Postgame quotes

Maybe that mentality is what led to them getting swept by an inferior team. I hope every team thinks they are better then us. Overconfidence usually doesn't help prepare a team mentally.

I think the Kings are showing signs that they are able to beat the best teams in the league on a more regular basis.

Boudreau is right. They are a 'better' team. But it was very unprofessional to state that publicly. However, on the flip side, it was probably his attitude about the Kings and his underestimating approach that gave his team the feeling that they could take it easy. And it seems like the lesson was not learned with his comments after the game.

They may be a better team overall, but head to head our style beats theirs.

I guess if spending more makes you a better team, they're better.
Also, if playing with an illegal curve throughout the game (Ovechkin) means he's got a better wrist-shot, they're better there too.

How did John Erskine NOT get a penalty on that check on Ivan's back? Zeiler got a 3 game suspension for a less dangerous hit.

"So which is correct, the scoreboard or the standings?"

Both. What makes a premier player? It has do with what level of play a player can consistantly deliver. Plenty of guys can be spectacular on occasion, but not on a night-in-night-out basis. Same with teams. WSH, as demonstrated by the standings, is able to put out a higher level of play on a consistant basis than the Kings. So far, on two individual nights, the Kings have been better. We can't seem to keep that up on a consistant basis though.

There is a reason they actually play the games instead of just looking at the rosters or standings and calling the game based on that. On any one night, any team can beat any other team. Superior teams just have figured out how to be the better team more frequently and more consistantly, on any particular night, more than average or inferior teams.

If I'm the Kings, I hope that every coach says stuff like that. Without substantial coverage on the LA hockey scene, I'm sure many are apt to think just like coach Boudreau. But hey, I certainly hope the Kings take advantage of these "superior" teams taking them lightly. On to Jersey!

"But it was very unprofessional to state that publicly."

Really? In what way? Because a Kings fan finds it to be insulting?

He's telling his team he has confidence in them and trying to get them to see they need to recognize how overconfidence beat them, and could ultimately beat them again.

I kind of think you have to take his comment from the POV it was delivered from, and also not really take every comment as offense. He coaches the Caps. Is he suppose to say the Kings are the better team? Him saying he thinks the Caps should have won that game based on what he knows the team is capable of takes nothing away from the victory or the Kings. In fact, it makes it more significant.

Sorry, I posted this first part in another forum but it's more appropriate here!

I had no problem with Bruce Boudreau and was happy to hear about his Cinderella story last year but he rubbed me the wrong way before the previous game against the kings, when he said something like "I'm ecstatic they fired me (as the manchester coach)" and so I think it's karma that we've beat him twice now, and that recent quote is just icing. Classless

The West is better than the East, and the Caps have an inflated point total because they are in the southleast division. Go Kings!

I think ANYONE has to have balls to make that statement publicly after getting beaten down by the Kings twice in a row like that. Ok, if you're such a better team, what does it say about YOU that we keep owning you?

I actually lost a lot of respect for Boudreau after hearing this... sounds like sour grapes to me. Just admit you got beat and move on. Blanket statements with no real means of verification only serve to make you look like a fool.

BTW Bruce, your team got beat on a GWG by KYLE CALDER. LOL

Is Boudreau a FRENCH Canadian?....I'll leave it at that.

Who cares? I see 2 points for the good guys, on the road.

Has anyone glanced at the standings lately? That is one major log jam in the West. As it stands, the Kings are tied for 12th but are only 6 points out of 5th.

Quick was "pretty good?"

Did he say PRETTY good?

As in just ok?

This kid Quick is playing out of his mind!!!

It is so amazing to see a goalie for the kings play so well.

The sky's the limit!

"Is Boudreau a FRENCH Canadian?....I'll leave it at that."

So you just want to leave it with people thinking you're racist? Cool. That's what anonymity is for on the internet, right?

Lindy Ruff said the same thing back when we were a contender and I still hate him for it. Put your performance where your mouth is marshmellow man (Boudreau)

Great win, I was in attendance (along with about 25 other Kings fans). The atmosphere in the third period was incredible/loud and for Quick to withstand the barrage of shots in that environment, a special performance. The Kings played with a rookie goalie, two rookie defenders and two 2nd year defenders, this roadtrip might just be the catalyst into the next phase of DL's 'plan'.

