Kings and Los Angeles prep for game four

LOS ANGELES – A record crowd of 18,764 witnessed the Los Angeles Kings

take a 3-0 series lead on the back of a stunning shutout by Jonathan Quick in the LA net.   Stunning because the New Jersey Devils needed to win to avoid going down that three-game hole.
 
Stunning because the Devils had a 5-on-3 power play in the first period that was squandered.
 
The Kings are at the point of winning the Cup because they are killing penalties at greater than a 92% success rate.   They have only been scored on in three of the 71 5-on-4 chances in this post season.
 
Head coach Darryl Sutter certainly recognized the work of the penalty killing unit in the practice session interview on Tuesday.
 
“Well, I think our penalty killers, as I said after the game, five-on-three especially, Jonathan (Quick), Willie (Justin Williams), Greener (Matt Greene) and Stollie (Jarret Stoll), then Kopie (Anze Kopitar) did an awesome job,” Sutter said.
 
The Kings players are saying all the right things in their interview sessions with the media since game three’s win.
 
Asked about his anxiety level going into game four Quick was matter of fact about his psyche.
 
“Just trying to win a hockey game. Same thing we’ve been doing for about eight months now. We’re going to continue to try to do that,” Quick said.
 
For Quick the game is not any more important than any other so far this post season.
 
“It doesn’t count any more than the rest of them did,” he added.   “It’s one game, so we’re just going to play our game, work as hard as we can, try to be as prepared as possible, see what happens.”
 
Mike Richards was asked about coming back against the Bruins two seasons back when the Flyers were down 0-3 and stormed back to shock Boston to advance to the Cup Finals that year against the Blackhawks.
 
“I don’t think it means anything more. I don’t think it can mean anything more. It was a position that you dream about since you’re young. Like I said, it’s a situation where I think you have to try to enjoy. You’re probably going to be a little bit nervous at the same time,” Richards said of the situation.   “You just have to enjoy the process. We know how tough of a game it’s going to be, what’s ahead of us. At the same time we have to be ready for it and not make mistakes just because we’re nervous.”
 
Tonight the Stanley Cup will be in the Staples Center.   The energy level in the third period of game three was staggering and the pre-game for tonight will surely top that.  
 
Game three ended with the fans chanting “We want the Cup” and expect that same chant to reverberate across the arena as fans who have waited 45 years for this moment will be
 
Dustin Brown noted those fans’ commitment to the Kings.
 
“We’re starting to see people get pretty excited about the Kings right now, and that’s nice from a player’s standpoint, but probably more important for those die-hard fans that have been here through the 45 years,” Brown said.
 
The Staples Center will need all 19 million tons of rebar to start game four tonight.
 
Game four is Wednesday night at 5 PM Pacific from the Staples Center.
 
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