After his team's 2-1 overtime home loss Wednesday night in the opener of the Stanley Cup Finals, New Jersey Devils coach Peter DeBoer offered an expectation of his team's performance for a pivotal Game 2 at the Prudential Center.
"We'll be better on Saturday night," he said.
To quote Marge Gunderson from Fargo, "I'm not sure that I agree with you a hundred percent on your police work there, Lou."
During a playoff run that has entered its eighth week, the Los Angeles Kings have outscored their opponents 13-4 in three Game 2s while going a perfect 18 for 18 on the penalty kill. They've scored three shorthanded goals and have added three power-play tallies for good measure.
They've done all of this on the road, stunning crowds in Vancouver, St. Louis and Glendale, Ariz., with surgically precise opening periods in which they outscored the Canucks, Blues and Coyotes 6-0.
"Game 2s; it's been our starts," Dustin Brown said. "We jumped on teams early, and probably most noticeably against St. Louis, we had a 4-0 lead after the first, and that goes a long way."
"Sometimes teams get one win and they're satisfied, and this group hasn't been. It goes a long way when you come out in Game 2 and really put it to ‘em. It can be demoralizing."
All it takes is a conversation with Jonathan Quick to realize this is a Los Angeles team unable to reach around and pat itself on the back. Any statistical breakdown brought up with the Vezina and Conn Smythe candidate will be met with a steely focus that emphasizes this team's "we haven't done anything yet" mentality.
"Obviously nobody wants to be down 2-0, whether you're going on the road or going back home. Either way," Quick said. "They're going to come out and fight hard. But we've got to bring the game that we know we can bring. We didn't bring it the last night. I don't think they brought theirs, either."
If DeBoer expects a better performance out of his team on Saturday, he'll look to summon the effort that Vancouver brought on April 13. Though they were behind 1-0 after one and allowed two Dustin Brown shorthanded goals, the Canucks outshot the Kings 48-26 in a game that was much more even than the Game 2s at the Scottrade Center and Jobing.com Arena.
There's really no margin for error for the Devils, who cannot afford to head back to Southern California down 2-0. They're not thinking about it now, but should the Kings emerge victorious (a tall order, considering New Jersey hasn't lost back-to-back home games since March 17 and 23), some self-questioning may accompany the Devils on their six-hour plane flight west.
Though they've faced adversity in the playoffs, the Devils haven't opened a series down 2-0 this postseason. They trailed Florida 3-2 before winning the final two games — Game 7 in double overtime — and recovered from early deficits to win series against Philadelphia and the New York Rangers. New Jersey is 1-3 in Game 1s but 11-4 in Games 2 through 7.
"[We] learned from the games, moved forward," Ryan Carter said. "You know, we've been tested, I guess, throughout those playoffs in situations where we've been behind in series and things like that. I anticipate this being no different; we learn from that last game, move forward. We've got confidence in that locker room. I think that will hopefully show next game."
Cognizant of the Devils' resurrective abilities, Kings coach Darryl Sutter has made sure the blinders are strapped back on.
"I'm only looking ahead," Sutter said. "I think it's a funny setup again, between Game 1 and Game 2, we only played one game in four days since we got here. That's how it was going to be. So now it's get ready for Saturday again. It's not about what happened, who we played last time, anything like that.
"I think we know our opponent is a lot tougher than anyone we played yet."
It's an approach that has seeped in to the mindset of Kings defenseman Drew Doughty, who, like his teammates, doesn't have much time for praising the club's 9-0 road record this postseason.
"I don't even know if a lot of us are aware of the streak we've got going, or whatever," Doughty said. "It's a new game, it's a new day, and even though we won that first one, I don't really think momentum carries on to the next game. It's a new day and a new game."
