November 29 practice quotes: Darryl Sutter

On what went well to generate 40 shots against San Jose:
We’re both the same. Both good teams. We got shots in the first period based on special team play, and we got shots in the second period because we thought we were really good in the first. Not much difference in the teams…Quite honest, I wasn’t really happy with our shot total. We had one line that had one shot. So I wasn’t really happy with 40 shots. [Reporter: At the end of two periods I think the top six forwards had 20 of your 27 shots.] That’s how good those guys are, and they play against each other. When you play San Jose, it’s like the old days. Remember? You’d always play you against me. You knew who you were against every shift, and it’s sort of like that’s how we match up. We just came off playing them in a seven game series. It tells you how close it is. They could’ve won in seven, and we could’ve won in seven. It’s a one-goal thing the whole way. And, again, the shot thing blows out of whack because of extra time now.

On what constitutes a shot varying in different buildings:
I watched the film, and I do the same as them. I go ‘tick-tick-tick, five. Tick-tick-tick, five.’ So how many of them do I miss? Or they call it a shot. If it goes in the net, sometimes I’ve seen when it’s not called a shot. So, jeez, how did that go in there if it wasn’t a shot? Like, a shot means off my stick and into the net.’ [Reporter: So when you get the stat sheet, if you’re not looking at shots-] I very seldom use it. Like, I use it quick after periods, just to reinforce something in my mind. I use more faceoff than things in my mind. Like, not percentages – I mean, zero percentages – it means me against you, if I can’t remember it. One thing I can do, for whatever reason it is, I don’t have to write a lot of that stuff down. I can remember it.

On what Mike Richards has done well against Joe Thornton:
Well, when we win, he does it well. I mean, they’re both the same players. Joe’s bigger. Go ask Mike. Joe’s a big guy to play against. Hard to play against. He’s not a physical guy, but he’s a puck protection guy. Mike’s not a physical guy, but he’s a puck protection guy. It’s the whole thing…what does he do well? He’s a good player. He does it well every night. Just because it’s against Joe Thornton doesn’t mean – same with Joe Thornton. I mean, they’re top players. It’s not easy playing against a top player all the time. It’s one thing to play against a guy who checks you, or something like that. When you play against a top player that does it the same way, what does he do well? I would think that whenever there’s close games, I would think every shift they’re on their game.

On whether he’s happy with the power play despite the lack of recent production:
We were really good the last two games…I said the second period the other night, the power play clearly gave us some momentum. Clearly. The power play is just about scoring big goals and giving your team some momentum, because for the most part every team goes back to top guys, always, for the most part, unless…some of those guys are tired in the shift, or something like that. You know what? We’re just getting Jeff back into it. Muzz – sometimes he’s going to let ‘er rip, and sometimes he can’t.