FINAL – Kings 3, Rangers 5 – Fiala, Edler, McLellan

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• News post

• Zach Dooley

The LA Kings opened up a stretch of six straight games in California with a 5-3 defeat against the New York Rangers on Tuesday evening at Crypto.com Arena.

• Kevin Fiala
• Anze Kopitar
• Gabe Vilardi
• Alex Edler
• Cal Petersen

• Todd McLellan

# Alex Edler

Yeah, I think we had a good first and I think it was kind of the opposite in the second, they had a good second. We scored two, they scored three, and then we battled back and tied it up, but they scored right after. It’s hard when you’re trailing.

We always talk about those shifts right after a goal, it’s tough when you work hard and tie it up and then they get one right after. Those things happen.

Yeah, that was very nice. [Sean Walker]’s been really close for a while, so it was nice to see him get one.

We talked a little bit before the season, but I think I’ve been around 15 or 16 minutes up until the last few games, but that’s what happens when someone gets hurt, other guys get more ice time. I feel good, my body has felt good all season long so I’m ready to play whenever I’m needed to play.

# Cal Petersen

We had a real good push in the first, I thought we were an aggressive team, we were on our toes a little bit, we were connecting passes and plays. The break came, we went out and the first two shifts of the period we gave up pretty good scoring chances, so they came with their push and we didn’t respond really well. I thought after that, we sat back a little bit, we were slow, we didn’t connect on the passes that we were connecting on in the first period. You have to give them credit, they pushed, but their push was a lot stronger, a lot more aggressive than ours in the second. Third period came on, I thought it was a pretty even period. We scored, obviously we were excited about that and then all of a sudden, boom, it’s out, the air is out of your sails again. Our game tonight has matched our year, where we’re inconsistent, we’re up and down. Whether it’s within a game, whether it’s two-game segments, one-game segments, back-to-backs, we’re still searching for that.

It’s hard. Both of these games we’ve had to fight and claw from behind, which also sounds strange because we had the lead in tonight’s game, but once we got back in and we were fighting and clawing our way there, you could feel a little momentum building. We scored the goal, we get that big save and then 50 seconds later it’s in our net again on one that we should probably have. It’s tough, but you’re not always dealt an easy task or an easy game and you should be able to push back. I thought we sagged a little bit when we could have pushed a little harder.

I think you have to expect that, we’re in the NHL, just like we responded in the third. I thought we came out and played an aggressive game. Teams get the opportunity to regroup between periods and the good, consistent teams are able to keep it at an even keel. They also scored at the 18-minute mark in the third period, so a lot of that set us back, but we were able to regain it in the third. We didn’t have it between the first and second.

Yes he does, [Cal Petersen] has to make that save, Cal made some outstanding saves and the difference is……Cal was playing without a stick, we had two broken sticks, Edler blocked it and Cal punched it out. If that goal goes in, maybe we recover, I don’t know. The one that we did let in took a lot of life on our team. He stopped a breakaway after that. We mishandled the puck at the blueline and Cal made some really good saves. Sometimes it’s the one that you need, rather than all the ones you made, that makes a difference in the game and we needed that one.