second period. I think in the third period we kind of took it over and really played the way we wanted to play. We realized that that is not going to be enough most of the time, where you just come up and play one period, but tonight it worked and we’ll certainly take the two points.

Kopitar, on whether it was the type of game that the team was expecting:

Yeah, I mean, it’s an emotional game. It’s usually a physical game. So that’s pretty much what was out there.

Kopitar, on Alex Iafallo:
He’s definitely not shy of going right into the thick of things and he’s been doing that all season. I think my goal was really his work. I mean he was in there by himself and he got somehow got the puck and kind of sent it towards me. And he made a great play to Brownie on the third goal. But that’s what makes him a really special player. We’re going to need him to play like that as much as he can obviously, and we’ll take it.

Kopitar, on how the team has responded to different situations so far this season:

There’s really no quitting in here and definitely not feeling sorry for ourselves. We get down two goals early, but it seemed like there was a sense of calmness on the bench. Nobody panicked. Nobody was running around like a maniac. We just kept our cool, kept our composure, and started plugging away. And like I said before, we got a couple late goals in periods just to keep us in there, and then third period we took over.

Kopitar, on whether a league spotter asked him to come off the ice:

Yes. I don’t think it was really a hit. I mean he button hooked and I happened to be there and he ducked. I think I did a somersault. I haven’t seen it yet.

Alec Martinez, on the team’s perseverance:
It was a tough game. Anytime we play the Ducks, especially in this building, it’s going to be an emotional, heavy, physical game. That’s what it was. I’m really proud of our guys. A lot of things didn’t go our way tonight, but we stuck with it and we never wavered and obviously we found a way to get two points.

Martinez, on whether the win was a “force of will”:

Yeah, I think we got contributions from everyone tonight. That’s just, you know you’re going to have to grind games out and gut it out and tonight was a prime example of that.

Nick Shore, on his overtime goal:

It was a big game for us. It kind of took everyone. We got down early there, but battled back and were able to get it done. We had 2-on-1 coming down the ice and Brownie just made a really good play. I got the D and the goalie to bite and fortunately it went in.

Shore, on whether the building had a playoff-type atmosphere:

Yeah, it was a really good atmosphere here tonight. You know, emotional game from both sides and that’s what you look for and tend to see when it’s a division game like this.

Shore, on where his game-winner ranks on his list of goals scored:
I’m not sure. I think, you know, guys don’t really care where it comes from in this room. As long as we get the two points, everybody’s happy.

Shore, on the penalty kill:
It was big. I think Quickie came up with a couple big saves there, which bails us out a lot so it was good.

Shore, on whether the game was everything the team expected it to be:
Yeah, like I said I think you want to get used to this in the division. A lot of games are like this. Emotional-type games.

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