The view from Philadelphia

The Philadelphia Flyers had lost only three times since Jan. 1 and, just before that, the Flyers had handed the Kings a 7-4 defeat on Dec. 30 at Staples Center. Sunday’s game was a reversal, in every sense, and here’s a sampling of how the game was presented by the Philadelphia media, followed by some additional postgame quotes from Flyers coach Peter Laviolette and defenseman Chris Pronger — always the on-ice gentleman, of course — who wasn’t happy with the third-period hit he got from Jarret Stoll…

Kings shut out Flyers

Flyers can’t solve Quick

Quick stonewalls Flyers, Kings win one-goal shutout

—–

CHRIS PRONGER

Q: Chris, were you surprised Stoll didn’t get a cross-checking penalty?

PRONGER: “I don’t think anything surprises me anymore.”

Q: Do you think this was the best goaltending you’ve faced so far?

PRONGER: “I don’t know, how many have we played? I didn’t get an answer there, did I?”

Q: This was the fifth time shut out.

PRONGER: “Well than maybe it isn’t.”

Q: What do you think was missing tonight?

PRONGER: “Probably consistency. Within each period we seemed like we had moments where we dominated and moments where we didn’t. The game is 60 minutes and we have to be prepared to play 60 minutes.”

Q: When you take as many shots as you did tonight and it seems like you got chances to put the puck in the net, do you think it’s just one of those games?

PRONGER: “Yeah we had a number of great chances. I think early, we hit the post and in the second period I know Richie [Mike Richards] bounced a couple between his [Quick’s] pads. We had a number of chances and a couple that he didn’t even know he stopped. When things are going your way, that’s what happens.”

Q: Are the rules a little blurred on hits along the boards? Do the players really know what’s going to be called and what’s not?

PRONGER: “I don’t know, I think guys do.”

Q: Was that a case where he hit you from the side?

PRONGER: “No, he got me from behind. I knew he was coming, he told me he was coming. I mean, there was nowhere I could go. I had my stick on the puck so I couldn’t really put my hands up to protect myself or anything like that. There’s not really much else I can do there.”

Q: He told you he was coming?

PRONGER: “Yeah. Well, I knew he was coming already, doesn’t mean he has to hit me from behind though.”

Q: Were you ok? It looked like your head hit the boards.

PRONGER: “Yeah, it hit the boards.”

—–

COACH PETER LAVIOLETTE

Flyers Head Coach Peter Laviolette

Q: On the line changes…

LAVIOLETTE: “We haven’t generated as many chances as I’d like, and although it wasn’t a long-term plan, it was moreso just to give a different look and a different feel. We’re just trying to attack more offensively and I think we probably got close to 20 quality chances tonight but we couldn’t stop the goaltender.”

Q: On the number of scoring chances…

LAVIOLETTE: “I thought we were pretty consistent with it throughout the period. If there were 20 chances it was probably 6, 7, 6 or 7, 7, 6. Whatever it was, I thought it was consistent throughout the game. It was tight out there, as we expected. I think their goaltender deserves some credit, he played a heck of a game.”

Q: You mentioned a team with no numbers, no first this or first that.  What’s it like to be able to mix and match like you can?

LAVIOLETTE: “I think every game presents, not different challenges, but different scenarios. You know, when you’re protecting a lead you’ll see different players out on the ice. When you need a goal and there are 12 or 14 minutes to go, you have timeouts involved there, there was three timeouts plus their timeout, plus our timeout, is five timeouts. You know, with 13 minutes on the clock, players are fresh. They want to get back out there so we just kept putting the guys out there that are heavy-handed with the offense and trying to find that difference maker.”

Q: Peter, what did you think of the play when [Jarret] Stoll went into [Chris] Pronger, did you think a penalty should’ve been called?

LAVIOLETTE: “I mean, it looked like a penalty to me but obviously not to them.  I’m not the one making the call though.”

Q: How important is your next game against Tampa Bay?

LAVIOLETTE: “It’s a big game. I’ll be honest, I’m still kind of in today here. I haven’t gotten there yet.”

Q: Can you talk a little bit about Scott Hartnell’s play today?

LAVIOLETTE: “I thought he was strong with his skating and his physical presence. He tried to bring himself to the net and seemed to create some space out there. I thought he had a good game.”

Q: Peter, is there anything you want more out of [Nikolay] Zherdev to get him back in the lineup?

LAVIOLETTE: “You know, this was an opportunity to get Jody [Shelley] back in there, and he was ready. He came out because of illness and this was just a chance to get him back in there. Like I said before, it’s just a numbers game.”