Saturday’s Freeway Faceoff contest in the West in the Pacific Division was another overtime one-goal game that resulted in a loss for the Los Angeles Kings (19-16-13) and head coach Jim Hiller this regular season vs. the Anaheim Ducks (24-21-3) and Joel Quenneville on Jan. 17.
Warren Foegele and Brandt Clarke react to and speak on the Los Angeles Kings’ frustrating OT loss this weekend in back-to-backs vs. Anaheim on the road
Despite a big effort in goal from goalie Anton Forsberg, and a goal in the middle frame in the second period from forward Adrian Kempe, the Kings still came up short of the Ducks in the Pacific Division on Saturday night in the back end of back-to-back games in this home-and-home series in overtime.
It isn’t much consolidation for forward Warren Foegele and defenseman Brandt Clarke to get the one point in the standings in the West in the Pacific Division this regular season this month in late January.
Clarke and Foegele gave their thoughts to the media yesterday after another repetitive and grinding 2-1 overtime loss to the Ducks on the road in the Pacific Division in the back end of back-to-back games this weekend in the home-and-home series.
While they had some scoring chances yesterday, neither Clarke nor Foegele registered a point on the ice for the Kings vs. the Ducks in the Pacific Division.
Here’s a look at everything Clarke and Foegele said to the media postgame following the Kings’ frustrating 2-1 overtime loss on Saturday night (Jan. 17). vs. the Ducks on the road at the Honda Center in Anaheim.
Warren Foegele
On what the Kings can do to improve after another overtime loss in the West yesterday vs. Anaheim
“I don’t know if I have an answer to that, because if I did, I don’t think we would keep being in the same situation every game. At the end of the day, we didn’t get the job done. We didn’t get the two points. Just not good enough.”
On how important the two games were this weekend vs. Anaheim in the standings in the West
“We didn’t get the two points yesterday and we didn’t get the two points tonight. For everyone, there’s so much parody in this league, points are crucial, and we didn’t get the job done.”
On how the special teams performed yesterday vs. Anaheim
“We won the special teams battle. I thought for Forsy was unreal. It’s been the same story kind of all year. But yeah, special teams we won today and Forsberg.”
On how Anton Forsberg played yesterday for the Kings vs. Anaheim
“It helps us break the puck out a little bit easier, when he’s moving it. It’s almost like having three-D back there. He was sharp today. He made some great saves and he played really well.”
On how the Kings can regroup and get back on track
“This group, we compete every night for each other, and it’s kudos to the group to still battle and not get. I know, obviously, guys are frustrated, but we’re staying with it together. The only way we’re going to get out of this is doing it together and trying to play the right way and hopefully get some bounces our way. This group battles every single night, and that’s the frustrating thing, because the effort is there, it’s just we haven’t been able to get the results that we’d like.”
Brandt Clarke
On the missed chances and opportunities and scoring chances on the power play vs. Anaheim
“Yeah, I think so. I don’t think we were as fluid as we wanted to be in that situation. They kept taking penalties and kept giving us another chance to kind of redeem ourselves. It just didn’t seem fluid. It didn’t seem like we’re getting pucks to the net. That’s unfortunate. We have really skilled guys out there who are all really smart, and that’s what it takes to get it done. It’s unfortunate that second, whether it was not connecting or whatever, may not have had that shot mentality.”
On how desperate each team played in the back-to-back games for the Kings and Ducks this weekend
“There’s a lot of desperation out there. There’s a lot of really just throwing yourself on the line, doing whatever it takes. Sammy stepping up in the first period against a real tough customer. That gave us all a jolt on the bench, and we’re so proud of him for that. You can look at when I’m looking across the room, there’s a bunch of guys who are banged up because they’re doing whatever it takes to get a loose puck or get to the net. It’s unfortunate when you’re paying the price and it’s not going the way you want it to go.
There’s no blame being thrown around. We’re all happy with the efforts we’re putting forward. It’s just capitalization first and foremost on the priority list right now, and it’s not working out for us as we’d want to.”
On the frustration building with the team not getting the results in the standings this regular season in the Pacific Division in the West
“We’re in there every single game, and we want to win. We want to win so bad and that’s all our entire bench is saying about is let’s do whatever it takes to pull us off and you see guys doing whatever they can to get to the net, taking hits to make plays, and there’s a lot of pride across the dressing room when guys do that and when it doesn’t result in the way we wanted to. It’s frustrating, and it’s disappointing because you know the guy next to you really wants it just as bad as you do. It hurts that we’re all going through that together.”
On how the Kings can improve with more scoring chances in the zone offensively
“Our team’s definitely built on structure, on defensive zone play, on limiting rush chances. At the end of the day, it’s moving pucks up quicker, finding our fourth man, winning battles down low, which guys are doing to their full effort. There’s situations like that where it’s just got to be a little more crisp, I think. That’s what we all think. We’re trying our best, and we want to win so bad. It’s just not going across the goal line for us right now, and it’s definitely frustrating.”