It showed how good the Los Angeles Kings (22-16-13) and head coach Jim Hiller can be on the road this regular season in the Pacific Division with an impressive complete-team effort on Tuesday night (Jan. 27) on the road in the East vs. the Detroit Red Wings (32-17-5) at Little Caesars Arena in a regulation victory.
Los Angeles Kings get an impressive win behind goals from Andrei Kuzmenko and Sammy Helenius vs. Detroit on the road
The Kings got goals from forwards Andrei Kuzmenko and center Sammy Helenius, and veteran forward Corey Perry scored the insurance goal on the empty net in the final frame in the third period. Helenius and Kuzmenko have produced offensively in the zone at a high level in the West for the Kings in the past week or so.
Multiple other Kings forwards in the active roster lineup group yesterday vs. Detroit on the road, including Warren Foegele and Adrian Kempe, helped to create multiple medium and high-danger scoring chances against the Red Wings.
Helenius and Foegele gave their thoughts to the media yesterday after the hard-fought regulation 3-1 win over a red-hot Red Wings team on the road at Little Caesars Arena on Tuesday.
The Kings fourth line with the active roster lineup offensively has played really impressively in this past couple of weeks in the West, including three goals in this last three games for Helenius at the center position.
Here's a look at everything Foegele and Helenius said to the media postgame following the Kings' impressive 3-1 regulation win over the Red Wings on the road in Detroit on Tuesday.
Warren Foegele
On his takeaways from the game yesterday for the Kings vs. Detroit on the road
"Everyone, from goaltending, defense, forwards, everyone put forward a full 60 minutes there. It’s pretty awesome, when we can get everyone on the rope, how good of a team we can be."
On how confident the team looked offensively yesterday vs. Detroit
"I think the way we’re seeing the Sammy-Mally-Wardo line, all they do is just keep it simple and all three of them are on the same page. When you keep it simple and take it to the net, good things happen."
On being scratched in the last game for the Kings this past week vs. the Blues
"Personally not ideal, but at the end of the day, the only thing I can control is my attitude and I always try to work as hard as I can. Hopefully I’m going to get a bounce here there. I thought tonight our line created a lot, probably could have had a goal or two. I get it, it’s a business and clearly right now I’m not producing. You just keep a good head on shoulders and continue to work hard, block shots when you can and just be a good teammate."
On how he rebounded last night vs. Detroit offensively
"I just tried to keep it simple. Obviously coming back with Mooresie, we’ve got a lot of chemistry together and we like to play fast and direct. It’s really good to see him back because when he’s back, he uses his speed and I think both of us together, we’re really fast out there. The whole scene of being direct, it makes things much easier."
On Trevor Moore's impact on the team
"He's a big part of this team. Jack of all trades. He's got a really good release. He's an important piece to our team and you know really happy that he's back."
On how Anton Forsberg played yesterday vs. Detroit between the pipes for the Kings defensively
"He was unreal again and we're real fortunate that we have two great goalies but he was really solid tonight and we probably could have had a couple more goals. Feels really nice to know that our goalies got our back."
Sammy Helenius
On his takeaways from the win vs. Detroit yesterday
"Just what you say, we battled hard, just like compete hard. That's the key for the wins for us. That's what we have to keep doing, and that's what we've been doing."
On the confidence the team showed offensively yesterday
"Yeah, exactly. And that's our game. We try to play as simple as we can and just throw pucks to the net and put bodies there as well, and that's our game."
On playing with the fourth-line forward group with Ward and Malott
"I like to play with with Wardo and Mally. We really know what to do. Keep it simple and just enjoy the game that way."