A season-long road trip in the Eastern Conference this past weekend on the East Coast wrapped up on Sunday afternoon (Feb. 1) for the Los Angeles Kings (23-17-14) and Jim Hiller with a gritty overtime 3-2 loss vs. the Carolina Hurricanes (34-15-6) in Raleigh yesterday.
Drew Doughty and the Los Angeles Kings have to fight down to just five defensemen on the blue line vs. the Carolina Hurricanes
After the Canes and head coach Rod Brind'Amour jumped out to a 2-0 lead on the scoreboard after the game's first 45 minutes in the final frame in the third period, Quinton Byfield and the Kings responded with two goals to push back themselves on the stat sheet yesterday. The Kings really had to fight, while being down a defenseman on the blue line for Drew Doughty and Co. in Carolina at the Lenovo Center.
In the final frame in the third period yesterday in Carolina, Jeff Malott and center Sammy Helenius helped to get the Kings back in the game on the scoreboard in clutch time.
Malott and Doughty gave their thoughts to the media yesterday after the comeback effort that fell just short of the Hurricanes in extra time in overtime this past weekend on Sunday.
Thanks to the goals in the final frame in the third period in clutch time from Helenius and Byfield in the game's final 10 minutes on the scoreboard yesterday vs. the Canes in Carolina, the Kings were able to leverage a good performance stopping the puck from goalie Anton Forsberg on the road last weekend.
Here's a look at everything Doughty and Malott said to the media postgame following the Kings' valiant 3-2 overtime loss to the Hurricanes on the road in Carolina on Sunday afternoon (Feb. 1).
Drew Doughty
On the Kings fighting hard to come back on the scoreboard and earn a point in overtime vs. Carolina yesterday
"Both teams were battling very hard out there. That was a lot of fun of a game to play in. Obviously would have been more fun with the win and probably creating some more opportunities in their zone. You can say what you want about how they dominated us but the boys played so hard tonight. We didn’t give up, came back in the third, got a huge point. It’s the last game of a trip, a long trip, and we want to have a win, but the effort was."
On the mindset coming out of this game with the one point in the standings in the West
"I know they dominated the game, but we had our chances too that hit posts or missed the net and stuff like that. The game could have been different. Obviously, Forsy played well and we scrambled to keep some out of our net, but I wouldn’t say it was a stolen a point personally, but maybe with the way we came back late it was."
On how the Kings got along playing with five defensemen on the blue line vs. Carolina
"You’ve just got to run 5D, you have three righties, two lefties, and for the most part, we didn’t really put two righties out together, unless it was me and Clarkie. You just roll the D you have a little system you roll, and I thought we did a great job at that. To be honest, personally, I felt fresh even going into overtime. I think the other D felt good, too."
On playing more minutes defensively on the blue line for the Kings yesterday
"The more you play, the better you play. Every single player in the world is going to tell you that. Obviously, there's a limit, and I'm older now, so they don't want my minutes getting too high, and I respect that, and I'm just trying to play my best with the minutes they give me."
On his takeaways from the whole road trip, going with a record of 3-1-1
"I would think that’s a good trip. We would like to probably get one more win at least, but that’s a decent trip, for sure. We set out before the trip, we had meetings about having a good trip and I thought we did. We did have a good trip. Obviously, it could have been better, but we’ll take it."
Jeff Malott
On the intensity and the physicality that the Kings played with yesterday vs. the Canes on the road
"The way the game started, I think it got everybody's heart rate up, everybody involved pretty early, and into that physical mindset. When a guy goes down like that, it's an opportunity to band together, and with Perry doing that at the beginning of the second period there, and I think everybody responding physically, it brings us together."
On Corey Perry showing up in response for Mikey Anderson yesterday on the blue line on defense
"You can see the experience he has and knows what to do and when to do it, and it's a pretty good example that he sets. As a guy first year in the league, it's somebody I look to, watch, and follow."
On the goal Sammy Helenius scored yesterday vs. Carolina
"We just had numbers. He put himself in a good spot there. Found some quiet ice on the backside and Sammy's been shooting it well lately."