A gritty and physical game for the Los Angeles Kings (6-5-4) and head coach Jim Hiller resulted in a disappointing multi-goal loss by a score of 5-2 on home ice at Crypto.com Arena on Thursday night (Nov. 6) against the Florida Panthers (7-6-1).
Jim Hiller and the Los Angeles Kings fall for the second time this week on home ice to a team from the Eastern Conference vs. Florida
The Kings held the lead in the opening frame last night, leading the Panthers by a score of 2-1 after back-to-back goals on the power play on special teams and then at 5-on-5 play from Corey Perry and Anze Kopitar. But the Panthers rallied off four straight goals in the game's final 45 minutes to beat the Kings by a convincing three-goal margin on the scoreboard.
Hiller gave his thoughts to the media after the Kings' tough 5-2 loss in the finale of the four-game homestand in LA on Thursday night.
While the Kings are still in a decent spot in the standings in the Pacific Division in the West early this regular season, the team is not off to as strong of a start as Hiller and staff wanted this fall on the ice.
Here's a look at everything Hiller said to the media postgame following the Kings' 5-2 loss at home at Crypto Arena to the Panthers on Nov. 6.
Jim Hiller
On his thoughts from the team's loss to Florida
"There's more than one. The shorthanded goal, and then we have a chance to put our stamp on it, and we had one go the other way- not the first time this year either. So that’s a big momentum swing in the game. It was messy at the end, that’s, that’s not as much- that was the big moment. We came out with lots of energy in the third period, we had three or four good looks around Bobrovsky, had a chance to push and then shot ourselves in the foot, I guess you call it."
On the costly mistakes the Kings made vs. Florida yesterday
"It’s very few times that, because the league is so good, a player or two can just go and make something happen on their own. The game is a game of mistakes. When somebody makes a mistake, somebody takes advantage of it. And right now, when we’re making a mistake, they’re taking pretty good advantage of it. They made a few mistakes tonight, too. They took some penalties tonight, too. We just are not taking advantage of those opportunities in those times.
It's mistakes and capitalizing. We are not capitalizing when we're getting our opportunities. That's a big part of it right now."
On the team struggling to score goals offensively in the past couple of weeks at home
"The game is usually a one-goal league. If we get a lead early, they’re probably going to push it. It’s probably going to be tight. That’s the story of our team. It’s always a tight game, but we had opportunities. They were able to finish. We did not finish. But what I would say is we were around their net a fair amount. Perry scored a breakaway goal tonight. But if you want to score goals, you’ve got to go to the front of the net.
And if you haven’t scored enough, I would argue it’s because you haven’t been there enough. And to get those breakdowns, mistakes, it’s hard to score on the outside, you’ll get some, but you’re not going to get a lot."
On Quinton Byfield's goalless streak for the Kings in the past couple of weeks
"He's trying. I think he hit the crossbar early in the third. You can go back to how I answered the last question. And I would say if you're not scoring, if it's been 11 games, I'd spend a little more time around the net front, and I would make it a little simpler as far as being direct with the puck. There's no other magic formula outside of that."
On the Kings embarking on a six-game road trip starting this upcoming weekend
"We got a long flight out to Pittsburgh tomorrow, so we’ll get a practice in. I think that’s always good. The practice time this season in particular, is few and far between. So we’ll have a long day, have a practice, and then a two o’clock game. There’s not much time for anything, and you just have to make sure that we minimize as many of the mistakes as you can. You’re never going to go clean, and then we’ve got to find a way to score some goals more in and around the net."