Murray postgame quotes

Terry Murray’s postgame thoughts…

(on the second period…)
MURRAY: “They did put a lot of pressure on us. We were just talking about that in the office. Bernier was pretty good here tonight. He had a lot of pressure around him with pucks, and a lot of traffic. It looked like they had four guys at the top of the crease there, several different times, and he really held his ice and played big, played strong in the net. You collect those loose pucks, those rebounds, off strong play by him, and away you go the other way and you get what you’re looking for. It was a big second period. We got some timely goals and it was a very timely win for us against our division rival.”

(on the possibility of playing Bernier more in the near future…)
MURRAY: “I hadn’t lost confidence in him. We just had a tough time getting some wins for him. He made some corrections in his gam. Our goalie coaches were around for a while and he spent some time with them and he made some adjustments technically. He had a big win against Nashville and he had a big win here again tonight. So I will get back to looking at him more, to get back in our rotation. Quick is still going to play the majority of the games, but I have always felt confident in Bernier. I just want to put him in the right situation so he can be successful as a young guy in the National Hockey League.”

(on what needed to be corrected in Bernier’s game…)
MURRAY: “A little bit more of an aggressive attitude. Just on those plays that were coming from deep in the goal-line area to the slot, you have to be aggressive on it. You have to get out on top of your crease, taking away angles instead of just coming across laterally and staying at the same depth. I think it has made a difference.”

(on how the Kings responded after the Ducks’ goal…)
MURRAY: “That goal that tied it up for them is just one of those plays that is a little frustrating. We’ve been talking about it a lot, and everyone is aware of the issue there. But to come back right away, with that line, the Kopitar line, and get strong play to the net, just getting pucks to the net and hanging out at the crease, driving hard, looking for the rebounds, that pays dividends for you. That was good to see. They were hungry to get it back. They knew that there was a breakdown in our D-zone coverage, and they wanted to be the line that got it back, to get us that one-goal lead again.”

(on Bernier’s game…)
MURRAY: “This is a solid game by him, no question. That team has some big players and very high-skill guys. That Getzlaf line has scored more than 50 percent of their goals, so there is a lot of pressure coming at you with that line in particular in our D zone and I thought he was very comfortable. He was very aggressive on the puck and held his ice, played strong in the crease against those big bodies that were jamming away several times. It was a real important game for us, when you have a couple days off like this and only a couple of points separating us in the conference standings, and this gives us some separation and we still have five games in hand on them.”

(on the improved power-play numbers of late…)
MURRAY: “It’s just shooting the puck. That’s all it is. Get it up top. Get it to your blue-line guys. When things are not going quite the way you diagram it, just get it up top, shoot the puck. And the puck comes right to Brownie for the rebound.”

(on Sturm’s game…)
MURRAY: “He’s getting more comfortable. He’s carrying the puck. He had the puck on his stick. He’s making some plays on breakouts through the middle of the ice. It’s coming. I’ve had players go through the same kind of injury. It’s going to take a little bit of time, but I’m just going to keep pushing him and putting him in those critical situations, and let him work his way through it.”