March 1 postgame quotes: Folin, Iafallo

Christian Folin, on the difference between the first period and the rest of the game:
I think we were slow to start and we didn’t come out the way we should. I don’t know what the reasoning is behind that, but we’ve got to come out and play better. I think in the second period we kind of turned it on and we got more involved physically. Got pucks in deep and we took over from there.

Folin, on the balance between the tactical and emotional adjustments after the first period:
We knew when we came back into the locker room we had 40 minutes to play, and just thought we were going to turn this around, and we went out and did it. I think it shows a lot of character in the room. We have players that want to win every night, and losing 2-0 after the first period is not good enough.

Folin, on the importance of the penalty kill before Nate Thompson’s goal:
Absolutely. We talk about it all year that the PK needs to be momentum for us. The PK guys really responded, and then when you get that first goal, you get the crowd into it and you get going a little bit, and we just took over from there.

Folin, on what his three assists mean personally:
That means that I got a couple bounces that I haven’t gotten all year. That was fun, but it doesn’t really matter. That’s not my role to get points, but it’s always fun when it happens, so I’ll try to enjoy it as much as I can.

Folin, on his assist on Jeff Carter’s shorthanded goal:
I was just gapping up a little bit, and I saw they were fumbling the puck a little bit, and I stepped and got a hold of it and kind of caught them by surprise a little bit. Carter, I don’t know if he screamed, but he was wide open, and I just gave him the puck. It might have been the bench screaming, too, that he was wide open. I heard someone scream, so I just looked up and gave it to him.

Alex Iafallo, on whether the adjustments were more tactically-based or emotionally-based:
I feel like more emotion and more focus. Obviously our first periods have been tough here, but we know that and we’re going to keep improving. Big focus in kind of bearing down and in the room there’s a lot of great leaders, and listening to them and staying positive helped us out.

Iafallo, on what works well when he skates with Anze Kopitar and Dustin Brown:
I feel like in the offensive zone we kind of know where we’re going to be. Especially on the rush, just getting pucks to the net, Bownie’s always going to be at front and always battling hard and trying to learn from both those guys to improve my game. They’ve been great, great leaders so far and I’m learning a lot from them, but I’ve got to keep it on the forecheck and keep making turnovers for them.

Iafallo, on whether he gets a boost of confidence when he is reunited with Kopitar and Brown:
Yeah, it definitely gives me a boost. Everybody’s great on this team, and I feel like any combination can click pretty well, but yeah, when I came back, something just kind of clicked in my head, and playing with those guys makes you better every shift and every game.

Iafallo, on his mindset 64 games through his first NHL season:
A lot of preparation’s huge. It goes a long way, and making sure I’m ready, if I have a bad shift, I have to sit down and prepare myself to be better next shift. It’s pretty cool getting to experience 64 games and understanding what you have to do to play at this level, and it’s been awesome so far, so let’s just keep it going. Let’s get some wins.

-Lead photo: Juan Ocampo/NHLI

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