Rapid Reaction, feat. emergency back-up goalie Steve Jakiel
Post-game Quotes
Willie Desjardins, on the late power play:
I thought we got one power play goal tonight, which was good. But yeah, I don’t think we generated enough off it. It just didn’t seem like we ever really got set up or had anything going. Our power play has worked pretty good lately. I think the last 10 games we were around 20 percent, but we could’ve used [another] one tonight.
Desjardins, on whether this was a particularly difficult loss:
Yep, it is. Boston’s a good team. We played hard in the third in the third and we weren’t generating a lot. They’re hard to generate against, and we finally got one to get us back to a good spot, and for one to come in like that, that was a tough one.
Desjardins, on Tuukka Rask’s performance:
I thought he played well. I thought Campbell played good for us, too, though. It was just a tough game. Both goaltenders were good.
Desjardins, on whether Matt Roy’s even keel approach helped him in his NHL debut:
I thought it was good. That’s a tough team to come in and play against. I thought it was good – late in the game he was up leading that rush and he showed some confidence, which was good. It’s always tough. In your first game, you’re excited, lots going on, but I thought he handled it well.
Desjardins, on when he found out Jonathan Quick was not able to start:
Just at the start of the game. Just in warm-ups. [Reporter: So he’d been fine earlier in the day?] Yeah, he was fine, he was here, he was ready to back up and as time went on he just got worse and worse. Just before warm-ups we made the decision that we were going to have to go with Campbell.
Anze Kopitar, on what was going through his mind as Boston scored in the final minutes:
Well I mean you know after we score a goal we draw a penalty and didn’t get any zone time on that and that’s a game that we need to win and four minutes left and you go on the power play and you’ve got to score if you want to win obviously. We didn’t do that and they come right back and they score.
Kopitar, on what the Bruins did well defensively:
They play tight defensively. There’s not too much room there. In saying that, we just have to find ways to make better plays and score goals.
Kopitar, on the power play:
I mean the first power play we had zone time, but again with four minutes left and having a power play in a tight game, we have to find a way to score. It’s on the five of us that were out on the ice and you know I take full responsibility obviously for that. I didn’t even get in the zone, so that’s embarrassing.
Kopitar, on what the team needs to bring to the next game:
Just make plays. Try to be in the offensive zone as much as you can and go to the net.
Kopitar, on the challenges during the final power play:
It was a challenge just to get in the zone really. We had three or four breakouts that we didn’t even come close to setting up so that’s what it as.
Kopitar, on whether the Bruins’ third goal deflected off his skate:
Yeah. It hit my toe.
Kopitar, on whether his emotional response was due to the strain of the season or being frustrated with himself:
Yeah, all of the above.
Austin Wagner, on rebounding from tonight:
Hard work. That’s it. Hard work. That’s all it is. Hard work and tightening up.
Matt Roy, on making his NHL debut:
It was awesome. It was something I’ve obviously dreamed about growing up. Everything was just great and I couldn’t be more thankful and grateful for the Kings and everybody else. It’s been awesome.
Roy, on the differences between playing at the AHL and NHL levels:
I don’t know, I tried not to think about it too much. I just tried to go out there and play as simple as I could and as well as I could so I could help my teammates out.
Roy, on how he heard that he would be playing tonight:
Well, I found out last night from Mike Stothers in Ontario. He pulled me in after the game last night and told me I was coming up and I was told it was questionable whether I’d play or not. I got to the rink this morning and saw my number on the board and that’s when I found out, so it’s been great.
Roy, on his reaction to getting called up:
I mean your mind races a little bit, but I tried to distract myself and keep my thoughts kind of away from hockey for the day and just tried to focus for tonight when I got here.
Roy, on the challenges of facing Boston in his first game:
Yeah, it was. I don’t know, obviously an original Six team. It’s kind of crazy just coming into it, but the D-men on this team, you know, Dion — playing with him tonight it was great. He kind of took me under his wing and helped me out.
Roy, on when he let it sink it that he was playing his first NHL game:
I think just when I got to the rink, kicking the soccer ball around with the guys and just during the national anthem I usually just look around and see where I’m at and it was pretty surreal.
Roy, on whether he took a minute to appreciate the atmosphere of the game:
Yeah, definitely. When I talked to my dad he told me to just take a moment and look where I’m at and appreciate everything because you only get one first game, so I did that and it was great.
Roy, on talking to his parents ahead of the game:
My mom gave me some good, encouraging words and I think that kind of pushed me to play better tonight.
Post-game Notes
–With the loss, Los Angeles fell to 43-85-15 all-time against Boston, a record that includes a home mark of 26-37-8. The Kings finished the season series with a 0-1-1 record.
–With the loss, Los Angeles fell to 9-14-3 against the Eastern Conference, 2-8-2 against the Atlantic Division, 3-10 in two-goal games, 7-25-5 when their opponent scores first, 3-17-2 when trailing after one period, 1-23-1 when trailing after two periods and 8-12-2 when outshot by their opponent.
–The Kings’ streak of scoring at least three goals was snapped at six games.
–Boston improved to 9-1-2 on the second night of back-to-back sets.
–With his 12th goal and 25th point of the season, Alex Iafallo matched his career-high in points, set during his rookie year last year (9-16=25) in 75 games.
–Paul LaDue registered his first assist since March 3, 2018, a 6-0 win versus Arizona.
–With a minus-three performance, Drew Doughty has the fourth-lowest plus-minus in the league at minus-23 (Jonathan Huberdeau -26, Erik Gudbranson -25, Mike Matheson -24).
–Los Angeles attempted 49 shots (25 on goal, 17 blocked, 7 missed). Boston attempted 46 shots (24 on goal, 9 blocked, 13 missed). Ilya Kovalchuk, Patrice Bergeron, David Krejci and Charlie McAvoy tied with a game-high four shots on goal.
–The Kings won 20-of-50 faceoffs (40%). Adrian Kempe won 3-of-10, Anze Kopitar won 7-of-19, Alex Iafallo won 0-of-1, Trevor Lewis won 4-of-6, Tyler Toffoli won 0-of-1 and Jeff Carter won 6-of-13.
The Kings are not scheduled to practice on Sunday, February 17.
Post-game Highlights
–Lead photo via Adam Pantozzi/NHLI
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