Belief! Resolve! Resilience! Williams talks intangibles

There are the discussions about intangibles, and fancy words such as “resolve” and “resilience,” and then there’s the cold hard reality that the Kings need to start playing with a lead. The last time Los Angeles led in a game, Patrick Kane fed a pinching Duncan Keith to put an end to that chapter of the Western Conference Final.

The Kings have not led over the 229:15 that have elapsed since Keith’s goal, and yet they’ll be propelled by a three-game winning streak when they enter Game 3 of the Stanley Cup Final by virtue of their overtime heroics.

“We’re not proud of the way we’re starting games,” Justin Williams said. “We find ourselves in the same situation, regurgitating the same mumbo-jumbo every time. We’re in a results-oriented league. The results are we’re up 2-0. I don’t care how we got here.”

Getting there has required the “inner arrogance and quiet confidence” that Williams has previously discussed, and it manifests itself by virtue of a steely resolve during in-game situations.

“Overall, I think it’s a very calm mindset,” Dwight King said. “Like it’s been said before, I think everybody believes in themselves and their teammates. That’s the biggest thing we’ve got going for ourselves – when we’re in that position, we can find a way. We’ve been fortunate enough to do it the last three games.”

Darryl Sutter isn’t always one to trumpet an end result. Keep in mind he’s the coach who once noted that “It’s not always whether you win or lose, it’s whether you’re winning or losing,” and he appeared to be content with the team’s Game 2 performance, noting the Kings’ superior physicality in the early portion of the game while favoring the entire performance over Game 1.

But, again, it comes down to playing the team’s preferred style of hockey, and that means playing confidently with a lead – never mind the abstract nouns that have become more commonplace this spring.

“I played on a team in Carolina in 2006,” Williams said. “I feel like we had a lot of comebacks. It has a similar type of feel whereas you never feel you’re out of it. Earlier on, especially this year when we’ve had trouble scoring goals, sometimes you might have felt like that. Now we feel that anything’s possible out there. You get down two goals, doesn’t matter. You get down three, I don’t care. We’re going to keep pushing, and the term ’60 minutes plus’ certainly applies.”

“Belief is a very underrated attribute. We have that going on in our team right now.”

Justin Williams, on opening up a lead in a tough road environment in Game 3:
We’re a pretty comfortable team on the road. We’ve had a lot of success on the road. Maybe jump on them early. The Garden is one of my favorite places to play. I know a lot of guys feel the same way, as well. It’s fun. Cup Final. Should be loud and exciting.

Williams, on the “mental battle”:
I don’t really care much for petty battles. It’s a waste of time and a waste of energy. We’re winning on the scoreboard right now and that’s the most important thing. Not much more I can say.

Williams, on whether the Kings have broken the Rangers’ “spirit”:
Teams don’t make it this far out of luck. Teams are here for a reason. They’ve been able to dominate at times. They’ve been resilient. They’ve been able to do things that other teams haven’t. Do we feel we’ve broken them? No, absolutely not. We should know that more than anybody, that it’s tough to put a team down. Especially when you’re playing for the Stanley Cup, it’s going to be harder to put a team down. We can try to step up quicker tomorrow.

Williams, on whether he’s having “fun”:
Winning is fun. That’s it. [Reporter: How you win?] I don’t care how you win, winning is fun. It’s a lot more fun to be in the dressing room with the guys – our coach, too.

Williams, on any comfort in the team’s success when falling behind:
Well, every series, every game, every year you play in the league, you go through experiences that ultimately will help you in certain situations. I feel together as a team we’ve been through almost all of them that you can imagine and we’ve pulled through. So when we’re down, do we feel comfortable? No, we don’t feel comfortable. We feel like we’re able to come back.

Williams, on the team’s success in scoring consistently on Henrik Lundqvist:
That’s kind of a tough one. You don’t feel as though when you come into a series, you don’t know what the score is going to be. Did I think it was going to be lower scoring so far? Yeah, certainly. Between the second and third last night, we said, ‘We’re going to have to win this game 5-4 now.’ That’s not like us usually, but it seems to be what we have to do. Whatever we have to do to win is what we’re going to do. If we have to win 1-0 with an overtime victory, sure. If we have to score five goals to win a game, sure. Rangers are pressing. We want it just as bad as they do.

Williams, on whether Jonathan Quick plays differently in key game situations:
I think numbers can be construed either way. You can bend a story any way you want. I mean, when push comes to shove, Jonathan Quick, just like everyone else on our team I feel, is able to relish an opportunity when push comes to shove. We’re not a team that wilts under pressure. We want to go out and make a difference and get it.

Williams, on how to channel a turnover or negative occurrence into resolve and success:
I think you want to atone for a mistake certainly, but you want to be at your best. Anytime you get scored on, whether you’re on the ice or not, you’re like, ‘We’ve got to get that one back.’ Just talking with my linemates, I turn a puck over, they score a goal just like that, we’re down again, so…We got that one back and said, ‘You know what, why can’t we be the difference, why can’t we be the line to get it going?’

Williams, on Dustin Brown’s season:
I think ultimately you’re judged on the team’s success as the captain of any team. Whether or not he scores 30 goals for us in a year or scores 10, he’s still a vital piece of the puzzle, just like everyone else is. He’d be the first one to say he didn’t have a good regular-season game. But, hey, another guy who could have wilted and went away and said, ‘This isn’t my year,’ and packed his bag. Instead he said, ‘I’m going to do this, play whatever role I need to play and help this team.’ Hits sometimes are overlooked. When Dustin is on the ice, you know it. Whether he’s running around or scoring goals, he has a huge impact. [Reporter: Does he lead differently now than in 2012? Has his role as the captain changed?] I think it’s another thing with numbers, right? Just because he isn’t leading in points like he was in 2012, doesn’t mean he’s doing anything different. He’s doing what he has to do with his own game to be successful. Kudos to him. He’s got different facets to his game that if he’s not scoring, he’s able to do a lot of other things.

Williams, on whether Marian Gaborik’s return to New York will be emotional:
He was up here before. What do you think? He seems very calm, doesn’t he? He’s got the ho-hum attitude. Just going to come and play at MSG, a team that traded him away. He’s going to be gung-ho. He’s going to be excited just like the rest of us are for him.

Williams, on where “resilience” comes from:
It comes from experience. It comes from looking around the dressing room. I look at faces when I look around dressing rooms when we’re down a goal, and you can read a lot about what someone is thinking about just by looking at their face. Between the second and third last night, I looked around, and I didn’t see anyone scared. I saw a prepared team that knew what they had to do.

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