10-22 Preview - Full Team Skate in Washington + Edler Returns, Preaching Defense, Fourth Line Fury - LA Kings Insider
# 10-22 Preview - Full Team Skate in Washington + Edler Returns, Preaching Defense, Fourth Line Fury - LA Kings Insider
# Contributors
# Summary
The road trip comes to a close this evening in Washington, as the Kings visit the Capitals to complete a five-game swing.
# Players
# Staff
# Notes and Quotes
# Todd McLellan
It should help a lot. [Alex Edler]’s got a defensive mindset right now, where he is in his career, he understands the game well, he’s got some size, a good reach, anticipates plays well. I would consider us a much better defensive team any time he’s in the lineup.
You used the word preach, so when you go to church, the preacher is important, but the people sitting in the pews are the ones that really make the church up and you either believe it or you don’t. Drew can continue to do that, I can do that, everybody else in there can have an opinion, but the church-goers have to buy into it. I’ve said this in the past, the DNA of defending and taking pride in that has been a big part of this team’s run to cups, a big part of its rebuild. I don’t think that’s gone away but I think it has to show up a little bit more.
# Alex Edler
I’m just trying to play very solid defensively, that’s when we’re good, when we take care of our own end and you can create a lot of offense just by playing good defense. We’ve just got to focus on that and make sure that we’re taking care of that part of the game.
# Drew Doughty
Yeah, that’s definitely something I’m talking about all the time, we’ve got to play good defense. We’re leaving the goalies out to dry at times, they’re making big saves, sometimes they’re going in, but we’ve got to be better defensively. I know guys want to get their points and play offense but that’s not how you win games in my opinion. We’re not a team that’s going to win games 6-5, we need to be a team that’s giving up two or three goals a night and that’s the most that we’re giving up. I’m not the only one preaching that, everyone’s preaching that, it’s something we know we need to fix.
# Brendan Lemieux
I think it’s simplicity to be honest with you. We’re just playing simple, we know where each other is on the ice, we’re not looking to do anything cute. We’re playing the game the way a fourth line is supposed to play it, which is simple and making things hard on the other team.
I just think we played our game, we were generating opportunities, generating chances and creating momentum. Our line’s been going good, I’m happy with the way we’ve been playing. Haven’t seen as much production early, like we did last year, but I think it’s only a matter of time with the way we’ve been playing.
# Carl Grundstrom
I thought we skated well, we helped each other out and we got pucks to the net. [Energy and forechecking] is huge for our game, we’ve got to keep doing that to be successful.