May 13 practice quotes: Players

Jarret Stoll, on what the team is looking to improve heading into the second round:
“I think our D-zone coverage, composure with the puck just under pressure – under fast, quick pressure heavy pressure, like we saw in the first round – I don’t think we handled it too well. I think we can be a lot better in that area, and I think we relied on our goaltender too much, and he was great. He was awesome for us, but we need to be better in that area, and I think just bearing down offensively as well. We had some chances that went by. Obviously our offense we had some timely goals, but I think we could’ve put more pucks in the net and we didn’t. Our power play, our faceoffs – a lot of things we can work on.”

Stoll, on what San Jose does effectively that concerns Los Angeles:
“Well, anybody that’s still playing is a good team, and it doesn’t who you’re playing. You’ve just got to take a look at their lineup and see what they’ve got. We all know what they’re all about. They know what we’re about. It’s just a matter of neutralizing some of their guys, being disciplined – like I said, staying out of the box – and executing our gameplan. Just the same things they’re going to say. We’ve got home ice. Our goal is to win Game 1, like it is every playoff series for us. It’s all we really care about doing. That’s all we’re worried about for tomorrow night.”

Anze Kopitar, on what the Kings are looking to improve in Round 2:
“Just working on our game. I think we can play a little bit more puck possession game than we did and manage the puck a little better. Especially against that team with a lot of skill, you want to manage the puck and not have too many turnovers.”

Jake Muzzin, on playing San Jose:
“Either way it was going to be a hard series. I mean, teams make it to the second round for a reason, and with San Jose, we know their matchups and we know what they’re in for, so we’ve just got to prepare for tonight and get ready for tomorrow.”

Muzzin, on how San Jose’s forecheck differs from St. Louis’ forecheck:
“Probably pretty similar. Guys coming fast and hitting hard. I think they’ve got maybe…some bigger guys, bigger skilled guys, so we’ve got to get the pucks in and out of our zone as quick as possible.”

Muzzin, on areas in which the defense is looking to improve:
“Just breaking out of our zone quickly. The less time we spend in our zone, the better. And limiting time and space on their big, skilled players and watching the cutbacks and stuff like that.”

Muzzin, on what he learned from the first round:
“Just the intensity, and a little bit of added extra pressure with each play you make. So I just learned from that and [am] looking forward to the second round here.”

Muzzin, on San Jose:
“Especially in their barn, they’ve got a pretty good home record like we do, so it’s going to be a tough challenge. You know, big, skilled guys who can finish, but we feel like we have a pretty good matchup this year with them, so we’ll see how it goes.

Matt Greene, on whether San Jose is “different” this year:
“No, you look at their lineup. They shuffled around their bottom six a little bit, but at the same time it’s still the same big, fast, skilled team. That’s what we’re preparing for and have got to be ready for.”

Greene, on Brent Burns:
“He’s a big body. Big body, skates well, moves well…He’s a good player. He can play both positions and it’s going to be a big challenge for our guys to contain him.”

Greene, on how to defend against a natural scorer such as Logan Couture:
“Just trying to limit their chances as much as possible. I mean, that’s always going to help you out. Just try to keep the puck out of his hands and that’s the best you can do.”

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