Dwight King followed up being a scratch against Anaheim with an involved performance against Columbus, in which he once again fit in with Jarret Stoll and Trevor Lewis as an effective forechecker. He had a pair of hits and was a plus-one in 13:20 of ice time in the win over the Blue Jackets, and in a game in which the team will be looking to get bodies in front of Pekka Rinne in an effort to cash in on some “greasy goals,” King’s size could be an important asset.
On what “keeping it simple” means to him:
“Probably just not forcing any plays. Usually the first play you see is the easiest and the right play to make. You eliminate many mental mistakes [when you’re not] trying to force tougher plays. It usually leads to more and more mistakes, so I think just making the most obvious play is the easiest way to keep it simple.”
On whether the recent shots on goal discrepancy in the Kings’ favor is an indication of the team heading in the right direction:
“It has a little bit to go towards that. Obviously you want to throw as many pucks as you can and eliminate as many chances as you can. But I wouldn’t say ‘totally.’ Time of possession is also pretty key in that. [If] you have the puck, and you have a lot of shots, then usually things are going your way.”
On what makes Nashville tough to play against:
“They’re very structured. Obviously, they keep you outside. They’ve got a lot of big D out there that try to make it hard to play against, and their forwards are quick, skilled. You’ve got to watch out for that transition game. But overall, they’ve got a little mixture of size and grit, and obviously the offensive side, too.”
On whether the team responded well on Tuesday coming off Saturday’s loss:
“Yeah. We’re going to continue to get better. Obviously, you want wins in this league, and that’s what you need. We played a little better. We got rewarded, and now we’ve got to build on that for tonight.”
On using Saturday’s scratch as a “chip on his shoulder”:
“Yeah, there’s obviously a little motivation there. I haven’t been playing my best, so now I know what I need to do work to stay in, and that’s something I have in my back pocket to motivate me.”
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