Jim Hiller and the Los Angeles Kings (7-5-4) are on a roll right now in road games away from Crypto.com Arena this fall in the past few weeks. The Kings persevered for a gritty 3-2 comeback win in the third period over the Pittsburgh Penguins (9-5-3) over the weekend on Sunday afternoon (Nov. 9).
Los Angeles Kings avenge their loss to the Pittsburgh Penguins with a key comeback win for Jim Hiller and Co. on the road
Yesterday was a game of big milestones on the road for the Kings on the ice. Winger Kevin Fiala scored his 500th career point when he registered a beautiful game-winning goal late in the third period in clutch time.
Veteran forward Corey Perry became the first-ever 40-year-old player in the history of the NHL to register double-digit points in his first 10 games of the regular season. Perry had his second multi-point game with at least one goal in the past half-dozen games for the Kings this regular season.
Hiller spoke to the media after the Kings' big win to begin this six-game road trip by one goal over the Penguins on the road yesterday.
Yesterday was the Kings' third consecutive road game win early this regular season, and Hiller and staff have points in seven straight games on the road this fall.
Here's a look at everything Hiller said to the media postgame following the Kings' comeback 3-2 win over the Penguins on the road in Pittsburgh on Nov. 9.
Jim Hiller
On how impactful Kevin Fiala was on the Kings' offense yesterday vs. Pittsburgh
"Him and I talked before the game and we knew, both of us understood that he would have to have a good game for us to win, so it’s great to see. When you deliver when you say ‘get me out there and I’ll deliver’ and you get out there and you deliver, I think he played over 23 minutes, it’s pretty easy to keep putting him back out there. What a game. Deliver, that’s the part I like. You say, get me out there, I’m going to deliver, and you do it."
On what he likes about Fiala's game
"He's just hard to take off the puck. He can protect it in the ozone, and then on the rush, he's got more speed than people give him credit for. He's a really hard guy to defend, and you saw that tonight."
On Darcy Kuemper's clutch save against Bryan Rust
"We didn’t play that one right, and he was there for us. That’s what you need, you know what I mean? We’ve talked about being in-opportunistic, making a few mistakes, and them going in. There, we made a mistake, they roasted us, Crosby and Rust, and there he was to make the save. Held the fort, allowed us to get back. It’s a big moment."
On the goal Corey Perry scored vs. Pittsburgh in the third period
"We’ve got to talk about Corey. I don’t think anybody expected him to come in and play 14, 15 minutes a night and any of this stuff. It’s just really, really impressive, and he makes it look easy. I don’t know how he does it. He’s got tremendous hockey sense and soft hand,s but he just makes the game somehow look pretty easy. He’s done it his whole career, but doing it now, the way he’s doing it, it’s really impressive."
On the feeling after the Kings started the long six-game road trip this week with a win
"We were in and out for the first 40 minutes. I didn’t think we gave them a lot, we didn’t create much, it was kind of a back and forth. So, we really had to decide after two, we’re down by one on the road, if we had the energy to come out and really go for it and that’s what happened. We went for it and we were rewarded. You don’t always get rewarded. We haven’t been rewarded at home enough but you love it when the guys put the extra effort in and get rewarded."