February 1 postgame quotes: Philadelphia

Wayne Simmonds, on the physicality of the game:
LA’s a big team. They like to grind it out, get pucks deep. They have big bodies. They play physical. I think we matched them hit for hit tonight. I think the last two games have been a real nod to our character in the dressing room. I think they’ve been big battles and I think we’ve done a good job.

Simmonds, on his goal:
G made a great play on picking off the pass there and driving the net. He hit Vinny, and I was backdoor. Quickie likes to challenge a lot, so he was out. Got the puck, I knew I had a lot of time. I just put it in an empty net. They made a great play.

Simmonds, on the slow start to the game:
Like you said, it was slow. We were trying to get pucks deep. They’re a great defensive team, obviously. We kept chipping away, kept chipping away and came out on the better side.

Simmonds, on scoring his 100th career goal:
I think I’ve been sitting on 99 for probably the last five games. So it felt good to get for sure.

Simmonds, on his celebration after scoring:
Well, it was my 100th goal. So I’ve been waiting for that one for a while. I got my first one here and my 100th one in this building. That’s pretty nice.

Steve Mason, on the game:
Yeah, it was just a slow start overall with Robyn having his 1,000th game ceremony – which is great for him – but it slows down the start of the game when you get out there, have the anthem and then that and it was an afternoon game to boot. So it was tough getting into it. They started coming hard at us towards the second period and the third.

Mason, on getting the shutout:
Pretty much a 1-0 game the entire night, so there is not room for error. We’re fortunate enough to come out of here with two points against a good hockey club.

Claude Giroux, on Steve Mason
Yeah, Mason did a good job of stopping the key saves and kept us in the game the whole game and we were able to get two goals to get the lead.

Giroux, on the physicality of the game:
It was more physical than you may think. They’re a big team that can throw their body around and I think we did a good job protecting the puck and battling. I think the games before, that’s why we got in trouble- we weren’t winning any battles. The last two games, I think we did a good job of that.

Craig Berube, on the game:
We played good defensively, battled hard. We talked about playing the Kings. They’re a big, strong team. They play good defense, so we need to match that. Our guys did a good job. I know we didn’t create a lot offensively, but we capitalized on the power play goal which was huge. I liked the battle. I like the competitiveness of the team right now.

Berube, on Steve Mason:
He looked really good again tonight. I think a lot of that too, is given shots from the outside – so that helps. We talked about protecting the middle of the ice more. When your goalie sees shots that are easy to handle, are makeable saves, it helps everybody.

Berube, on stopping the Los Angeles power play:
We did a good job at the blue line just holding our ground and stuff. Carter got by once and Kopitar got by once on the wide side. I don’t like to give up shots to either one of those guys – big guys coming in off the wing. I thought our D in the middle did a good job coming over and forcing them wide. Kopitar’s shot is a little bit more dangerous because he’s a lefty coming down the right side. Overall, we did a good job.

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