"For the first time in my career, I was put in reserve in the third period" – Hockey – Sportacentrs.com

"I do not understand what it means to be sitting in the reserve because I arrived at this situation for the first time," said Ilya Kovalchuk, who after several seasons joined the "Kings" this fall. "For the first time in my career, I stayed in reserve for the entire third period, but no matter to me, it's the team's main win." Whoever and how much he spends on the spot is a secondary issue. "

Kovalchuk was one of the Kings' most successful players this season and scored 14 points in 24 appearances, but did not earn points in ten consecutive games. Villia Dejardena, Kovalchuk's new head coach, has also gradually abandoned the game and has played in the last two games against the Canucks and the Oilers, respectively at nine and six minutes in the fourth quarter. In this ten-game series, Kovalchuk has a negative efficiency rating of minus eight, but he has a -13 for the entire season.

"Yes, I agree that it's probably worth it to be defended to improve my game," Kovalchuk said in an interview. "But it's hard to change the style of play at age 35, and I do not think I can do that anymore, of course the efficiency ratio minus 13 was not a dream of mine, I'll do my best to improve it. "

Kings has only 19 points this season and is in last place for the Western Conferences, but in the last two games in which Kovalchuk had a very small game, the Los Angeles team has been victorious.

Team coach Dejarden admitted that Kovalchuk may be struggling to overcome the situation: "When I send my team, Ilya is happy to play in the games, I have not called her yet. and it would have been indifferent – that's a good sign, but it's clear that a hockey player who has played so well in the NHL is not easy to accept on the team. "

Dejardin admitted that Kovalchuk had never been so famous for his game defense: "When he scored the goal, it was not a big problem … he did not get as many goals as he did." Before, then more should be deployed accordingly and I think Kovalchuk has often failed in his career. "

Kovalchuk in the summer with Kings signed a three-year contract worth $ 18.75 million.

Resources used:
https: //www.tsn.ca/kovalchuk-stayin …