For much of the game yesterday on the road in Denver, the Los Angeles Kings (16-13-9) were very competitive and physically commanding against the Colorado Avalanche (29-2-7) in a 5-2 loss on Monday (Dec. 29). In the game's first and third periods in the opening and final frame in clutch time, the Kings were holding their own on special teams on the penalty kill vs. Colorado yesterday on the road.
Jim Hiller and the Los Angeles Kings lose to the Colorado Avalanche despite looking competitive physically in the offensive zone on Monday night
Jim Hiller and the Kings played a much closer game than the final score on the scoreboard yesterday in Colorado would indicate vs. the Avs last night at Ball Arena in Denver. The Kings had too many costly turnovers and some avoidable mistakes around the net in the defensive zone on special teams yesterday.
Hiller gave his takeaways to the media yesterday after the competitive loss to the Avalanche on the road at Ball Arena last night in Denver after the third period .
The Kings were arguably the better team yesterday on the road in the game's first period in the opening frame and in clutch time in the final frame last night.
Here's a look at everything Hiller said to the media postgame following the Kings' 5-2 loss on the road to the Avalanche in Denver on Dec. 29.
Jim Hiller
On his thoughts and reaction to the game last night in the loss to the Avs on the road
"You’re always going to make some mistakes. We made our mistakes, not that many; they’ve got a team that can finish, they showed us that. Overall, we’ll take that hockey game in this building night after night, and I would expect that we win more than we’d lose if we did."
On how missed opportunities offensively made the difference yesterday on the scoreboard vs. Colorado
"The big point was Kempe’s shorthanded breakaway, that would have made it 2-2 at that point. That was a big save by their goaltender there. We had a bunch of other looks. Right out of the gate, Kevin hits him in the head. You come into this building, you don’t want their goalie to be a star, you want your goalie to be a star, and you want to be able to find the back of the net.
We were +2 on special teams; the effort was excellent. All those types of things, we just don’t like the result."
On the goals the Kings gave up being pretty avoidable mistakes yesterday vs. Colorado
"We didn’t make a lot of mistakes. Against a team like that, you’re going to make mistakes, as I said. Against a team like this, if you make too many, they’re going to score. They don’t need you to make mistakes over and over again. You just can’t do it. It’s just the bottom line, you can’t crawl your way back."
On how the penalty kill played on special teams yesterday vs. Colorado
"Penalty kill was excellent. They had a couple of good chances, but for the most part, against some really talented players, we did exactly as Smitty and DJ had them in practice, buzzing. Hopefully, that can start to build just a little bit of momentum and confidence back in the penalty kill."
On how the line played with Helenius, Perry, and Armia yesterday
"They forecheck good, and they're heavy. So, when Sammy's coming barreling at you, he can loosen up pucks. Perrs is strong on it, Army's strong on it. I would have liked to have had the lead, and I run that line out together a little bit more, and then when we start chasing it, then Sammy doesn't get to play as much."
On any positive takeaways and momentum coming out of the past two games this past week for the Kings
"Here’s the positive for me. Over the last few games, we look a little bit more like [ourselves], we’re playing a little freer, a little looser, we look more dangerous, we’ve got more speed coming through the neutral zone. There’s lots of things to like from a big picture. In the end, we’ve got to win games. If we can play like this, we’ll win games."