Murray postgame quotes

Postgame quotes from Kings coach Terry Murray…

(on his game thoughts…)

MURRAY: “We looked a little road-weary at the end of the first, the last 10 minutes of the first period. Very good second, and it was exactly what we had to have. I thought we brought the puck up the ice and got into the offensive zone consistently and got some momentum going. We scored a power-play goal, and then what a shift by the Kopitar line. Just an outstanding shift, and to finish it off with a great goal, it was exactly what the doctor ordered.’’

(on the second period…)

MURRAY: “The whole period. Everybody came out doing the right stuff in the second period. There was no doubt, no hesitation about what we wanted to get done through the middle of the ice. All four lines were contributing, and we needed that. With this being the sixth road game, we needed everybody tonight.’’

(on the long road trip…)

MURRAY: “I kind of liked this long road trip early in the season. I think it’s good for our team. We’re young, we’ve got some new players, and it kind of gets you out there isolated. It’s, `The cavalry is not coming, you guys. You’ve got to do it on your own.’ It’s a nice team bonding time and learning how to dig in for each other.’’

(on ending the trip with a win…)

MURRAY: “Yeah, we feel it’s huge for us. At the end of the day, we were .500 on the road trip. We always used to say, years ago, it’s a good trip if you can do that. So we’re going back now to get settled in before the next long trip. We have five games coming up not too far down the road.’’

(on whether he thinks the team was motivated by Frolov being scratched…)

MURRAY: “I hope so. I hope that the team understands that everything we do, as coaches, is for the team only. There’s nothing personal. I like Fro a lot. He played great for me there last year. He scored 33 goals. It’s just, I did it for the team. And any time you make a change in your lineup, whether it’s a fourth-line guy or a top-line player or a defenseman, you’re only doing it for the team. There needs to be a message that’s taken, for everybody.’’

(on the team’s health now…)

MURRAY: “You know, we turned the corner yesterday, with all the flu. We probably had a dozen guys that were not doing very well. Then we started to turn around noon. I had a conversation with our medical trainer and he had contacted everybody and he said that he was starting to feel like it was heading in the right direction. Everybody was available tonight.’’