January 30 postgame quotes: John Stevens

On playing a full 60 minutes and receiving key contributions from the entire lineup:
I think you’re playing teams like Dallas, they’re a very good hockey team and they don’t give up a lot. They can really get pressure on you to forecheck, which I thought they did early, but I thought our guys did a really good job of just competing on the wall. If the puck got stopped, we stopped, and that was everybody. I mean, they get last change on the road, so they’re going to get the favorable match-ups when they choose to do so, and I thought our guys, I thought our young kids did a good job in that situation. Stayed on top and got pucks deep – a really responsible game, and I think you’re right. Especially coming out of the break, we thought we were going to have to get some productive minutes from everybody, and I thought that everybody gave us productive minutes.

On Dustin Brown being a “force” despite not finding the scoresheet:
Well, Brown – Brownie provides leadership for our hockey team, and he was playing with a couple kids. Tanner I thought really got going playing with Brownie. Adrian plays a responsible game. It looked like that puck might’ve gone off Brownie in front of the net, but whether he gets a point or not in that situation, he’s critical to the success of the play on the power play, taking a beating at net-front. And then he does the job on the penalty kill as he’s done all year. There are parts of the game that don’t register in terms of points and assists and goals and whatnot, but there are a lot of little, intangible things that Brownie’s always done. He’s been providing that on top of his leadership, as well.

On Anze Kopitar’s line’s performance in limiting Dallas’ top line:
I thought they did a really good job of forcing them to play in their own zone. They didn’t give up odd-man rushes, they had good depth in the offensive zone, they had good movement and forced them to defend movement, and then there were several shifts where we forced them to play in their own zone. I think when we can do that against the other team’s top line, you don’t have a chance to get scored on if they’re playing in their own zone and you create a lot more. So, I thought the line was really good. I thought Alex did a really good job against a really top line, and I think Tyler had one of his better games in a while, so it was good to see coming out of the break.

On not allowing Dallas to generate momentum:
Well, I just think the guys knew how to speak with the game plan. Dallas is a team that doesn’t go away. They keep coming at you. I did think their power play, we took a couple penalties there that could’ve opened the door, and if there was a lesson learned, it was that. Play with discipline, don’t allow teams to get on the power play, because teams like Dallas, teams that we’re playing now that have really good power plays can open the door and get them back in. But Darcy was solid in net and the P.K. did a really good job and it didn’t happen, so it was a solid effort.

On Darcy Kuemper allowing only one goal in his last two outings:
He’s been great. He’s been really good all year. I think he’s given a chance every time he’s gone in the net. It’s not easy coming off the break and getting your game righted like he did, but he came in and gave us a really strong performance in net, and he looked poised. He was really good handling the pucks as well, not just stopping the puck. I thought he was a big help with his puck handling tonight, and it made a difference.

On Paul LaDue scoring his first career goal and allowing the Kings to play with the lead:
It was great. We said we need production, you need scoring from other areas than the obvious guys, and I think with Paulie and Kev, it’s a credit to them and the organization and what’s going on in Ontario. They went down there, continued to work at their game and put themselves in position to come back and help us.

-Lead photo via Glenn James/NHLI