from Allan Muir of Sports Illustrated,

“Obviously it’s not do-or-die, but it is,” said Kings forward Justin Williams, channeling his inner Yogi Berra on Monday.

A win tonight at the Staples Center, where they’re on a 14-0 run, and the Kings silence the doubters and earn a chance to even it up on Thursday night.

Lose and Game 4 becomes a wake.

True, there’s always a chance that the Kings could rebound from being down 3-0 if they stumble tonight. The 2010 Philadelphia Flyers team that featured current Kings Mike Richards and Jeff Carter turned that very trick by coming back to eliminate the Boston Bruins. But that was against a mediocre team with an unproven Tuukka Rask in net. These Hawks are a different beast, battle-proven and capable of quickly crushing the life out of the Kings if they’re not significantly better than what they’ve shown so far in this series.

Of course, they can be. This is the same team that recovered from a 2-0 deficit against the St. Louis Blues in the first round by pumping up the aggression and running off four straight wins.

But those Kings seemed fresher. And they certainly were healthier.

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Reports just coming in from the Kings' morning skate is Mike Richards is not on the ice.