The Los Angeles Kings (19-16-11) tied the game up late yesterday night (Jan. 14) on home ice vs. the Vegas Golden Knights (22-11-12). But the Kings and head coach Jim Hiller couldn't take advantage of the late-third-period goal scored by defenseman Brandt Clarke in the final frame in the third period.
Jim Hiller and the Los Angeles Kings fall short of the Vegas Golden Knights in a tough OT loss on home ice
The Kings fell to the Golden Knights by a score of 3-2 under 30 seconds into overtime on home ice at Crypto.com Arena yesterday night. While Hiller and the Kings remained competitive on the stat sheet and on the scoreboard yesterday for most of the game against the Golden Knights in the Pacific Division, it didn't get the team the points they needed in the standings in the West for the upcoming postseason.
Hiller gave his thoughts to the media yesterday after the overtime loss and the late-third-period comeback against the Golden Knights at Crypto Arena for the Kings.
Yesterday was the second loss in a row in the West for the Kings on home ice vs. the Golden Knights.
Here's a look at everything Hiller said to the media postgame following the Kings' 3-2 overtime loss to the Golden Knights at home at Crypto.com Arena on Jan. 14.
Jim Hiller
On how he's keeping the team together during this rough patch for the Kings in the West
"It’s not that difficult, because they know how hard they’re playing, they’re playing together, they’re playing nose to nose with the best teams in the NHL. I mean, you guys can see it, I’m not making it up, they’re right there with them. So, as difficult as it is, as emotional as it is, they know they’re right there. So, it sucks. This is not an easy game. The emotions go up and down and you’ve got to earn it. Obviously we haven’t done enough to earn it. But they shouldn’t feel bad about themselves. They’re playing hard here."
On how the frustration in building in the past few games for the Kings
"It’s the compilation of them, too. It’s the piling up. Emotionally, it’s a difficult job to have. You have to be concentrated, you have to be willing to sacrifice your body at different times. So, to do that over and over and over again and not get the results we feel like we should get by doing it, you’re going to be emotional. You just are. That’s just the way it goes. So, I don’t begrudge them for being emotional, but we come back with the same effort. It’s all we can do. I’ve been saying it for a while, we’re going to get on a run. It’s just really hard to believe that we haven’t yet."
On how he feels with the team right now
"I used the word, for me, was disappointed. Are they? I mean, I can’t control that. You guys talk to them right after, it’s an emotional time, if they’re saying they’re frustrated, I understand that. My point was, I believe frustration is just a bit of a wasted emotion. For me, disappointed is a better approach to take, because you can get back over that quicker. I think frustration can build too much.
Maybe it’s semantics, I don’t know, but that’s just how I think about it. Again, they have a right to feel the way they’re feeling, because the good things that happened for us last year, maybe we got on the right side of some of them, and they’re just not happening for us thus far. We talked about it the other day. Is the season slipping away? There’s how many games left? 46 [played] tonight. There’s a lot of hockey left. There’s no question we’re going to have to get on a roll to make some points up, but I’m really confident that we will, if we play like that."
On if the Kings need more production offensively from their star players
"If you go up and down the scoring of all the teams, it’s usually top heavy. Salary cap and everything else, it’s top heavy. Eichel gets three assists tonight and you need your top guys to produce. They get paid the money and they’re the guys that generally get leaned upon, right, for good reasons, because they have a track record of doing it.
So, our guys have been snakebit a little bit tonight. I thought Juice was as dangerous tonight as he’s been; he had three, that I remember, really good looks. That’s a positive and then a really nice pass to Clarkie sneaking down the backside."
On how important the next two games are for the Kings in the Pacific Division this weekend
"I thought recently we need points. We need to get on a run. And I understand it's Anaheim. There will be extra emotion. It's going to be exciting. They were right here. All those types of things. But really, I think it's pretty clear we need two points. Whether that was any any team, somebody from the East that we see twice a year coming in.
So, I don't want to think about it that much. When the weekend's over, we can discuss and we can say, "Hey, you know, this is the results and and this is what it means." But for now, we just we need points. We need to be desperate."