October 25 Rapid Reaction (feat. Alex Faust): Wild 4, Kings 1

Rapid Reaction, feat. Alex Faust

John Stevens, on what was missing from a solid team-wide performance:
I just think we got off to a really good start. I thought we got off-page there for a little bit where we started to put pucks into blind areas that allowed them to get some momentum there. We’ve got to find a way to put more than one puck in the net. If the goalie’s got to be perfect, it’s difficult to win. I thought the PK did a great job and really came up big there, a big commitment there. We just have to bear down on our chances that we do get and not go off page there at any point in time. We can’t afford to, whether it’s discipline penalties, not following the direction we want to play in terms of managing the puck. But, again, we’ve got to find ways to put more pucks to the net.

Stevens, on what he saw from the late power plays, part of a “critical” time of the game:
Yeah, the special teams battle, I think that was the key, critical time for us there. We had several opportunities there that we didn’t cash in on. At the end of the day, we’re struggling to score goals. We need to get some offense from there, as well. But again, I thought we did some good things. We carried that Dallas game into tonight. I thought we got off to a really good start, but again, we’ve just got to bear down offensively, especially in the blue paint, inside the dots. Those are the areas I think we can come up with some more pucks if we get a few more pucks to the net. You can’t play perfect you can’t win 1-0 every night. It’s tough to win that way.

Stevens, on penalties ending momentum in key stages of the third period:
Yeah, you’re trying to take two penalties or less a game, and hopefully they’re in critical situations where you’re negating a scoring chance or just playing the game hard. But that faceoff one’s tough. You don’t see that one called very often, but at the end of the day, that’s a penalty. The boarding penalty in the third period, I think that’s a penalty that’s a little bit undisciplined. It takes momentum out of the hockey game, and now you’ve got to expend a lot of energy killing it off again. Guys like Kopi do a great job killing penalties, but it kind of saps the energy out of them to go play offense. It’s a factor.

Stevens, on Jack Campbell:
I thought he was really good. Gave us a chance to win.

Stevens, on how difficult the losing streak is mentally:
Losing in this game is not enjoyable. We’re in this business to win, so at the end of the day, results are two points whether you do good things or don’t do good things. I thought the guys played hard tonight, but we need more execution in what we’re doing. We’re in this business to win. When you don’t win, it’s not fun. It’s just build on the good things we did, but we’ve still got some more detail in our game to get.

Post-game Quotes

Anze Kopitar, on tonight’s power play being a missed opportunity:
Definitely. Three power plays in a row and we couldn’t cash in. Usually it comes down to special teams and it did tonight I thought our PK was really good, keeping the puck out of our net and we had a few opportunities late, but we just didn’t cash in on it.

Kopitar, on his sense of the team:
The mood as you can imagine is not very great right now, but I think we’re improving on parts of the game, we just need to pull it together for sixty minutes. I mean that’s just bottom line. We can keep saying that we’re going to move in the right direction all we want, but it’s about winning games and that’s what we have to start doing.

Kopitar, on whether he thinks the upcoming homestand will help shake things up:
We always want to be a good home team, so no better time to go home than right now and get things back on track.

Kopitar, on whether Minnesota’s first period goal is representative of how things are going right now:
Yeah, but that cannot be an excuse. Usually when it rains it pours and those are the bounces that did not go our way, but it can’t discourage us. We’ve just got to keep on plugging away and turn those bounces in our favor.

Jack Campbell, on his game:
I don’t think I played well enough to be honest. I mean, I made some good saves, but that’s my job and I thought the guys did outstanding. I just think we need a big win and I think we should’ve won this game.

Campbell, on whether it’s defeating to not cash in on all the power play time:
We got those from playing hard. It was frustrating because maybe earlier in the game we deserved a couple more power plays and a little less killing, but you know what, we stepped up, we got some big penalty kills. I thought we played really well and we got a couple power plays late from working so hard and, unfortunately, we weren’t able to tie it up. But the boys played really hard.

Campbell, on what the leadership guys are saying right now:
It’s tough. It’s really tough. We expect to win here. It’s not just any other team where maybe they’ve been through this before. This is a winning team and we expect to be winners and to contend for the Stanley Cup so this is real frustrating. But we have the leaders in our locker room and whether they have a letter on their jersey or not, there are so many guys in this room that personally I look up to and I just keep the boots moving and just keep working every day and I think that’s what everybody’s trying to do.

Ilya Kovalchuk, on if there are a few key areas the team can concentrate on to try and get out of this:
That’s a good question. If I would know, I would fix it right away. But I guess we just have to stick together right now because it’s a tough time for our organization and, like I said, we need to look at it together and look in the mirror and see what we can do better.

Kovalchuk, on not being able to capitalize on the power play:
We had a few good looks. I got a good chance from the side, but that’s the way it is right now. They just killing the puck from their knees and they score a goal. Like I said, we’re all in this situation together and just have to work even harder and break this thing. It’s a lot of games left and we’re not going to give up that easily.

Post-game Notes

–With the loss, Los Angeles fell to 29-20-14 all-time against Minnesota, a record that includes a road mark of 13-11-8. These teams have two games remaining: November 8 at Staples Center and January 15 at Xcel Energy Center.

–With the loss, the Kings fell to 0-3-1 against the Western Conference, 0-3-0 against the Central Division, 1-5 in games decided by three or more goals, 0-6-1 in games in which their opponent scores first, 0-5-1 when trailing after the first period, 0-7-0 when trailing after the second period and 2-3-1 when outshot by their opponent.

–Los Angeles has not led at any point during their six-game losing streak. Their last lead was at the end of the 3-0 win at Montreal on October 11.

–The Kings do not have a power play goal in eight of 10 games this season.

–Los Angeles registered 51 shot attempts (24 on goal, 15 blocked, 12 missed). Minnesota registered 47 shot attempts (26 on goal, 13 blocked, 8 missed). Zach Parise and Matt Dumba tied with a game-high four shots on goal. All L.A. skaters other than Michael Amadio and Ilya Kovalchuk were credited with a shot on goal; Kovalchuk finished with three missed shots and three blocked shots.

–The Kings won 28-of-60 faceoffs (47%). Adrian Kempe won 3-of-5, Michael Amadio won 2-of-5, Anze Kopitar won 10-of-20, Ilya Kovalchuk won 0-of-1, Trevor Lewis won 1-of-2, Nate Thompson won 5-of-7, Tanner Pearson won 1-of-1 and Jeff Carter won 6-of-19.

Post-game Highlights

Friday, October 26 is a day off for the team. The Kings’ next practice is scheduled for 10:00 a.m. on Saturday, October 27.

-Lead photo via David Berding/Icon Sportswire