Oh, and you want another stat? LA is one of only two NHL cities where their leading point producer, Jason Spezza, had never potted a goal (St. Louis being the other). His night didn't get off to a nice start either, he was hit by an errant puck during pre-game warm-ups and left the ice bleeding.
After 20 minutes of action, Ottawa was down 1-0 and it only got worse from there. They lost the faceoff battle (53 to 47%), were out shot (34-28) and managed a lone goal, while the Kings posted four. Their only 'victory' on the stats sheet would be the 34-24 comparison in hits.
Following the game, here's what they were saying back in the Sens locker room...
Coach Paul MacLean:
On the overall game - "I thought [the physical aspect] of the game was fine. Obviously the score wasn’t very good and I thought that they did a better job of getting to our net than we did getting to their net. We had some opportunities in there as well but they got the big win tonight."
On the penalty shot - "I thought it was a big part of the hockey game. We get the benefit of replay and it shouldn’t have been a penalty shot. We get the benefit of replay one and two and three times. I’m not sure if it’s reviewable in Toronto on that kind of a call, but that’s just the way it is. I think having video means to get it right, so if it’s not right, it should be [reviewed]. That’s why you should have video, to me."
On the odd man breaks early in the game - "I thought we had some breaks at their net as well. Basically, we just wanted to continue to play and try to get to their net a little bit harder and maybe a little bit longer, try to establish more play in their end. I thought we played in our end too much and wanted to play in their end a little bit more."
Captain Daniel Alfredsson:
On the penalty shot - "I never saw the play really. From what some of the guys said, he didn't cover the puck, he just pushed it away. Then, I don't think it's a penalty shot. There's nothing we can do it about now. That made it a four goal game and obviously, that's tough to dig out of - especially on the road."
On the Kings physical play - "I wish we would have been tighter in the neutral zone in the first period, just to slow them down. We let them skate with way too much speed and we didn't really help our D a lot by doing that. They could dump it in and lots of times they could get there first, out D had no time to make plays. They got a lot of momentum from that."
Defenseman Chris Phillips:
On the Kings physical play - "We were prepared for it. We knew they were going to come out. They lead the league in the amount of finished checks and we had to be prepared for that. We sat in the box too much tonight and they capitalized there. It got away from us."
On the penalty shot (and replays showing he didn't cover the puck with his hand) - "Their explanation was that I did cover it. I was upset because I thought I went in and swiped it, which I think it looks like that’s what happened. It’s frustrating when you are struggling in the game and then you get some calls against you that have to try and not let affect you and the team. It’s tough - emotions run high and sometimes get the best of you. I think that was a little bit of the case tonight as well."
On the Sens overall performance - "The work ethic was there. Maybe we got a decent number of shots on net but we aren’t going to score too many goals from the outside. We have to do a better job of getting to the net and trying to jump on rebounds. They did a pretty good job of that tonight. They were grabbing the net hard and made things happen.”
Post-game quotes from the Kings locker room can be found here. Video highlights from the game are posted here.
Also, if you haven't read them already, be sure to check out the two pre-game interviews that appeared yesterday on MayorsManor. Chris Neil made his second appearance here and talked about playing the Kings and the possibility of seeing Kevin Westgarth again (link). Then, Alfredsson stopped by to talk about the Kings too, and also do a little mock draft for the upcoming NHL All Star Game. We call it Alfy vs The Mayor, check it out here.
The Mayor
ww.twitter.com/MayorNHL
www.facebook.com/MayorsManor
No comments:
Post a Comment