This is a post-game interview script conducted by ASAP SPORTS after the Los Angeles Kings Game 2 4-0 win over the Phoenix Coyotes, Tuesday night, in the Western Conference Finals. This FanScript was taken from NHL.com:
An interview with:
COACH DARRYL SUTTER
JEFF CARTER
THE MODERATOR: Â Questions for Coach Sutter.
Q. Â What was your take on the hits on Lewis and Brown?
COACH  SUTTER:  Think Doan’s hit on Lewy, Lewy is turning back.  It’s
probably  more  of  a  hockey play, eh?  It’s a tough one.  I didn’t really
have a big problem with that.
But  the  one  on  Browny, it’s hard to say from the bench.  I didn’t
look  at  it.  But  I don’t think the puck was even close, was it?  That’s
about it.
Q. Â Was there frustration on their part, do you think?
COACH SUTTER: Â Probably.
Q.  The other side of that, happy with your own team’s composure?
COACH  SUTTER:  Think  we  held our own early and didn’t want to get
into  penalty  trouble.  I thought Cliffy took one in the second period.  I
didn’t  like  that.  That  was it.  We didn’t want to get into any trouble
after whistles.
Q. Â You got some production from Carter.
COACH  SUTTER:  Well,  he’s certainly getting good opportunities, so
it’s good to see him cash in.  He had a couple the other night, really good
ones,  and  then tonight early, he had one, too, where he was cutting in on
the power play.
You know it’s coming.  Guys like that, it’s percentages, right?
Q.  What  else  was  there  about  Jeff Carter’s game that you liked
tonight?
COACH Â SUTTER: Â Tried to give everybody minutes. Â He probably had big
minutes. Â Used him more killing penalties and obviously in the power play,
he’s out there.  We need something out of everybody.
Q.  You  see  Penner, the way he uses his size to go by Carter, King
sitting  up  in front.  How much is your size a factor in this series right
now?
COACH  SUTTER:  You  know,  it’s  only  important  —  I’m  doing  a
generalization  of  it.  It’s only important if you use it properly.  It’s
not  useful  if  you  don’t  use it to protect the puck, get opportunities.
Doesn’t help your team at all if you don’t do it like that.  Can’t do it in
a way that you’re taking penalties either.
I  don’t  think necessarily those two guys.  I think as a group we’re
trying to do that.
Q.  I  know you’ve talked about shift to shift and game by game, not
being  momentum.  What  you  guys  are  doing now has started to look like
you’re  really  building  a  lot of confidence, playing that way.  Have you
played a bad game yet?
COACH SUTTER:  Well, I didn’t think tonight we were especially great.
I  thought  we  were  better  the first game than we were tonight.  I think
tonight  we  wanted  to get through that first period ’cause we knew it was
going to be important for them.
I  think  we  scored the deflection goal, then we scored a power play
goal. Â That was really important for us, I think.
Q.  After  what  happened  at  the end of the second period, did you
stress  to  your  guys  anything  about  keeping  disciplined in that third
period?
COACH  SUTTER:  Yeah, we didn’t want to do anything after the whistle
other  than  Dustin’s  —  you couldn’t see what went on down in the corner
from  the  bench.  We wanted to stay right away from it.  I don’t think we
have  anything  to  prove  that  way.  You  know, that’s for another time,
another place.
Q. Â They made a concerted effort to shut down the Brown line tonight.
COACH Â SUTTER: Â Moved their guys around. Â They did a good job of it,
quite honestly.
Q.  You  had the depth with the Richards line.  Talk about the depth
on this team, the four lines.
COACH SUTTER: Â We had to move Brad to center tonight. Â You know what,
they moved their lines around too, right?  That’s a tribute to their depth.
I  think  both  teams  had six or seven centermen in the lineup.  It’s more
centermen than who is playing against who than anything else.
If it’s 1-0 going into the third, then the matchups look pretty good,
don’t they (laughter)?
Q. Â Your team has on quite a remarkable run. Â Did you see this coming
at the end of the season?
COACH  SUTTER:  We started zero, so we came to Phoenix.  I don’t look
at  it as a remarkable run.  I think we won the first game, we are going to
have to play better next game than we did tonight. Â I know that.
Q. Â (Question about Fraser.)
COACH  SUTTER:  This  afternoon.  Personal family thing.  Spent some
time with him this afternoon. Â Wanted to get going.
THE MODERATOR: Â Thank you.
Questions for Jeff.
Q.  Heading  into  this game, did you feel snake bit around the net?
Is that over with you now?
JEFF CARTER: Â I hope so (laughter).
Yeah,  I  mean,  obviously  I’d  love to be scoring every game.  They
haven’t come that easily for me the last little while here.  It’s something
that  I’ve been working on in practice, trying to get to the net during the
game, get a couple greasy ones. Â I was lucky enough tonight.
Q. Â Jeff, Â did you start to sense frustration on their part, some of
the hits questionable?
