March 11 postgame quotes: Martinez, Kempe

Alec Martinez, on the team’s 12-3-4 record when tied after two periods:
I think part of it is our style of play. Kings hockey, we just kind of stick with it for 60 minutes and it’s no secret that we find ourselves in that position a lot in tie games or one-goal games, and I think all the guys are used to being in a position like that. We had a big goal there by Adrian, and that was huge for us.

Martinez, on limiting a top offensive team to one even strength goal and 19 shots:
I think we were good at all three positions. You look at the forwards, they’re providing that back pressure, which allows us as D to stand up and take away a lot of their rush play, and it’s no secret that they generate a lot of opportunity off that. We had some big saves from Quickie, so I think just taking their time and space away, that’s the key to high powered offenses like Washington.

Martinez, on whether there’s more discussion in the room by team leaders prior to these games:
No, not necessarily. Tonight’s a big game, and so was last game, and so will the next whatever it is, 14 or 15. We know the task at hand and we know that we’re in a battle and we’ve got to be playing playoff hockey. There was no more emphasis put on this one as all these. We know that this is going to be a battle, and we’ve got to prepare for every game like it’s our last.

Martinez, on whether it was good to see Adrian Kempe score his first career NHL goal:
Yeah, it was awesome. I mean, he’s been really good for us. He’s brought a lot of energy and a lot of speed. Anytime you see a guy get his first NHL goal, it’s pretty awesome. [Reporter: He didn’t even crack a smile on the bench. Is he normally like that?] He’s a pretty even keel guy. He doesn’t get too high, too low. That makes for a good pro, so it’ll be fun to watch.

Martinez, on the importance of Monday’s game against St. Louis:
I think it’s like anything – you take what you did well in the game, and you take a focus on carrying that forward. There are certainly some things that we need to sharpen up. We gave up a few opportunities that we probably would’nt have liked to, so again, you enjoy this one for a few minutes tonight, and then tomorrow morning you wake up and you’re ready for the next one.

Adrian Kempe, on the feeling of scoring the game-winning goal:
Obiously pretty good. I mean, there was a lot of time left still in the game. But it was an important goal, and it’s a really great feeling coming up with a win.

Kempe, on the team’s performance in shutting down a strong offensive team:
I think we started playing better after the first. They had a lot of opportunities after the first period, and I think we bounced back after that, and we came back to our game and we played very good with speed and I think we challenged their D-men well and we got some opportunities and we scored on them, so it was good.

Kempe, on the importance of Monday’s game:
Obviously all the games now we have left are going to be really important. I think this one today was really important for us, and we’re just going to reload back tomorrow and then come back stronger on Monday.

Kempe, on his first career NHL goal:
The puck got rimmed, and I got challenged there with the center, I think, and I kind of rolled off him and tried to fake the D-man a little bit and tried to hit the short side there under his glove, and it went in, so it was cool.

Kempe, on the feeling of the puck going in the net:
Obviously it was a really good feeling. The first one, it was a big one too, so it was an extra-good feeling.

Kempe, on seeing the puck go in the net:
I didn’t see it go in right away. It was either Lewie or Brownie in front that started celebrating, so I didn’t see that it went in right away.

Kempe, on whether he began wondering when that first goal might come:
Not really. I mean, I know I’ve got chances before. I’ve had a lot of chances and I should probably have scored before this game. It was a good feeling when it finally went in.