Results tagged “Erik Ersberg” from Inside the Kings

I chatted today with goalie Erik Ersberg, who missed the first two days of training camp with flu symptoms. I'll spare you the gory details, but suffice to say, Ersberg is feeling better and hopes to build upon his strong play at the end of last season. Here, Ersberg talks about his work this summer and gives his thoughts on the upcoming season...

ERIK ERSBERG

This season: 14 games, 6-5 record, 2.48 goals-against average, .927 save percentage.

Positives: Surprisingly, Ersberg emerged as a bright light in an otherwise dark and grim goaltending situation. Before the season, the Kings believed Ersberg would need a full year of minor-leagues seasoning, but he had two shutouts in 13 starts. The rest of the goalies combined for one (LaBarbera) in 69 starts. For the most part, Ersberg looked sharp and composed and showed great rebound control.

Negatives: Ersberg's play generated a lot of excitement, and that's understandable, but it's also wise to remember that he had a 2.92 goals-against average in Manchester and hasn't yet dealt with the rigors of being a full-time NHL goalie. That's not to say he wouldn't thrive in that role, but what has he really proved at this point?

Looking ahead: It will be interesting to see what happens with Ersberg this summer. If things work out, Ersberg will at least be in the mix for a roster spot, with Jason LaBarbera and Jonathan Bernier likely serving as his primary competition.

Contract situation: Restricted free agent.

No truth to the rumor that Daniel Taylor left the game after the first period, flew to Reading and returned for the start of the third period. Here's some quotes from tonight's postgame...

ERIK ERSBERG
(Re: Game recap) "It felt good to get a win back, especially against this team. They've gone 20 games without a loss so it's good that we could break that streak. It was a fun game. The first goal was kind of my fault so I felt a little bad about that, but I guess it's better to have that in the first minute than the last minute. You have to look at it like, 'There's 59 minutes to make up for it,' so that's how I looked at it."

ANZE KOPITAR
(Re: Game recap) "This is kind of a game we want to play to get ready for next season for the big games. I think we all contributed to this result, and we're happy to get the win."

(Re: finishing season on a high note) "I think right now we're playing for the fans. They've supported us all season when we didn't have a very good season. They've been so loyal to us, and we've got to pay them back with a strong last game. We're playing against the Ducks too, so it should really be buzzing in the building."

(Re: Game recap) "We got down pretty quick on the first shift, but we didn't panic. We knew we had nothing to lose, and that we could play better. We stepped out the gate and outshot them in the first period which really got the crowd in the game. I think we kind of deserved this win. We had a lot of chances that we didn't put in the back of the net at first, but luckily in the end the bounces went our way."

MARC CRAWFORD
(Re: game recap): "We were very deserving of the win tonight. They got the fortunate bounce when Joe Thornton caught our rookie goaltender trying to cheat a little bit and got the one-goal lead. A number of things happened at that point. Erik [Ersberg] really bared down and was great from that point on for the rest of the game. I thought our defense was very stingy tonight and as a team we really checked them into the ground and didn't give them a lot of chances.... When you get the type of performance where all your players play well, it's very gratifying to get the victory."