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NHL STANLEY CUP FINALS: KINGS v DEVILSJune 4, 2012Jeff CarterAnze KopitarJustin WilliamsLOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA: Game Three Los Angeles – 4 THE MODERATOR: Questions, please. Q. Anze, ask you about the goal, how did that come together for you starting with the pass? ANZE KOPITAR: Yeah, I had the puck just in our zone and I saw Justin skating on the other side and I wanted to make sure I fired it across because he was in front of me. Then as the play developed, it was a three‑on‑three and I was able to beat my guy to the net. Brownie it right on tape for me. Didn't want to waste any time. I just caught good wood on it, was able to put it in. Q. Justin, you were part of a trade very early in this turnaround in LosAngeles. To be able to be in this position, what does that mean to you right now? JUSTIN WILLIAMS: Well, I'm certainly privileged and extremely happy I've been able to play with some really good players. I'm on a line right now with Kopie and Brownie who are playing extremely well and are dominant players out there. Dean brought me in just to be another piece just like everyone else. He had a vision. His vision is a Cup‑winning team. We're close, but we have another hard one to go. Q. Anze, you're up 3‑0 like the last three series. We all know it's not over. One team has come back from a 3‑0 deficit to win a final. Can you talk about the confidence level. Are you a bit excited right now being in this position? ANZE KOPITAR: Yeah, we're a confident group right now. As we all know, the fourth one is the toughest one. We can enjoy it tonight and get back to work tomorrow, refocus, recharge. We want to make sure we're ready for the start on Wednesday, try to get another win. Q. Are you excited? ANZE KOPITAR: I think everybody's excited, yeah. Q. Jeff, what has been the key to the Kings' successful penalty killing during these playoffs? JEFF CARTER: Well, I think Johnny Stevens has done an unbelievable job having us prepared every game. He's made changes with what the other power plays are doing. The guys that we got going out there, they're putting it on the line. They're all quick guys who can track down pucks and make it tough on their guys. JUSTIN WILLIAMS: I'll just reiterate. Our coaches have done an extremely good job. Really it's the guys on the ice. You can tell tonight that blocking shots, it's kind of a motto we had. It's not an ability, it's a willingness. Everyone out there is doing the exact same job every night, getting in front of pucks, making sure it doesn't get to our goaltender. Q. A record‑breaking crowd out there tonight. LosAngeles is not necessarily known as a hockey city. Are any of you noticing a stronger buzz, getting recognized? JUSTIN WILLIAMS: I think it's because of the beards we're getting noticed a little bit more. Ever since I've been here, this place has been sold out. The fans are excited. I think they're just as excited as we are. This is a hockey town, but to make it a hockey town you have to win consistently. We want to instill something long‑term here. Q. I'm wondering if you can explain how you have been so dominant in this series off the rush. Prior to the series, I think a lot of people would have thought it would be you guys cycling the puck in their end and maybe them using their speed to come back. But it's been completely opposite. Can any of you explain what's going on out there? JEFF CARTER: You know, it's just the read, reacting for us out there. We do a great job of coming back through the middle, turning pucks over. It's creating some odd‑man rushes for us the other way. We keep it pretty simple. We got the guy driving through the middle which opens up the wide guy. We've been doing a pretty good job of getting pucks across and making plays through the seams. Q. Talk about 45 years this team has been in existence, how this city is dying to taste it. Can you describe from the inside how much you want to get it for them as well as for you. ANZE KOPITAR: Well, I mean, since I've been here, six years now, it hasn't been the brightest of L.A. being a hockey town. We turned this thing around this year. You want to win for the fans, of course. We win it for ourselves, too, because some of us haven't done it yet. I think that's the biggest stage in hockey, where you can possibly play. Certainly a good feeling. Again, the fourth one's going to be the toughest one, but I'm sure on Wednesday the crowd is going to be just as excited as us to get going again. Being focused is going to be a big part of it. JUSTIN WILLIAMS: No, I mean, exactly reiterate what Kopie says. We're obviously not going to be stone faced if we do something we've been waiting our whole lives for. We're going to keep pushing forward. We're a focused group right now. We're not going to let anything get in our way. We certainly don't want to get back on that plane. We're tasting that we're close, and that should drive us even more. Q. Jeff, can you talk about what it's like to play with Mike. And Kopie, can you talk about what it's like to play with Justin. It's based on simplicity, but you guys have played the majority of your careers together. JEFF CARTER: Obviously, we've played a long time together, myself and Mike. When you play for such a long time together, you just read