Teetering on the brink of a 4-0 sweep by the in-form Sharks,
the Kings breathed new life into their best-of-seven playoff
series with a passionate display in front of a sellout home
crowd on Thursday and will return to San Jose for Game Five on
Saturday trailing 1-3.
The infamous Shark Tank will not be an easy place for Los
Angeles to stave off postseason elimination with a second
successive win but Kings right wing Justin Williams knows how
difficult it is for teams to close out series.
"Every game gets harder and harder, and they say the close-out
game is always the hardest," Williams told reporters after
scoring twice in Thursday's 'do-or-die' game at Staples Center
in the Western Conference quarter-finals.
"We have a lot of character right here and we're certainly not
going to call it quits. We're just trying to make this a series.
We're just going to do what we can to push back.
"They were up 3-0, obviously in the driver's seat. They're
obviously a great team on home ice and they've shown it
throughout the past decade it seems. Now we're going to have to
try to win a couple more."
The Sharks have never won the coveted Stanley Cup but have
proved to be perennial contenders in the postseason, having
reached the playoffs for the last nine years.
"We're certainly happy we got a win but we feel we have a long
road to go obviously," said Williams, who scored twice in a
three-goal spree in the second period on Thursday as the Kings
broke clear of a 2-2 tie with the Sharks.
"We're going to take another step in San Jose and it's going to
be a tough one. You're happy to play in the playoffs but you
want to excel and we haven't been able to do that so far in this
series. We're trying to push it game by game."
The Kings, who claimed the franchise's first Stanley Cup just
under two years ago after a Cinderella run as the eighth seed,
are aiming to become only the fourth team ever to overcome a 3-0
deficit and win a best-of-seven playoff series.
RARE COMEBACK
That rare feat was previously achieved by the Toronto Maple
Leafs in 1942, the New York Islanders in 1975 and Philadelphia
Flyers in 2010.
"If you're still playing hockey, you still have a chance," said
Kings center Mike Richards, who represented the Flyers when they
successfully fought back from the brink against the Boston
Bruins four years ago.
"You just can't look at the mountain and expect to do it all at
once. It's a process to just put games together, put shifts
together. You can't win four unless you win one."
As for the Sharks, they know they have to play much better
defense in Game Five against the ace goaltender Jonathan Quick
and the Kings, who were the league's best defensive team during
the regular season.
"If we give up five (goals), we're not winning against a team
that can defend the way they do and have the goaltending the way
they do," said San Jose head coach Todd McLellan.
"We can talk about the ones we missed (on Thursday) but I'm a
little more concerned about the ones we gave up. I didn't like
our net play, simple as that. We didn't execute anywhere near
the way they did.
"When I say net play, I don't mean our goaltender. I'm talking
about the goaltender, the D-men, the forwards down low and the
secondary chances we gave up. I'm definitely not talking about
one individual with pads on."
San Jose goaltender Antti Niemi was pulled just 34 seconds into
the third period after facing 26 shots and giving up five goals,
but the Sharks can happily reflect on the fact that they
outscored the Kings 13-5 on home ice in the first two games.
In Dionne Warwick's mega-hit of 1968, "Do You Know the Way to
San Jose?", she sang the memorable line: "I'm going back to find
some peace of mind in San Jose".
On Saturday, only one team will find that peace of mind in the
Shark Tank.
(Reporting by Mark Lamport-Stokes; editing by Gene Cherry)
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