April 22 postgame quotes: San Jose

Todd McLellan, on what he told his team heading into overtime:
I just told our guys to settle down, play the way we know how. We got caught out in pieces a lot. Tired players did not manage that neutral zone real well, in fact, the only time we really got the puck behind them was the one forecheck we had, we scored, so we were not very good in that situation. They had the bat in their hands and they were going to swing it and they had us on our heels but sometimes it goes that way, we will take that break.

McLellan, on Matt Nieto and Tomas Hertl:
This game and all year, they have been very important pieces. Obviously, Hertl being out for a lot, but Nieto’s speed, Hertl’s tenacity and Matt around the net, his ability, his skill. He had seven shots on goal tonight and that is not an easy team to get those shots against and they were playing more like they normally do tonight. We saw more of the game we expected in the series, but they both had a huge, positive impact on the game.

Joe Thornton, on if tonight’s win was “easy to pick up” after a 7-2 Game 2 win:
No, it wasn’t. They’re a great team. We’ve had our problems here winning games, it was a huge, huge win for us, and for Patty Marleau to come up with that goal it’s just huge for us.

Thornton, on neither team being able to generate more than a one goal lead:
It was just going back and forth, a good physical game. I thought our power play could have ended it with two minutes left in the game but it didn’t, but yeah it was a solid game for both teams, and I’m going to expect another one Thursday night.

Thornton, on Niemi’s performance in overtime:
Huge saves early in the overtime. There was a big crowd around him early on in the overtime, and he just battled for us. I don’t know how he saved a couple of them, but thank goodness, and it was nice to see Patty score that winner.

Thornton, on the overtime win being a confidence builder:
Coming into the room we felt good. Our best period was the third, and we thought we could roll it over into the overtime. We just feel comfortable, our group feels comfortable that somebody in here gets to be the hero tonight, and thank goodness for Patty.

Patrick Marleau, on Niemi’s performance in overtime:
Yeah, he came up huge there. We weren’t playing with a bunch of confidence, we were coughing pucks up, not getting pucks in deep, which is what we’re used to, but Niemi held us in there, and we got the win.

Marleau, on the 3-0 series lead:
It feels good, still a lot of work to be done, but it feels good.

Marleau, on his overtime goal:
It’s overtime, and you just keep trying to fire shots on net. I think my shot hit one of their defenseman’s sticks, so pretty lucky.

Marleau, on Los Angeles’ early pressure:
We weren’t doing a good job of getting our pucks to the net like we did the first two games, but in the third period things started to turn around for us.

Marleau, on what the Kings did different from the first two games:
They’re always playing hard. We weren’t doing a good job of getting our pucks in, getting it behind them. We had some turnovers, and they kept countering at us, kept coming at us. We were in our zone a little too much, and obviously we were on the PK a lot tonight, so we’re going to try and fix those two things for the next game.

Marleau, on why they’ve had so much success against Quick this series:
I don’t know. It’s one of those things where he’s a great goalie so you just try and keep getting pucks toward the net, keep going there and banging away at those second chances, and fortunate enough they’ve been going in and we just have to keep working for those opportunities.

Logan Couture, on the Kings’ physical play:
Yeah, a couple times they were running out of position to hit, and took some penalties, and you could feel their frustration level. They played well, that was their best game of the series. We matched them goal for goal, then got a big goal from Patty there at the end.

Couture, on what Sharks’ youth says about their team:
Just the young guys, they don’t act or play like rookies, they’ve stepped in and done a great job throughout the season. It’s nice having Tomas back, just his energy and his finesse on the ice, the smile and excitement he brings to our team.

Couture, on the Kings controlling play early in overtime:
Yeah we weren’t making plays, we were kinda hanging on there, the coaches were trying to keep us calm and get us to make plays. Yeah, they really took it to us in the first five minutes of that overtime, and we just got a lucky bounce, and that’s the way things go sometimes.

Couture, on holding a 3-0 series lead:
Win game four. Finish it, we don’t want to go back to San Jose, we don’t want to give a team any life. We know in this room that we’ve had a 3-0 lead before and it’s quickly turned into a game seven. So when you get a chance, try and finish them.