No pats on back

I asked Dustin Brown, this morning, about the importance of the Kings not being too self-congratulatory, since they face a game against a hot Phoenix team tonight. I was going to follow up by recalling the situation last month, in which the Kings beat Pittsburgh then, two days later, laid an egg against Nashville. But Brown beat me to it…

BROWN: “There was a very similar situation. We beat Pittsburgh, and then against Nashville we didn’t come out at all. That’s something that we have to remind ourselves about tonight. Obviously beating San Jose is a huge win for us, but at the end of the day, tonight’s two points are just as valuable as last night’s. It’s another divisional four-point game, so that’s something we have to draw attention to, prior to the game, and make sure we’re ready to go.”

There’s also the matter of facing another Pacific Division foe, which, in any circumstance, is not easy these days. Entering today, Pacific Division teams occupied spots No. 1 (San Jose), No. 4 (Kings), No. 6 (Phoenix) and No. 8 (Dallas) in the Western Conference. Anaheim is in last place in the conference but, as a perennial playoff team, also can’t be taken lightly.

I asked Brown about his perception of the strength of the division, compared to recent seasons…

BROWN: “I’m not sure what year it was, maybe the year the Ducks won the Cup, but it seemed like our whole division, especially Dallas, San Jose and Anaheim, were really strong. It seems like every year we have a really strong division. We’ve got four teams that are in the playoffs, as of now, and it seems like it’s like that every year with our division. It’s just a tough division to play in, and now you’re seeing a lot of three-point games.”