off each other. You know where each other are going to be. I think the perfect example is the goal we played tonight on the power play. I know where to go for him. He knows where I'm going. It makes it easy for us. It's always nice to have a familiar face who you've played with for a while. Q. Given what Anze went through last year, what Jeff did in 2010, what Justin has persevered through, how much is it to have health in your lineup? JUSTIN WILLIAMS: I think any team that does well in playoffs is going to have certain things. They're going to have a goaltender playing extremely well. You're going to have everybody firing on all cylinders. You're going to have a healthy lineup. You're going to have great coaching. All those things together make a team successful in the playoffs. We're fortunate. I'm extremely happy. I know Kopie is. We missed a little bit of time at the end of the season last year. The big picture is we played 82 games, helped our team. We're close. Q. Justin, you said your pass was an area pass. The second goal tonight, was that a little bit more to that, finesse back pass to Brown? JUSTIN WILLIAMS: That's a play that's made many times by anyone on the ice. That's Brownie calling for it. I threw it back there for it. The real guys that made that goal were Kopie and Brownie. It's an extremely hard shot going across the crease and firing it as hard as you can, so that's a high‑skill play. Q. Kopie, that question about you've been playing with Justin for so long... ANZE KOPITAR: Yeah, we have been playing together for about five years. For a little bit, I've been playing with Ryan and Justin for one year. But, you know, ever since Ryan went away, I think we've played together with Justin. We can't forget about him. You need three guys to attack. I think as of right now we have our chemistry going. It's extremely important to have three guys clicking and knowing where you're going to be on the ice, just reading off each other. Q. This amazing rhythm that you have as a collective is inspiring, Coach Sutter has this Zen philosophy going on, moment to moment, but there's a great stillness to you guys. What did Coach Sutter say to you before tonight's game that enabled you to have such controlled fury? JUSTIN WILLIAMS: Who wants to handle the Zen one? ANZE KOPITAR: He didn't say anything different, just like any other game or series. As you guys all know, I don't think he said anything different on here either tonight. He's just been keeping us in check and making sure we're focused and ready for the game. Q. You have often talked about not showing your best game throughout this run. How much of that is fact and how much of it do you use it to motivate, challenge yourselves after each win? JUSTIN WILLIAMS: I think you learn from every single game that you play. I think when you look at our performances, there's always a spot where you can get better. Whether it be a power play, which was better tonight, penalty kill, certain aspects of the game you can always get better. I don't think we're ever going to sit up here and say we played a flawless game. It's impossible. But I think we've played better as the series has gone on. Our penalty killing won us the game tonight. Q. Jeff, you've been here for 10 minutes compared to everybody else. What is going through your mind, I'm not in last‑place Columbus anymore, I'm fighting for the Cup? What do you think the people in Philly are thinking right now? JEFF CARTER: Yeah, it's been quite the year for myself. A lot of ups and downs. Some tough times, some good times. I couldn't ask for a better place to be right now. I got an opportunity to come here, play in the playoffs, play on a great team. We're one win away from the Stanley Cup now. It's pretty exciting. Q. You won a lot of battles along the boards. Talk about what that took, what you have to do on Wednesday to keep that up. JEFF CARTER: I think that's something we talked about a lot coming into this game ‑ previous games as well. You play Jersey, there's a lot of battles along the walls. Their Ds are coming down, their forwards are coming hard. We win those battles, we're going the other way. I think we did a fairly good job tonight. Q. What do you credit the victory to tonight? JUSTIN WILLIAMS: I think we credit it to special teams, right from our goaltender out. You saw Matt Greene, Jarret Stoll, Willie Mitchell out there killing that five‑on‑three together. That pumps the bench up. That gets you excited when you see guys sacrificing like that. What can you say about Jonathan Quick, too? He's been a rock this year, the whole playoffs. But I think special teams is the obvious key tonight. Q. Talk about Darryl Sutter's principles and values, how that's had an impact on you three and the team. ANZE KOPITAR: Well, when he got in, it was I guess a pretty big change, if you compare him to Terry Murray. A lot more intense. He's brought in an intensity to the locker room. He wanted to be more aggressive, keeping guys accountable. We've seen it times and times again when maybe some of the guys are not going, he's not afraid to sit them for a couple minutes or anything. Just, again, accountability is a big part of what he brought in. THE MODERATOR: Thank you, everyone. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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