Who will win the race to 3?

The playoffs are all about the race to four, four being the number of wins necessary to advance to the next round (and, eventually, to win the Stanley Cup). After today’s morning skate, though, San Jose coach Todd McLellan talked about “the race to three,” denoting his belief that the first team to score three goals will have a very strong chance to win the game. Given that the Kings allowed an average of 2.39 goals per game this season, and the Sharks allowed an average of 2.54, that’s certainly an informed statement by McLellan…

MCLELLAN: “We’ve talked about that a lot through the year. Most games are settled at three (goals). You don’t hand out half-goals, but to get to four is usually a special night. You look at the games last night, there weren’t many four-goal games. We understand, from that perspective, that we have to put some numbers, some runs, up on the board, if you will, but we also have to prevent. We have to be good defensively and commit, all over the ice, to doing the little things, blocking the shots, winning the faceoffs, the decisions at the blue lines. We feel if we do those things, it will give us a chance to win that race to three.”