MEDIA: George, Connors, Lawrence, Lord | LA Kings beat the Anaheim Ducks

MEDIA: George, Connors, Lawrence, Lord | LA Kings beat the Anaheim Ducks

Curt, just your your takeaways from that one. Obviously, good to end this one with a with a win. Yeah, it was a lot of fun out there. It was a good game and uh guys had a tough one last night, but they bounced back and uh played a full 60, so it was good. You’re aware of the Kings obviously and the regional rivalries. Did it mean anything more to you that this game was against the Ducks? Uh as of right now, no. But it was kind of pretty cool. They playing a rival game like that and uh crowd crowd was getting into it. So that was a lot of fun, too. the other day about building momentum for yourself going into training camp. You get a performance like that, a lot of shot volume. Is that kind of what you wanted to take into camp next week? Yeah, for sure. I mean, obviously, uh, building a little bit of confidence in that game, uh, for sure helps. And, uh, for me, getting into a game like situation is always nice going into main camp. When you’re looking at playing with a lot of guys that you haven’t been in a game with before, how’s the communication, especially with like your defense or something like that that you know, how’s that work for you? Yeah, it’s a little tough at first kind of getting to know guys, but um I think after the first five minutes I settled in with everyone and um everyone was being vocal out there and talking, so it made my life easier when I’m out there playing the puck or something like that. Guys were uh calling for plays and just um made everything a lot more simpler. Along those lines, when you’re sitting there yesterday and you’re watching, are you watching some of those guys that maybe you haven’t played with before to sort of learn their tendencies or No, a little bit, I guess you could say. Yeah. Like I feel like yesterday I was more so watching the game flow and seeing um kind of breakdowns kind of shots that the goalies were getting to see uh what kind of shots I might be getting today and um obviously pick up a few tendencies here and there from players on the team. There were a couple of plays where defenseman were getting out of your way letting you see the puck in a situation like this where you haven’t played with everybody on the team. How confident are you communicating with the guys on the ice telling you what you need? Yeah, I feel like um carrying myself pretty confident when I’m on the ice and I think um for me and the D man, I think we were pretty clear on if they move the guy out and let me see if the puck like um I was pretty pretty confident I was going to make the save. So, um they were they were really good at boxing guys for me and giving me a sight line on the puck. It seemed like after the first goal, Anaheim was really pushing to to tie it up. Uh you guys got hemmed in for a while there. You made several saves. Did that feel like a turning point in the game at all to you? Yeah, for sure. I mean, obviously, uh, after they get the first one, you got to make the next save. And, uh, for me, I always thought that, uh, you got to slow their momentum down and, uh, turn the tables kind of thing. So, put one momentum back on their side. And, uh, we had a huge kill and after that, it kind of turned around. I know you talked about last year the experience of training camp, you know, kind of swimming with the big boys and that sort of thing. And, you know, now that it’s not a novelty, it’s not going to be your first one. Uh, what are you looking forward to this year? Yeah, I think for me, I just want to prove myself at main camp. Uh, I think I want to establish myself um going to those games and giving the team any chance to win. And whether it’s a main camp game or whether it’s a preseason game, I just want to go in and do my best. Having that camp under your belt last season, what approach maybe did you take this season to add to whether it was training or conversations with staff? Like what have you kind of added to prepare yourself even more for this one? Yeah, I think this year I’m more comfortable in the environment and uh you kind of know the guys this year. you could know uh know the environment and uh you know everyone around there. So, it’s a lot more uh you’re a lot more comfortable in the environment that you’re in. Um I definitely think that helps out a lot. You’re not new and little timid kind of thing. It uh definitely allows you to be a little more confident when you’re there. Training wise, is there you know maybe maybe even like more stuff for you to look at or compare to that you can kind of keep improving as well? Like did you tweak any training or anything? Um yeah, obviously I got to come up for development camp. So uh when I came up here, they obviously sent me home a few things to work on and touched on things when I was up there. And um obviously after last season, I got up for a little bit. So I got to take stuff on from there. And uh for me, it’s learning off the the top guys in the organization, Keer, and um for me last year was Red H was a big one for me. And learning off those kind of guys and um trying to turn your game into a pro game is definitely something I wanted to work on this summer. game was closer than the score with an empty neter and a home goal. When you’re in a game that close where circumstances allow the score to open up a little bit, does that give you breathing room at all? Do you Yes and no. I feel like you you can never take your foot off the gas kind of thing, but um obviously a little bit of a sigh of relief when you get a lucky goal like that on the third one. A lot of OHL guys here this weekend. A lot of guys maybe you’re familiar with seeing their shots come off. Does that help you prepare a little bit knowing