In an exciting shootout win yesterday (Jan. 3) on home ice at Crypto Arena, the Los Angeles Kings (17-14-9) defeated the Minnesota Wild (25-10-8) in a thrilling 5-4 win to pick up a valuable two points in the standings in the West. The Kings went back and forth with the Wild in the game's first two periods in the opening 40 minutes on the ice, having the lead on the scoreboard four times vs. Minnesota.
Jim Hiller and the Los Angeles Kings show fight and persevere for an important 5-4 shootout win vs. Minnesota
But head coach Jim Hiller and the Kings fought off the pressure and came up with a clutch 5-4 shootout win, thanks to a nice goal from defenseman Brandt Clarke to win the shootout for goalie Darcy Kuemper.
Hiller gave his takeaways to the media yesterday after the huge shootout win over Minnesota for the Kings in the West in the standings this weekend.
This result for the Kings in the West, getting a huge two points in the standings in the Pacific Division, could be a turning point for the team this regular season in the next few months.
Here's a look at everything Hiller said to the media postgame following the Kings' important 5-4 shootout win over the Wild on Jan. 3 at home.
Jim Hiller
On calling yesterday's game a must-win for the Kings in the West
"I would call every single game a must win, one through 82, that’s what it feels like, not just this year, every year, so we feel like it’s always a must win. It’s just a mindset. If you say this one’s must win, but this one’s not quite, they’re all must wins. They’re all important in the end, they all add up to some number."
On the goal Sammy Helenius scored in the third period
"Kevin had a really good game tonight, I think just everywhere he was making a lot of plays. That one was really good and Sammy came off the bench, so he didn’t know, he just delayed, and Sammy came late. Sometimes that happens, good and bad, both ways, a guy comes off the bench and he comes kind of out of nowhere sometimes, and he’s hard to pick up for the defensive team. He made a really good play and a really good pass by Kevin to find him."
On the goal Brandt Clarke scored in the shootout
"Probably should have used him ahead of Kopi and Kev, I guess. Brandt’s ready for the moment. Really happy for him get the first one. I know the pressure doesn’t bother him whatsoever. So he’ll find his way in there again, probably in the top three."
On how the team played in the opening frame in the first period and into the middle frame yesterday
"I didn’t think the Tampa second was that poor. We just didn’t shoot the puck in the second period against Tampa. Tonight, we were able to shoot the puck and sustain some O-zone time. I thought what we did well was play in the O-zone.
We didn’t have the rush, but we really worked the puck behind their goal line. They played yesterday, so we really wanted to try to make their defenseman work, and I thought when we committed to that, we shot the puck, we put it in, we got down there, those were the strongest moments of the game for us."
On if he felt like more bounces went in the Kings' direction yesterday vs. the Wild
"I didn't feel like that when Kevin blocked the shot, then it hit Boldy in the arm, and it went in, and the game went tied. I felt like that prior, though. I'll be honest with you. I did think, okay, nice to see one goes off Perrs. Nice to see a couple you could call them puck luck goals. But man, Kevin blocks the shot, goes off, it's going wide, hits another guy, goes in to tie it. It felt like that just washed itself out."
On his team handling the pressure vs. Minnesota yesterday to pick up two points
"We’ve got some good experience with that this year, with all the close games we’ve had, but I would say this, that was as focused, as emotionally engaged, I think, as our team has been all year, this particular game. Despite even when the one went in to tie it, which obviously nobody liked, I thought we were calm and confident, as calm and confident as we’ve been all season. It was different for us tonight, which is a good sign."
On what his team can takeaway from the win yesterday
"I hope it’s the spark we need. I believe it is, we’ll see in a couple days from now, but we needed a game where we beat one of the top teams in the league. At Colorado, it was close, Tampa, you’re right there. We needed to show that we could play and beat – because we showed we can play with the best teams – we needed to show we could beat them. I’m hoping that’s the spark we need here to get us going to the second half."