On the road trip:
We obviously weren’t very good in Anaheim. Played well in Columbus. Deserved to win. Nashville – couldn’t generate anything against them because they’re a really good defensive team. We didn’t get much. Played really well in Detroit. Deserved better. Didn’t get the goaltending. Played really well our last night…We’ve got a really young defense, and we’ve got to try and work with them…[on] how we want them to play. It’s not easy.”
On Drew Doughty’s struggles, and whether it’s reflective of the team’s defensive issues:
“No. He has to clearly play better in his own zone. That’s not really a surprise. When your team’s only giving up three or four more goals in terms of for and against, and you have two or three players that are significantly on for more, that’s not a team issue.”
On what he’s “urging” Doughty to do:
“[I’m] not ‘urging’. He’s a young defenseman, so what’s changed? He’s got a lot to learn. It’s no different than all the rest of them. Our oldest defenseman is Scuderi, who is supposed to be a really good defensive player, and the next older is Drewiske, who is 28 and learning how to play, and the other guys are all kids. Don’t single Drew Doughty out. I mean, he’s a young player. He’s got a lot to learn. He’s put in a different situation this year than he has been in any other point in his career.”
On whether he’s “trusting” Slava Voynov a lot more:
“It’s not really trust. We need those guys to play well. There’s not a helicopter dropping in four more defensemen that I see. These guys have been given an opportunity. Whether they can fulfill that prophecy or not, we’re finding out. “
On Keaton Ellerby’s pairing with Doughty:
“What difference does it make who he’s paired with? Quite honest, if you watch the games, one guy plays the power play. One guy plays penalty killing. Last game we played with five defensemen, [and] that was his second game, so I wouldn’t say he was ‘paired with Doughty.’ I think that he was better on the left side than the right side because he’s a left shot, and we’ll work with him. It’s not a drastic change for Keaton, quite honest. In the system, there are little things that he has to adjust to. It’s an adjustment for change of conference. Obviously, he hasn’t played much against these teams out here, so he doesn’t know the players very well. It’s good that we’ve got three or four days to work with him to get him into some more of the system things that we want him to do. He’s a big guy and he skates well, and hopefully that can help our defense.”
On Ellerby switching conferences:
“He’s got a lot to learn. He’s a kid that hasn’t played much. We’re not talking about a player that anybody is familiar with. Quite honest, we’re talking about a player that hasn’t played much in the NHL. It’s no different than three or four of our guys. You know what? They’ve got a lot to learn, and…it’s our responsibility to help him adjust to the Western Conference, obviously, but he’s got an adjustment to make to become a full-time NHL player.”
On whether Jonathan Quick will start versus Columbus on Friday:
“We haven’t thought about it. I haven’t gotten there. Bernie’s coming off a strong game, and…it’s not like I’m jumping, out, saying anything special. We need him to play a hell of a lot better than he has. Our goals against, our save percentage, when you do all that stuff, it’s not where it has to be.”
On facing Columbus on Friday:
“I think just off the top of my head, not even looking at that game, they bring a couple guys back in their lineup, which makes it significantly better, right? They bring Wisniewski in, and they can pair the two Russians [Fedor Tyutin and Nikita Nikitin] together because they’re healthy now, and pair Johnson and Wisniewski. That’s a pretty formidable four guys, so that would be the difference from the last time. So we have to be able to play against them a little more.”
On whether Jake Muzzin will play on Friday, or whether the soon-to-be recalled Andrew Campbell could draw into the lineup:
“I haven’t thought about it…I haven’t seen Campbell. As I said when he was here last week, he has hardly played this year. [It’s the] same as the other guys. Whoever plays the best is going to play.”
Rules for Blog Commenting
Repeated violations of the blog rules will result in site bans, commensurate with the nature and number of offenses.
Please flag any comments that violate the site rules for moderation. For immediate problems regarding problematic posts, please email zdooley@lakings.com.