A third-period rally from the Los Angeles Kings (1-2-1) and head coach Jim Hiller pushed the game to overtime last night (Oct. 13) on the road against John Hynes and the Minnesota Wild (2-1-0). Hiller and the Kings battled back from being down 3-0 on the scoreboard going into the final frame in the third period.
Jim Hiller and the Los Angeles Kings get three points out of the three-game West road trip vs. the Wild early this week
The Kings scored three goals in a span of under a dozen minutes in the third period to send the game against the Wild into overtime and then into a shootout. Their rally fell just short when the Wild scored a goal in the sudden-death shootout to send the Kings home with one point with the extra-time loss on Oct. 13.
After the team's frantic third-period comeback yesterday against the Wild that pushed the game to overtime, Hiller gave his thoughts on the comeback effort for the Kings with the media on Monday night.
Here's a look at everything Hiller said to the media postgame following the Kings' 4-3 shootout loss to the Wild in the finale of LA's three-game road trip on Oct. 13.
Jim Hiller
On the Kings' comeback effort last night
"If you take away the start, which you can’t, it’s part of the game, I get that, but the last 50 minutes, if that’s what you want to call it, you like lots about it. We didn’t give them much and we didn’t create a whole bunch, but obviously we created enough. I’d have liked to see us score on the 4-on-3, we had some good looks, that would have made it a great night. In the end, we can’t be satisfied with just one. "
On the Kings' 5-on-5 play vs. Minnesota
"We’re taking too many penalties and we’re getting scored on. I think the one positive there is we had a really good kill in the third period to hold it. 5-on-5, Winnipeg didn’t have much, Minnesota didn’t have much, so our 5-on-5 game is starting to feel a little bit more like how we play. We’re going to score goals, I’m not worried about that, but we just have to tighten it up. I think we’re getting there."
On fixing the discipline issues with penalties early this regular season
"Sometimes, when it rains, it pours. It started that way last season too. I think in the last 30 games, we took the least amount of minors to put it short. I don’t know what it is. I can tell you I talked about it two days ago and that’s why I don’t like to talk about these things, because we took seven penalties in the first period of the next two games. There were some calls I didn’t really agree with, I would tell you that, so there’s some borderline calls, but, hey, we’re getting called, so we’re just going to have to clean that up completely. We can’t even be close."
On the Kings' shakeups on defense on the blue line
"We played pretty well 5-on-5, they didn’t have a lot, so we’ll review it to get a real deep dive on exactly how it looked, but from the bench, there wasn’t much going on in our end. So, the defenseman, along with the forwards helping them out, did a really good job. We didn’t give much up, that’s the sign. I don’t care who plays with who, if you don’t give much up, you’ve had a good night, wherever anybody’s playing."
On the Kings' new defensemen getting adjusted to the new system
There's been some tough breaks along the way. I mean, take it back to [Mark] Scheifele's goal. It's going two feet wide. It's a terrific tip by him. That happens every once in a while, but not very often. I'm not looking at it from that perspective. We're not trying to integrate certain guys. We're trying to go out and play and trying to get in a decent rhythm. I thought we had that tonight. Pairs will probably stay the same. Probably change at some point down the line again, who knows?"
On the goal on the power play by Quinton Byfield in the third period
"Juice ended up down there, that’s usually Kuzy’s spot, he made a nice play. Q actually faded out a little bit and didn’t hold himself under the hash. Just a really good play, just a really nice goal, good execution. That’s what you need to do when you’re on the power play. It’s really all about execution. Doesn’t matter who’s where, when you get your chance, you have to execute. Then, we missed a couple on the 4-on-3, where we hit skates and we just weren’t quite as sharp."