JEFF  CARTER:  Yeah,  I  think  we  did a good job on the right guys
tonight.  We  made it hard on their key guys.  Yeah, might have taken them
off their game a little bit.
I actually didn’t see the two hits that happened, so I can’t say much
about that.  I think we’re doing a good job.
Q. Â Are you concerned at all in the power play you get two goals, but
overall  both  goals  are  five-on-three,  and  you  had  a little bit of a
struggle  to  get things going at five-on-four.  What can you do to address
that?
JEFF CARTER: Â Definitely nice to get two tonight, obviously, like you
said, it’s five-on-three.  Something we’ve been working on.  We have to get
a lot better if we want to keep going here.
We have to keep working on it, keep getting shots in net traffic. Â We
have guys in the two unit that can put the pucks in the net, so it’s got to
come.
Q.  You  are on an incredible run here in the playoffs.  Did you see
this as a possibility when the playoffs began?
JEFF CARTER:  Well, I mean, obviously that’s what we came here to do,
was  to  win  two  games.  I  thought we did a fairly good job both games.
Still  think  we  have some room for improvement, which is obviously a good
thing being up 2-0.
We  were a confident group coming in.  We had to battle hard the last
month  of the season just to get in. Pretty much playing playoff hockey all
the  way  through  there.  I think that’s helped us carry over playing into
the playoffs. Â We just kept rolling.
Q. Â With one goal in the first 10 games, was your confidence sagging
at all or were you still upbeat?
JEFF CARTER:  You’re obviously thinking about it.  It’s always in the
back  of  your mind.  I tried to keep patient and keep working in practice,
like  I  said,  during  the games trying to get to the net, trying to get a
couple  good  bounces  there.  Lucky enough to get a couple today.  It’s a
good start.
Q.  From  a  physical standpoint, was there anything in the first 30
minutes  of the game that led you to believe the last 30 minutes were going
to be like that?
JEFF  CARTER:  I  thought  they came pretty hard there at the start.
That’s  what  you  expect  in a game like this, with this much on the line.
You  know,  I  think when we got up a few goals there, got five-on-three, a
couple hits there, might have got a little frustrating for them.
That’s the way hockey is.
Q.  You  mentioned  playing  playoff  hockey  all  the  way down the
stretch.  How  does  this  compare  for  you  to  the run two years ago in
Philadelphia?
JEFF  CARTER:  Oh,  it’s  real  similar.  Same thing when we were in
Philly  there.  Basically  had  to  battle  right  down  to the last game.
Shootout there to make it.
I think, like I said, when you’re in that kind of position, just kind
of  rolls  over  into  the playoffs.  Whereas, if we were locked in there a
little  while  in  the  season,  you  might  sit  back  a bit, get a little
complacent.  I think it’s definitely helped us out.
Q.  Your  effectiveness  wasn’t  limited to the three goals tonight.
How would you describe your efforts in the neutral and defensive zone?
JEFF  CARTER:  I  was  happy  with  my  game tonight.  We played all
situations. Â I thought we did a fairly good job of limiting their chances.
They  had  a  few  at  the end there.  You know, I thought our line and our
penalty kill units did a good job.
Q.  You  won seven straight on the road.  Besides playing as well as
you say you have, how do you play so well on the road?
JEFF  CARTER:  I think it’s just a mindset.  We get away, there’s no
distractions.  The  guys are together.  The coaches have us well-prepared.
For  some reason this team all year likes to play on the road.  We’ve had a
lot  of  success  since I got here.  They had a lot of success before I got
here.
Hopefully we can just keep it rolling.
Q.  Can you touch on Penner’s play on your goal there, the way he was
able to win the battle, shield Doan, use his size to his advantage there.
JEFF  CARTER:  It  was  a great play by him.  Him and Richy down low
working  hard  to  get  pucks  back.  Penns is such a big guy, when he gets
planted  in front of the net, has position, you’re not moving him.  He laid
it up for me there. Â He has a lot of skill.
Q. Â You never want to see any guy get run, but when you see them trying to
eliminate your captain, how do you keep your composure?
JEFF  CARTER:  It’s one of the things in the room we talked about, is
just  keeping calm.  We knew they were going to come and try and maybe suck
us  into  a few penalties.  Obviously you never like to see anybody on your
team get hit like that.
Browny  is  a  huge part of our team.  They know that.  He’s probably
been  our  best player all playoffs.  He’s a guy they’re keying on.  He’s a
tough guy, he can take it.
Q.  How  about  the adjustments by the Coyote?  Talk about your line
being effective in the first couple periods.
JEFF Â CARTER: Â I thought we had a lot of jump tonight. Â We had a good
start  to  the game, kind of carried over with myself and Penns are skating
up  the  walls.  Both being big guys, it’s kind of tough to stop.  Richy is
such a smart player in the middle, he’s going to find us.
It  was  a  good night for us.  We needed to have a big night.  Kopie
and  Browny  and  Stick have been carrying us for a while.  We needed to do
our part, so it was good.
THE MODERATOR: Â Thank you.
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