Terry Murray’s postgame thoughts…
(on whether Penner was unable to play…)
MURRAY: “No, that was just me making a change in the lineup. I wanted to see Kinger [Dwight King] one more time. And I was kind of pleased with the way he performed, with a last-minute decision like that. What a great play on the goal. He played, probably, his best game of the training camp, all around. Really skating well, playing with two good players, reading off them, moving the puck, keeping up with the pace. I thought his game was outstanding, actually.”
(on the Kings’ defensive play…)
MURRAY: “I was not happy after the second period. Anaheim put on a big push and we didn’t match the push. They were cycling the puck at will. There was a lot of time spent trying to pin and seal, and we weren’t able to do it. So we addressed some things at the end of the second period, and it got a little better in the third. Our spacing is a little too big. It’s not anticipating the play. We’re standing and watching and then reacting to it, and you get against good teams and good players, you’re already too late.”
(on Willie Mitchell’s goal…)
MURRAY: “Great play by Kopitar. High cut across, come in, delay. And the one thing that Willie Mitchell can do is shoot the puck. When he has some time to get it away, he can beat a goaltender. He’s done it before and he did it again tonight.”
(on Jonathan Bernier’s game…)
MURRAY: “Bernier was good, his stopping of the puck, obviously. He saw the puck very well. He did a lot of good things when the puck was in front of him. Behind the net, we still need to continue to work at some of those hand-off plays, the communication. And that’s the responsibility of the D. Once your goalie goes back there, his eyes are to the boards, so there needs to be better work with the defensemen, just to give some verbal commands. I thought tonight we got ourselves into a little bit of trouble with turnovers because of it.”
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