that maybe you’ve seen a lot of these players before? Yeah, for sure. I mean, playing against them in OHL, you kind of uh know some of their tendencies and gives you a confidence when you’re up against them. And um I mean, over there, they had a lot of good skilled players and I’ve uh played with or played against a lot of them. So, it was uh pretty cool to play play them here. Kenny, that has to be the strangest hat-trick of all time, right? Power play, engineer, own goal. I I don’t I’ve never seen that in a game before, so I don’t I don’t even know. Um, I thought it went to to Harry, but he he did the did the work for checking the goalie, flushing around like that, so he deserves it. We talked the other day about just the difference coming into camp this year versus previous years where you’re back in school right now. So, uh, how were the nerves yesterday compared to maybe settling in a little more today? Yeah. Uh, I don’t ever feel nervous on the ice, I don’t think. Um, just cuz, you know, we’ve been doing it for so long and there’s so much work put into it. Um, I feel comfortable with the results because of the work I put in beforehand. Um, so I don’t ever feel nerves and stuff like that, but definitely feel more comfortable and confident on the ice with guys that I’ve been around before and stuff like that. Um, so that helps. And then these guys, the staff did a great job just preparing us throughout the week um, for two games against really good teams. Played with Liam Greenree and Cohen Zamer. How did you like the way the three of you guys kind of clicked over these couple of games? Yeah, it was good. Uh, it started in practice. So, I think that those two guys really good mind for the game. Um, Tree had two really good passes today. Um, Z had a great finish today, played yesterday really well, too. Um, but both of those guys are making plays constantly and a ton of fun to play with. Obviously, these games are are good. You you want to get the wins, but for you guys, there’s main camp next week. You want to build some positive momentum individually, right? Do you feel like you were able to do that and kind of carry something into your first main training camp? Yeah, definitely. Um, I think everyone in our room should feel the same way with that. Um, I think that we competed for a full 60 tonight a lot better than we did last night. Um, but I think that we should all feel, you know, a sense of of energy and and confidence going into camp because of the the two games that we played here. Um, and I could say that the guys that I’ve talked to definitely felt similar. For you personally, you’ve said that you take pride playing a full 200 foot game. Do you think you were able to display that this weekend? Yeah. Uh, at times I think that there’s obviously improvement. Um just learning new systems. Sometimes there’s new things that kind of slip under the cracks. Um but but definitely something to build on. Um but the guys Haidider and Scholes and Lord were doing a great job teaching us stuff and um even little nuances throughout the system as well. Look at yesterday’s game. You built a lead. Today you built a lead. When you went into the third period, did you guys talk about any that maybe you were going to try to focus upon, not let that slip away again? Yeah, this morning we we uh we stressed managing the puck better, managing the leads. Um shift length was something we talked about too. Um and going into today, I don’t even think it came up. I think that there was a quiet confidence within the group that you know yesterday is yesterday and today we felt a lot better going into the third. Other big stand out today, Carter George thought the first 28 shots. So how much breathing room does it give you guys as an offense? Uh when you have a guy that’s playing solid like that and goes the distance. Yeah, I’ve uh I’ve never played with Georgie like that, but all the guys in the room are saying what a gamer he is and yeah, I mean, he’s unbelievable. Did a great job for us today. Um, you know, took care of it. Even made some saves when you weren’t expecting it, but he was awesome. Helps us helps us a ton um when you know that you can lean on something like that. First off, just coming off of yesterday, how are you feeling? Uh, looks like a little extra treatment or whatnot after the game yesterday. Yeah, it was good. I kind of punched his helmet yesterday and kind of hurt my hand, but got the x-rays uh this morning and everything was good. So yeah, I felt good. Good first 30 minutes yesterday, but today was more of a complete game. I’m assuming there was talk of that coming into the game today. Yeah, definitely just stay in the game and uh play my game. I think it was good that I got in a fight, but uh show that I can play as well. What’s been your experience so far with Angel Ward? Obviously, you kind of seen him around and develop camps. Now he’s the head coach. What’s that been like so far? Yeah, I think he’s awesome. He’s a great coach. Uh he was really good with all the rookies this week and uh it’s just good to get to know him before the season gets going and I think he’s going to be a really good add to the team. Look at Jared Bully and Henry Mtech. Two guys you saw, you know, maybe younger, right? When they were in London, you were in London. Uh what’s it like to kind of see them develop their games and now make an impact at this level as well? Yeah, it’s obviously really cool. I mean, my last year in London, they were there and they were really good players and I saw a future for them and it just worked out that they both came to LA. So, it’s pretty cool to see them grow and yeah, it’s going to be fun. What type of growth have you seen in their games? You know, you talked about seeing them previously, but when you see them now, how will they