I think the Kings exposed one of Washington's weaknesses last night, that being their defense. How many breakaways did the Kings have? Kopitars second goal was sick and O'Sullivan's breakaway goal was even sicker! That was an awesome win and huge for the Kings confidence.

"They've beaten us twice and we're a better team than them."

That's an accurate statement if you look at the standings and point total.
That's an inaccurate statement because they lost both games to the Kings.
That's a meaningless statement if you don't win the cup.

Obviously, they're not a "better team", "better team" beats you. Overall better performance, yes. But not a "better team"...and the proof was in the pudding last night. First game loss against the Kings were blamed on injuries, this game had no excuses.

"better team"...pffuh.

I don't think its disrespectful for him to say that. When Bruce Boudreau sees that his team has 70 pts and is playing a team with only 49, he should be expecting a win. Those that follow the Kings on a nightly basis have seen the improvement, but let's face it. The Kings haven't shown nearly as much improvement in the standings... yet.

But let's put a few things into perspective. Yes, Washington has a dynamic offense that rivals anyone, but those 70 points are padded somewhat from playing against a pretty weak division. They don't have anyone like a San Jose to play against on a nightly basis nor do the Kings have doormats like Atlanta and Tampa Bay to play against regularly either.

Just personal opinion here, but Washington, as a young team, doesn't seem to be as far along in terms of defensive play and in goal as the Kings. Those are things that will become magnified come playoff time. When the Kings do right the ship offensively on a consistent basis, the Kings may be a team much more well designed for the playoffs.

Apparently there's some issues Boudreau has with the Kings organization. That's his problem...not ours!
You win the game on the ice, not with the microphones in your face. His team got spanked twice by the organization he apparently dislikes.
Just a thought...if he really believes his team is better than the Kings...what could be the reason for the 2 losses or the horrible 2nd period they had last night? If the Caps organization is looking for an answer, perhaps they should start with the coach.
Why wasn't your "better" team better prepared to beat the inferior Kings?
Reminds me of New England last year after the Super Bowl loss to the Giants....They may have won the Super Bowl, but we're really better than them. Isn't that what you want to hear as a fan?

Arizona was the better team Super Bowl Sunday, but that's not the team that won

Yes, Washington is better overall, but not their netminding. Theodore is just god aweful. I could throw watermelons from 50' awat at him on a bad angle and they'd go in.

Thank you Jonathan. What a game!

Very accurate statements by both JA and (lord help me) CBGB.

Once the offense catches up with the defense, this roster is built for the playoffs simply because of the defense and believe it or not goaltending depth (yes, I did just say that).

Like I said on another post. It's all about scoreboard and a seemingly knowledgable and respectable coach like Boo-drow should have shown more class.

More so, if he's feeding the notion that "we're a better team" to his players, then he's doing them a huge dis-service. You lost to LA twice so own up to it and find a way to motivate your team to be better.

I think the Kings surprised the Caps with some really high energy attacking shifts in the 1st. After that, the Caps seemed rattled. They were just counting the two points without realizing what they were going to get. I guess it happens to young talent sometimes.

CBGB said:
"Arizona was the better team Super Bowl Sunday, but that's not the team that won."

That's why Pittsburg was favored by 7. The better team, by far, won sunday.

Sorry, had to defend my beloved Steelers...

Pittsburgh was the better team, but Arizona was hotter. Either way this is hockey, not football.

I'd like to point out that we are 2 points behind Phoenix with 3 GAMES IN HAND and 5 points behind Anaheim with 5 GAMES IN HAND.

If the Kings keep playing like they have been, it wouldn't be surprising to see them be second or third in the Pacific Division in the next week or two, not to mention they'd have a playoff spot. They're only 4 points behind Dallas, too...

I'm excited.

Lol, Ersberg. Though I think that description is more befitting of Cloutier.

Boudreau is sour and, as it's been said, has no class to slight a team like that in public, whether he believes it or not. The Kings beat his team twice and scored a total of 10 goals in those two games. Again, Boudreau is a fool.

Boudreau is just trying to get on his players when he talks like that. There is a load of talent on the Caps, and they underperformed. No reason to be hypersensitive about it and act like he mortally 'dissed' the Kings.

Also, in spite of scouting reports, he can't be expected to follow the Kings as closely as us... he isn't aware of the week-to-week improvements. Hell, let's hope that we stay under the radar and are underestimated by the Devils tomorrow.

