Kings players postgame quotes (April 5)

DREW DOUGHTY

(on the game…)
DOUGHTY: “The game was a lot of fun to play in, with all the fighting and all the stuff. It was a hard-fought game. We kind of have that rivalry with them, and those are the most fun games to play in. Unfortunately, we had the lead and we’ve got to keep it and not let them get back in the game. That’s the reason why we lost the game.’’

(on whether he knew, pregame, that the Kings had clinched a spot…)
DOUGHTY: “No, I didn’t know beforehand that we had clinched, but we obviously found out right at the start of the first period. We’re obviously happy that we clinched, but we’ve still got a shot at that third place, and that’s all that we’re focusing on.’’

(on his fight with Joe Thornton…)

DOUGHTY: “It was my first fight. I probably need to learn how to do it a little better but it was good to kind of get both teams going.’’

(on the Kings’ four power-play goals…)
DOUGHTY: “In order to be successful in the playoffs, special teams are so important. You’re only getting one or two power plays per game and we need to score every time on them if we can. Today was a good start and I still think it has a lot of room for improvement.’’

—–

DUSTIN BROWN

(on clinching a playoff spot…)
BROWN: “Regardless of what happened in Nashville tonight, it would have been nice to kind of more or less do it ourselves with a win tonight. It was a back-and-forth game and it came down to a shootout. Our destiny lies in our own hands to some extent. If we beat San Jose, it gives us a good opportunity to win the division. I think if Phoenix wins two games in a row they got it [the division title], but our main focus is trying to get to that Pacific and home ice. It comes down to our last game.’’

(on the controversial play…)
BROWN: “I’m not sure how all four of them [officials] missed it… I don’t know. I don’t know what to tell you. They missed it and none of them said they saw it. I thought it was pretty evident, but when you’re in the game sometimes you aren’t going to see everything. It is what it is. We can’t sit there and dwell on it. We had plenty of opportunities on the power play. Our power play came up big.  The PK wasn’t the strongest part of our game.’’

—–

JONATHAN QUICK

(on the game…)
QUICK: “It was a hard-fought game. I think we could have been better. We had a lead there, going into the third period, and we didn’t shut them down. But the good thing is we get them again on Saturday, so we’ve got that to look forward to.’’

(on his interference penalty…)
QUICK: “Clowe gave me a good bump there when he came in. I saw him coming in with some speed, so I just kind of put my hands up to defend myself a little bit. I gave him a little bit of a push as he was coming in, and they gave me the call. Obviously it’s my mistake. Ultimately, that’s probably the turning point in the game there, because they go on the power play and they score there, and it’s a one-goal game as opposed to a two-goal game. It’s a lot different, going into the third period down by one or down by two.’’

—–

JARRET STOLL

(on Clowe’s interference from the bench…)
STOLL: “He just poke-checked me kind of. He definitely got the puck. … I totally over-skated it then. I think I had kind of an odd-man rush, but I had a little back pressure behind me. They had a backchecker right there. Who knows what would have happened on the play, but nobody has ever seen anything like that. I knew it was from the bench, for sure.’’

(on what the officials told him…)
STOLL: “They just didn’t see it, they said. That was all the explanation we got. … They’ve got a tough job, and it’s a fast game.’’

(on this being the strangest game of the season…)
STOLL: “Yeah, it was. The PK has been great all year, and tonight we gave up goals. It was a battle. It was quite the game. We’ve got to somehow regroup, and we need a win in San Jose.’’

(on going to San Jose for the season finale…)
STOLL: “It’s a battle, and we’re going to have to go in there and play a good road game, like we’ve done all year. We’ve played well on the road. We’ve won in tough buildings, and it’s no different in game 82. They got a little bit of momentum out of this game, but we’ll regroup tomorrow and we’ll get right back on the horse here and go into San Jose and play well.’’