change? Yeah, I think Brandon is really good at developing players. So, I think that’s a big thing. They’re a lot more confident now. Got a lot of refs down in London. They win a lot of games and that obviously helps with the confidence as well. But, yeah, Wolves is big body moves the puck well and then he’s kind of the same thing. He’s willing to fight. You saw that yesterday and I think they’re both in their shape to be good players. What’s it like for you last year being a rookie on the rain, being the younger guy, and then being here having a letter on your sweater and trying to teach these guys the ropes? Yeah, it’s exciting. I mean, it’s good to good to be a leader. It was good to learn a I learned a lot my first three years with uh the tournament and now I get to be cheerleader. So it was fun. It was a good good experience. Yesterday you loved it and you hated it. What about today? Yeah, consistency way better. Obviously the first another uh great start 10 minutes I thought we really pushed the pace. Played north direct. Uh took our foot off the gas a little later in the first. Uh started the second well again probably the last 6 minutes. Didn’t love it. And then the third I really like the resiliency with the young group. They get the the first goal there. um that’d be pretty easy after last night to maybe get a bit down and uh lose track of things, but I thought we stayed the course. Obviously, exceptional goalending as well was a big key. How nice was it when you had those breakdowns that you had Carter George there to clean up the mess a little bit? Yeah, it makes uh makes everyone’s job a little bit easier. I did think we, you know, when you look at the we limited the odd mans big time. Uh definitely guarded the middle of the ice better. You know, last night, uh, the second half of the game was all seam, seam, seam, back door. Uh, we eliminated most of that, which I think helped Georgie out, but he did, you know, he’s a great goalender. Lineup was largely the same today. Who who would you say improved the most from yesterday to today? Well, I think maybe the highs weren’t quite as high, but I think the consistency overall was much better. You know, I think uh Green Tree had a much better game overall. Obviously, we saw Zemer there on the goal as a big play. Uh and then I think some of the guys that came into the lineup infused some uh energy and some toughness. Corb big fight there. I think Mastonado and O’Hara had some energy, played direct, played to their identity and that helped as well. Kenny Connor’s head goals, but wondering just your thoughts on maybe his overall impact on these two games so far. He’s great. Yeah, he’s uh you know, he feels like a little bit more of a veteran, you know, compared to a lot of the rest of the group. A little bit older, obviously, experienced uh from college, but plays the right way. You can use him in any situation. He’s a big help. In the third yesterday, you put Woolly and Seline together as a pair. They played again today. What did you see something specifically in the third yesterday that you liked? Uh, well, I think Woolly definitely was a lot better today on the whole. Puck management, played to his identity, hard to play against, a lot of good sticks on pucks, good box outs, played hard. Um, but yeah, I mean, we’re just uh finding pairings back there. I don’t think there’s anything specific to it. Okay. The Ducks players seemed particularly good at fighting. Was there any word to the players on the bench after some of those tussles maybe to tone it down a bit? Uh, no. No, not for me. That’s definitely not the case. But I think there was a lot of pride in the bench. I felt like we were a team tonight. Last night it was, you know, a bunch of new guys that hadn’t really played together. Very quiet today. Our energy, our attitude, uh, the talk was certainly up a bunch of levels and I think that I think that kind of saw it through when maybe they were pushing the tempo and, you know, maybe outplay us at times later in the game. What’s the key message tomorrow? You have two days left of camp. What’s the key message coming out of this weekend? Well, rest, recovery for sure. I’m sure some of the guys will be pretty fatigued tomorrow, so be ready to go. Tuesday’s going to be a really hard day. So, yeah, we we need some good practice reps. Any of the returning rain guys stand out to you today? Uh, I thought Lawrence, you know, hats off to him. He’s playing hard. Uh, obviously gotten himself in some penalty trouble, but he’s definitely trying to play to his identity. I think Jammer had his moments for sure as well. And DVO had a really nice game, too. you know, and talk about guys coming in the lineup. I think he gave us some real solid minutes. Ask you your initial impressions of Jared Wright. He’s not a guy who pops up his stats or his size, but the he’s a unique player out there. I mean, just the sequences he puts together and and the energy he brings, I guess. Yeah, I probably should have listed him as a a difference maker tonight. He was everywhere. You know, the amount of uh stick on pucks in the offensive zone. He’s obviously one of the fastest guys uh we have and and he uses that. You know, he’s always winning races. work and uh just a very hard to play against player. Also want to ask about the Boratch. He was a top pick a couple years ago and now come over to North America. Where do you think he’s at in his development and uh what you say to him here? Obviously I don’t know him as well, you know, not having seen him in the past. But uh our whole staff thought he took a big step tonight. He showed more confidence. He wore a letter for us. Uh a good balance of you know being hard to play against with his checking and also made some plays with the punt.

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