April 28 postgame quotes: Darryl Sutter

Opening statement:
How’d you guys stay up so late for me for? I was friggin’ halfway halfway home to Manhattan Beach. They phoned me, and I had to do media.

On how the Kings gained momentum in the game:
I think probably the penalty kill in the second period was the strong part of the game. They score a five-on-three and they got another power play right after that. That’s a big swing in the game, even though they scored five-on-five, and you get out one-one.

On what he saw on Justin Williams’ game-winning goal:
Well, the only thing I could see from the bench is the referee going like this [hand gestures]. Serious. It’s not funny. He’s going like this, and he wasn’t blowing the whistle, so that’s his call, and the replay shows the puck’s loose. That’s all I could see was replays, so that’s all I saw live. As a coach, you’re trying to watch where the officials are.

On the key to the penalty killing:
I think we won the draw right off the top and we were allowed to clear it. Five-on-three, that’ usually gets 15 out of the way, so that was a big part of it.

On how he summarizes the Kings’ ability to return from 3-0:
You know what? I think we were able to throw out one and two, not that you wanted to, and then you lose in overtime in Game 3. If you’d asked me this now, and we’d lost tonight. I’d say we lost in Game 3, not in Games 1 or 2.

On how impressed he is with his team:
I don’t really know what difference it makes if you’re down three or up three. It’s still about the fourth game. When you’ve got two clubs with some experience at playoff time, it’s still about closing it out.

On whether there’s any commonality that top players share:
I don’t know if there is, but I think tonight Drew Doughty was way up there. [Reporter: But he does that all the time.] Going into the third – because I think one of the penalties his – he had only played 15 minutes, and he basically played the third period.

On whether he has been having fun during the streak:
You know, we’ve got to get a rest in. I’m not really into the history part of it. Somebody’s going to win Game 7, and somebody’s going to lose it, and you’re going to say it went seven games. When you’re not the home ice seed, you expect it to go six or seven.

On Willie Mitchell’s status:
No. Left the bench, did not return. That’s probably the same update you got that I got.

On the hostilities over the last five minutes of the game:
Same as whatever it was in Game 2 or whatever the hell it was. Game 3. Waste of time and energy.

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