Kopitar postgame quotes (May 30)

Anze Kopitar’s postgame thoughts…

(on his goal…)
KOPITAR: “Well, the battle was just inside our zone. I think Brownie chipped the puck out to Justin and I kind of just wanted to make sure I stayed in the middle. Worked out pretty well after that.”

(on how it feels to score a goal in the Stanley Cup Finals…)
KOPITAR: “It feels great. Every time you get the chance to finish it off in OT, you know, to face a world-class goaltender like Marty is, it’s definitely a good feeling.”

(on whether he knew Justin Williams was going to make that pass…)
KOPITAR: “Like I said before, I saw those two on the boards battling. I wanted to make sure I went through the middle. I don’t know if he heard me or not. I yelled for the puck. He chipped it obviously perfect, right on my tape. It happened pretty quick. I was able to finish it off.”

(on the impact of the Kings’ fourth line…)
KOPITAR: “They probably had one of the best games in the playoffs so far. You know, they had some really good ones before. Tonight they capped it off with a nice goal. Definitely got us going in the first period. Seems like we came out a little slower than we wanted to. The way they came out and established the forecheck, had some cycles in their zone, gave us a huge boost.”

(on the Kings’ road success…)
KOPITAR: “Yeah, I mean, every time you get on the road you need a team effort. It showed again tonight. We had four lines going, six D. Jonathan was great at net for us again. We’ve got to continue doing that.”

(on whether the first two periods were a feeling-out process…)
KOPITAR: “Well, that was really not the plan, to feel them out for two periods. You want to get out as hard as you can. Especially on the road, you have to have a good start. Tonight maybe we didn’t have the start we needed. We got the first goal, which was huge for us. After that, we kind of got legs underneath us and we were able to generate some chances. You know, they don’t give up a whole lot. You’ve have to be careful going through the neutral zone, that you don’t make any turnovers, because they got some speedy forwards, some forwards obviously that can finish. You have to create turnovers and just make sure you make strong plays.”

(on the move he made on Martin Brodeur…)
KOPITAR: “I guess that goes back a few years, when we were in the shootout in L.A., and I went backhand on him. Maybe he thought I was going to do it again. Tonight I just wanted to mix it up a little bit.”