LA Kings
Kings Locker Room: Anderson on a Physical Game & McLellan on Kopitar’s Line
Hear from Mikey Anderson, Anze Kopitar and Todd McLellan after the win.
A common theme after the Los Angeles Kings' victory over the Philadelphia Flyers Tuesday was finding a way to win despite not being at their best.
The cliché is, good teams win even when they don't play well and the Kings did that.
It was also their second straight win. Yes, it's two wins against rebuilding teams, but winning the games you're supposed to is important in the NHL. There are no easy games in the NHL and Tuesday proved that.
Hear from Mikey Anderson, Anze Kopitar and Todd McLellan after the win.
Mikey Anderson on the team winning in a physical game:
Obviously, that's a part of our game. I think, as a group, we talk about trying to implement a little more. We know they're (the Flyers) a hard-working physical group. So, it's a good game to play in. It feels like a playoff game from last year too, so it's always a good game to be a part of and it's nice to get a win.
Anderson on getting a win when the team wasn't at its best:
It's huge, obviously, it's a tough league to get a win in. So, anytime you can find a way to get two points you have to take it. Copper (Pheonix Copley) with a big save there and we come down and score. It's a big two points for sure.
Anderson on the resilience to come back three times:
It's big, it shows the character of the room, sticking with what we need to do to find some success. Trust in our system, our structure and trust in what we can do as a group to get the job done.
Anze Kopitar on getting a win when the team isn't at its best:
Listen, two points is two points it doesn't really matter how you get it at this stage too. Obviously, being on the road makes it that much more important. We've been in this situation before, where we know what we have to do. It's just a matter of executing and I thought tonight, for the most part, we did a pretty good job. And, I guess, good enough to get a win.
Kopitar on what his line did well in the offensive zone & Byfield:
I thought we were pretty responsible with the puck, not too many odd-man rushes against. We had a few more chances and we just have to keep on building what we're working with. He (Byfield) brings size. He brings a lot of skill, obviously, but he brings a lot of size, his puck protection is very exceptional so it makes it easy when you get into the offensive zone. And when he's on the puck it's tough to get it off of him so it's a matter of getting open and trying to make plays off that.
Todd McLellan on the importance of winning a gritty road game:
Any win, road or home, at this time of the year you'll take. We always enter looking for perfection and that doesn't really exist and sometimes you don't give the other team enough credit. But I think Philly played a hard game, they didn't give us any ice, there were no freebies and there were moments where we gave up some ice and some real good scoring opportunities that they took advantage of. But, at the end of the day, we stuck with it and came from behind, and found a way to win a game. Probably not with our "A" game.
McLellan on the Kopitar line:
I thought they were our best line, they didn't give much up (defensively) real good in the faceoff circle, so they started with the puck a lot. I thought their game management was outstanding, where some lines were a little ragged, they managed the game really well. Of course, the goals, without those we're getting on the plane with a loss, but they did a lot of things leading up to the actual goal.
McLellan on the importance of depth scoring from Samuel Fagemo:
Very important, they (the fourth line) again gave us some very good minutes. I know Sammy was disappointed in Ristolainen's goal, it was an opportunity for him to check that situation, it got away from him and he knew it right away. But then, to come back and answer with a goal himself was really important. And the timing of that goal, the momentum there, was important for our team as well.