If nothing else, the Kings now have some recent experience to draw upon. They hold a 2-0 series lead, after two road wins, heading into Game 3. It’s the same scenario the Kings faced in the first round against Vancouver, and the same challenge. In that Game 3, the Canucks played a very strong game but Jonathan Quick made 41 saves in a 1-0 victory. Based on the way the St. Louis Blues played in the second and third periods last night, they don’t look like a team that is going to roll over in Los Angeles, and the Kings can’t afford to sit back and admire their work. The Kings know this, of course, and today they talked about maintaining focus, particularly with an extra day between games. Drew Doughty, Anze Kopitar and Jeff Carter shared thoughts…
DOUGHTY: “We’ve got to play even harder when we get back here. We have to treat it as if we don’t have those first two games under our belts for wins. We’ve got to come in as if the series is just starting, and we’ve got home-ice advantage. We’ve got to win both of these. They’re going to look to be the spoilers in our barn, just like we were in theirs. It’s so important to win this first game, especially, in front of our home crowd. … With our home crowd behind us, they’re going to be playing as hard as they can. They’re going to be doing everything they can, blocking shots and finishing all their checks, so it’s going to be a tough game for us. We’ve got to be playing the exact same way as they are.’’
KOPITAR: “Going in there and winning both games, obviously it puts us in a great spot right now, but it’s not over yet, by any means. They have a good team. They can turn it around pretty quick. Right now, we want to focus on Game 3. We’ve got to take care of business here at home.’’
CARTER: “They’re going to be a desperate team. I think after the first period, in the second and third, they picked up their physical play. They were hard on the forecheck, and any chance that they got to put a body on somebody, they were going to. So I expect the same in Game 3.’’
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