Kings want to create traffic jam

Mike Smith garnered much praise, and rightfully so, for his 38-save shutout for Phoenix in Game 4. From the opening faceoff, Smith looked confident and poised. At times, he pushed shots to the side with his blocker and pads, as though he was taking shots from teammates in practice. From the Kings’ perspective, that was part of the problem. The way to beat Smith isn’t necessarily by putting a high volume of shots at him and trying to wear him down. He’s too good for that. The important part is to make things as difficult as possible for him, with activity around the net. “Screen, tip, rebound’’ is the mantra of the Kings’ forwards, and that attitude will need to improve in Game 5. Smith didn’t allow many grade-A rebounds in Game 4, and when he did, the Kings were too often not in the correct position to capitalize. Dustin Brown indicated that it’s the “power forwards,’’ such as him, who need to get to the net more, and also the job of the players on the blue line to take advantage of them, when they are in front of the net.

BROWN: “We had some traffic, but probably not enough. It’s the forwards’ job to get there, and I also thought that on the few chances we had and the shots we took, when you’re at the blue line you’ve got have someone at least around the net. So it’s a collective, five-man group type of thing. You have to get guys there, and when guys are there, we need to get it there. I think we can do a better job. He’s a big goaltender, so he’s looking over top. It’s hard to really take his eyes away, per se, but if he has to look over top and it’s a quick shot, you never know.’’

From the Coyotes’ side of things, they understand that the Kings will try to get back to the same attitude they had in Game 1, and for parts of Game 2 as well, in terms of an aggressive, opportunistic attitude, particularly around the net. Dave Tippett said he doesn’t expect any type of Game 4 hangover from the Kings.

TIPPETT: “They’ve played well, right throughout. So I don’t anticipate them to feel like their game has fallen off. They’ll come in, play a hard game, play a solid game. You don’t go 11-1 in the playoffs having fall-off. We recognize they’re a good team. They’re going to come play well. We have to play the way we can and give ourselves the best chance to win. I think it will be a tight game again. That bodes to how we want to play. Comes down to a couple good plays here or there, a couple big saves, and we can find a way to win.’’