Kings' Drew Doughty: We're not playing bad tonight
FILE - In this May 24, 2014, file photo, Los Angeles Kings defenseman Drew Doughty celebrates his goal against the Chicago Blackhawks during the third period of Game 3 of the Western Conference finals of the NHL hockey Stanley Cup playoffs in Los Angeles. Doughty once loved playing for the Los Angeles Kings because he could live unnoticed in a nonhockey town. But after two Olympic gold medals and a Stanley Cup title, the Kings' defenseman has lost his anonymity. Now he's intent on adding second ring during an electrifying postseason run. (AP Photo/Chris Carlson, File) Credit: AP
There hasn't been much in the way of trash talk during the Stanley Cup Final, which is no surprise given the long tradition of hockey players being humble and cautious when it comes to speaking in public.
The closest thing the Kings' have to a player inclined to cockiness is defenseman Drew Doughty, who after the morning skate Friday before Game 5 had some mildly interesting thing to say, including this: "We want this so bad. We want to win this game more than them, there's no doubt about that.''
Here is a transcript of some of Doughty's pregame thoughts.
On the Kings’ first period troubles:
“That’s definitely been our worst period so far in these playoffs, in this series anyway. We know they always have a lot of jump, they always have their legs right off the bat. So we need to get a goal early and take the life out of them.’’
On whether he allows himself to think about being so close to winning the Cup:
“Obviously you think about it. It’s impossible not to. But really I just look at it as a one-game thing. Tonight’s a must-win game. I’m just going out there trying to play my best hockey and as a team have everyone ready and I think if we’re all on the tops of our games and playing loose and playing with a lot of emotion, we’re going to win hockey games.’’
On whether he is prepared to say what he did before Game 7 against Chicago, that there is no way the Kings will lose:
“I don’t know if I can say that, but there’s no way we’re going to play a bad game tonight, that’s for sure. We are fully prepared for this game. We want this so bad. We want to win this game more than them, there’s no doubt about that. The guys in this room care so much. They believe in each other and believe in our team. It’s going to be a tough game but we just have to do what we came here to do, and that’s win a hockey game, hopefully win it all.’’
On making things more difficult for Henrik Lundqvist:
“You just have to get bodies in front of him. He played well last game but at the same time we didn’t do enough to get to him. We didn’t have bodies in front. He let out quite a few rebounds that we didn’t jump on last game as well. So we know the things we have to do to get by him, and it’s just about doing them.’’
On team’s mindset:
“We’re a good hockey team. When we play our L.A. Kings style of hockey we’re tough to beat. We let one slip away last game and we’re frustrated with ourselves. That’s going to cause us to have more emotion tonight, play with more urgency and if we do that I think we have a good chance to win.’’
On opportunity to win the Cup at home:
“It would be great to win it at home. The fans deserve it, the city deserves it. It doesn’t matter to us; we just want to win the thing. Whenever it happens it happens. But we need to get it done sooner than later. Even though you kind of forget about how many games we’ve played before, the more games we keep playing eventually it might catch up to us. That makes tonight even more of a must-win game.’’
On whether Kings are starting to feel it after all these games:
“Oh, no, we’re fine. We’re completely fine. This is what we worked all summer for. This is what we worked all season for. We get days off in between games and that’s awesome because our coach allows us to rest and regroup. We’re fine. No matter what happens we’re going to continue to battle and continue to play the way we can. But still, tonight is the most important game and the only game that matters right now.’’
On playing with desperation, as in the three Game 7s they’ve won on the road:
“We know how good our team can play in seventh games, why not just pretend this is a Game 7 and play that desperate style of hockey?’’
