December 29 postgame quotes: Budaj, Shore

Peter Budaj, on the Kings’ losing their third straight game on the road:
You can’t really blame it on that. Obviously, you know, the road is always tougher but everybody has the same card dealt. You have to play on the road, you have to play at home, and you have to try to win. Obviously you try to win the majority at home but you know, on the road you have to put some points together because when it comes down to it that’s going to matter when making the playoffs down the road.

Budaj, on whether it makes a difference to be at home:
I mean obviously, I think home is home for everybody. You cannot pass that off. You know, what’s better, being in a hotel or being in your own bed, but you can’t really blame anything on the hotels and that’s just the tough way to put it. I think that every team has a tough schedule. We’ve had a tough schedule in December but that’s the way it goes, we’ve just got to be – we’re professional, we know how to take care of our bodies, and just get ready to fly and to do our best and we’ve just got to expect a little bit more from each other, from everybody, and now that we’ve got to go home, you know, let’s turn it around.

Budaj, on how he felt playing in back-to-back nights:
You know, I felt good today. I was moving well, seeing the puck well. The guys were blocking shots, you know, they were doing a good job in front of me. They have arguably the have one of the best players if not the best player in the game, McDavid, we were able to do a good job on him. You know, he had a few chances, but that type of player is going to get a chance so I think our guys did a great job against him. Blocked shots, had good gaps, we just have to find a way to win a game, you know, that’s what we have to do. No pointing fingers, everybody has to expect more from each other and just keep battling and keep getting better and better.

Nick Shore, on whether it’s nice to finish the road trip:
Yeah it’ll be nice to be home. I think we’re just home for one then we’re on the road again, though. [Reporter: Yeah but then you’re home for eight, so…] Yeah, I mean, it balances it out. This is the tail-end of a long trip for us so hopefully pick up some points at home.

Shore, on what he saw during the play before his goal:
Yeah, it was Noles and Kinger did most of the work on that one, we were just able to get the puck back and got a good bounce and it went in.

Shore, on whether he caught the goalie off-guard on his shot:
Yeah you just try to keep the goalie from being able to set up on you so in that instance it worked.

Shore, on how the puck got to him:
Yeah, I think Dewey kept it in on the point there and then it was kind of just a loose puck that came right in to the slot.

Shore, on what the Kings are trying to get out of their scoring slump:
I think it’s just a matter of sticking to our plan and executing. I think when we’re on our game, they’re low scoring games but at the same time when we’re executing we’re able to put pucks in the net.

Shore, on whether it’s encouraging that the Kings are generating chances but just not finishing:
Well I think it’s just like I said it goes in to executing. When you have chances, you’re going to have a certain amount of Grade-A’s a game so you’ve got to be able to finish on them.