Kopitar postgame quotes

Some postgame quotes from Anze Kopitar, filed on the bus from Long Island to Manhattan…

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(on improved third-period composure with the lead…)

KOPITAR: “Absolutely. Last year we blew, I don’t know, 20 games, with the lead in the third. In four straight now, we’ve held onto it. I think, for sure, we’re taking a step in the right direction. You can just feel – or at least I do – on the bench, even when they score on us with three minutes left, everybody’s head was cool and we were making plays throughout the game, right until the end.”

(on the mental strength, as opposed to physical, needed to keep those late leads…)

KOPITAR: “The thing is, you’re doing it for 40 minutes, so you can obviously do it for 20 more, but there are times when the hands seize up and you have a little brain fart or something, but we’re improving in that area for sure. It’s a big part of our hockey club right now.”

(on Jonathan Quick’s strong play early, and giving him a lead later in the game…)

KOPITAR: “Yeah, no question. The thing is, in this game breakdowns are going to happen and mistakes are going to happen. We’ve got all the confidence in Jon back there, that he’s going to stop the puck. It’s give and take in this business. Sometimes we help him out, sometimes he helps us out. I thought he did an outstanding job tonight too. It’s not like he didn’t make a lot of saves before, but especially tonight, especially in the first period, they had some good chances and he stood on his head and kept us in it.”