Simmonds makes an impact

It's been a good start for Wayne Simmonds, who scored his first NHL goal in Tuesday's victory over the Ducks and who already has earned an important role. Simmonds is playing on what can be called the Kings' ``stopper'' line, with Michal Handzus and Alexander Frolov. It remains to be seen how effective that line can be, but the ``stopper'' line is something the Kings have really lacked in recent years.

Simmonds' mother and brother were in Los Angeles to see his first goal, and his father also spent some time in town at the start of the season, so SImmonds has felt pretty comfortable all around. Plus he has earned some solid praise from coach Terry Murray. Here's what he said about the start of his NHL career...

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Question: Has playing in the NHL been different from your expectations of it?

SIMMONDS: ``Oh yeah. I think, in the first couple games, I started slow. It takes time to adjust. It's a totally different game and you've got to learn from your mistakes as quickly as possible. Now I think I'm getting more comfortable and more confident.''

Question: They've already put you in an important role, that sort of defensive-stopper line. Is that something you feel pretty comfortable with?

SIMMONDS: ``Yeah. I feel I'm pretty defensively sound. I try to keep it simple in my own zone and just play our system. It has worked out so far. I played a lot against Joe Thornton, as well as (Ryan) Getzlaf and (Corey) Perry. I think we fared pretty well and I think I've fared pretty well, to this point. I've just got to keep building on what I've done so far.''

Question: That's quite an introduction to the NHL, playing against Thornton and those guys...

SIMMONDS: ``It's something different. Your first game in the NHL and you're playing against Joe Thornton and (Jonathan) Cheechoo and (Patrick) Marleau and those guys. It's a good learning experience, so I'll take the positives from that and learn from the negatives.''

Question: Are the coaches pretty quick with the feedback, in terms of what you're doing well and need to improve?

SIMMONDS: ``If you're doing something wrong, Terry is going to be the first person to say something, or Jamie (Kompon) on the bench. As the game goes along, if you make a mistake, they will be the first people to point it out to you. It's good. It's all positive feedback and I can learn from that. You can't take it negatively; you have to be positive about it.''

Question: Did they give you the puck from your first goal yet, or do they still have it?

SIMMONDS: ``They're keeping it. I'm pretty sure they're framing it or something.''