Watching on Center Ice means not always listening to Bob & Jim (who I think represent "The Kings" more than the players somehow), but it also means getting to hear others' opinions on the Kings and the league. Two things came out relevant to some of the topic here:

1) Bruce Boudreaux still likes the Kings organization the same way Andy Murray does. He appreciates the opportunity given to him and he still follows the Monarchs and his former players.

2) Their announcers were quite taken with how the Kings were splitting their defense. No one had done that before and they were quite complimentary toward the Kings' coaching staff for finding this weakness.

I don't care about his sour grapes comments; that's all they were and he's trying to make use of this "teachable moment." No big whoop.

But the second part has got to be troubling for them. You don't think the Kings just showed the rest of the league how to beat the Caps? If the Kings! (in the Boudreaux sense of the word) can do this, they are going to find their D stretched every night.

But comparing the two teams, Ovechkin and Semin are better offensively than any of our forwards, but as a group we're not that far behind. Our D is super young, with a rookie goalie and, in terms of games played, four roookies on D, and at times it showed. They got two goals after we won a defensive zone face-off but turned the puck over. But still, our D was no worse than theirs.

Frankly, between the two teams, I'd take the Kings' prospects for winning the Cup, not this year, but the Caps won't win it either with their defense. We are set up better. Our offense can (doesn't always, but can) keep up with the best teams in the league. We've done it against SJ, Philly, Det, Montreal, the Caps, good teams all. But give our D (and our forwards) time to mature, to have the game slow down, to gain more composure under pressure, well then we'll stop coming from ahead to lose so many games in the third period.

Expreience pays off in the 3rd period and we suck during the 3rd:
24th in the league when winning after 2 periods.
26th in the league when trailing after 2.
42 3rd period goals scored versus 50 goals given up.

So let's watch for that to improve.

Surprisingly enough, a majority of Washington's points have come from beating Atlantic and Northeast division teams, while only being 5-3 against their own division opponents.

Of course, I'm sure they won't mind that division heavy schedule to end the season.

Off subject here, but I'm attending the Reign game tonight, and I was wondering if Zatkoff was still with them or is he in Manchester?

Last September '08 when Kings training camp started, none of us (NONE!) would have predicted that Jonathan Quick would be the #1 goalie by January '09. The ranked order would have been JLB, Ersberg then Bernier. Quick 4th. Some might have even thrown Zatkoff in at 4th.

The last 5 minutes last night vs. Caps were reminiscent of a play-off atmosphere. (Although it's been so long, I've forgotten what the Play-offs were like.) Road game. Tough team. Loud, sold-out crowd. Up by just one goal. Time ticking down. Shots from every angle. Mad scrambles. Intensity. Empty net. This is great experience for JQ. No textbook for this. Part of any goalie's learning curve.

"Pressure makes diamonds" - billboard sign.

and the Kings have games in hand on a couple of those teams. they almost have same points-per-game pace as anaheim. i think anaheim is 2 points over .500 and the kings are 1 point over, with like 4 games in hand. thats a good scenario to be in.

"CanadianKing said:
Who cares? I see 2 points for the good guys, on the road.

Has anyone glanced at the standings lately? That is one major log jam in the West. As it stands, the Kings are tied for 12th but are only 6 points out of 5th."

The Washington Capitals are soar losers! A hockey team with no class what so ever! Kopie almost had a hat trick! Jonathan Quick had incredible saves and looked like an all-star goaltender with Drew Doughty and Jack Johnson that is a defensive line! The Capitals looked beaten and frustrated! The Kings are climbing to the top, surprising the whole league and Washington fans were left shocked that the Kings are sooo good! Go Kings!

Boudreau doesn't care about the Kings. That comment was a direct message to all of his players....

If that comment was directed to his players, it should have been made in his locker room, not to the media.

Rory....Interesting perspective....

Tim....Gotta agree with you. I used to like Boudreau and he was very successful with Manchester. I actually hoped Dave Taylor would pick him to coach the Kings. After Thursday's game & comment, I'm glad he didn't. Fact is, he's gotten his butt beaten by a better team on both those nights. Overall? I don't don't know but I'd like the Kings chances in a seven game series.

The Kings are playing very well and have been for over a month now. It's all coming together....