Kings focus on ability to `stay grounded’

Once again, the Kings are back where they were in the first round against Vancouver and the second round against St. Louis, with a 3-0 series lead and an extra day to think about it. The Kings had two full days between Games 3 and 4 in the first two rounds, with split results. They lost Game 4 against Vancouver, then clinched the series in Vancouver four days later. They won Game 4 against St. Louis. Now, it’s the same situation as the Kings faced against the Blues: Game 3 on Thursday night, Game 4 on Sunday at noon. The Kings are following the same formula. They held an optional skate today and will practice tomorrow, then they will go downtown to stay at a hotel tomorrow night. Not surprisingly, asked about having a 3-0 lead in this series, Darryl Sutter

SUTTER: “The biggest thing for me is the afternoon game coming up. I don’t really look back. There are three or four things that I’d like our team to be a little more efficient at, and we’ll work at that.”

Sutter declined to go into specifics, but Rob Scuderi said the Kings will keep a narrow focus…

SCUDERI: “I think the biggest mindset for us right now is to finish this series. You get up 3-0 and everyone starts looking ahead. I think one of the good things that this team has had is, we’ve been able to stay grounded and focused on what we have to do. That is to, hopefully, close out the Phoenix Coyotes sooner rather than later.”

Scuderi talked about the focus that Sutter brings, particularly in that area…

SCUDERI: “He’s a very straightforward guy. I think one of the reasons we’ve been able to stay grounded as a team, even getting these big leads in a series, is because he can bring you back to reality pretty quick. If you are thinking ahead, or certainly if you are playing like it, he’s going to let you know in a heartbeat. So, it’s pretty easy to keep your focus on what’s directly ahead of you, instead of getting worried about what’s far ahead.”

Question: In terms of bringing you back to reality, is there any recent example you can think of?

SCUDERI: “Not with language I could quite use right now. Every once in a while, if you have a couple shifts where you start to see the team losing some momentum to the other side, that’s his responsibility and I think he has done a great job, just keeping us focused on one thing at a time. He will let you know. That’s a fact.”

Mike Richards and Jeff Carter also talked about the importance of not even thinking of looking beyond the Coyotes…

RICHARDS: “It’s a situation that we’re in, that we have to embrace and still look at get better and improve. By no means is it going to be easy on Sunday. We have to approach this game like we have every other game, and try to get better and try to improve.”

CARTER: “We’ve been in this situation before, in past rounds. The coaches have done a great job of keeping us focused and realizing that we still have a lot of work to do, to get through this series. We know they’re a strong team. They’ve showed it all year and in the playoffs here. We’re going to get their best effort on Sunday, so we should be ready.”