March 25 media availability: Sutter, Kopitar

Darryl Sutter, on Philadelphia’s power play preparing the team to face Washington:
Probably similar types of guys that commend a lot of respect and handle the puck on it.

Sutter, on his impression of seeing Washington’s large wingers in person:
They’re big guys. I mean, their weight didn’t change.

Sutter, on whether he liked Los Angeles’ pace last night:
Yeah, I thought it was probably the best second period we’ve played on the road this year. I thought we were a little bit unlucky at the end of the day. We probably should’ve had a three or four goal lead.

Sutter, on how the rookies fared on the road last night:
I think we watched Tanner’s minutes. He was in some situations where we’d like him to be a little stronger or make a better play.

Anze Kopitar, on whether varying road success from year to year is coincidental:
I think it’s just coincidence. Obviously you want to go out on the ice and perform every time no matter where you are. Home, road, you want to go out there and do your best. It just seems that the road has been a little better to us this year.

Kopitar, on Philadelphia’s power play preparing the team to face Washington:
We played Washington, what was it now, three games ago? So I guess Philly and Washington are just like a mirror image. They like to set Ovechkin up on the other side, and then Voracek last night was on the other side. Just trying to stay in the lane as much as you can and try to force them to make a saucer play instead of a direct play. I think we did a pretty good job last night. They had some pretty good shots, I guess, but that’s what’s going to happen. That’s why we’ve got Quickie back there.

Kopitar, on whether Philadelphia’s aggressiveness disrupted power play zone entries:
Yeah, they were pretty aggressive. They do read the play pretty well, and maybe we should’ve gone to the drop pass a little there. We didn’t at all yesterday – we were doing it that last power play, but we just kept rolling lines. We didn’t get the chance to do it. We got in there a couple times, but in the zone they were pretty aggressive. They were getting sticks in the lanes and didn’t really let us do a whole lot of damage.

Kopitar, on the level of play without the benefit of upward mobility in the standings:
This time of the year is definitely the most fun time of the year. Sometimes it’s tougher to play teams that are outside of the playoff race already [and] there’s not a whole lot at stake for them and they just dipsy doodle all over the place. With these games, everybody’s fighting for a playoff spot, everything’s pretty tight, pretty physical, and ultimately that happens in playoffs, too, and it’s a good preparation for us.