from Eric Duhatschek of the Globe and Mail,
Game 3 is here tonight, with at 5 p.m. Pacific start for television purposes. It means an unusually quick turnaround considering the long breaks in the schedule up to this point. The Kings flew home immediately after Saturday’s 2-1 overtime win. The Devils waited until the next morning. Both were here by the afternoon and on Monday morning, New Jersey skipped the morning skate and had an 8 a.m. media availability at their hotel.
Coach Peter DeBoer said he would rely on the “older” guys in the dressing room - presumably goaltender Martin Brodeur, and forward Patrik Elias, who are holdovers from the championship years - to help rally the troops. In 1995, or when Brodeur was just breaking in, the Devils were the ultimate playoff road warriors, a fifth seed that needed to start every series away from the Brendan Byrne Arena. This year, L.A. has been a perfect 10-0 on the road, but has lost twice on home ice - once to the Vancouver Canucks, once to the Phoenix Coyotes. But those defeats happened in Game 4, not enough to put any real pressure on the Kings. For the Devils to plant any small seed of doubt in the Kings’ minds, they need a victory tonight. Otherwise, the Kings can start planning the parade.
“This isn’t an easy task,” said DeBoer. “They’re a very good team. They’ve shown that. But we’re a confident group. There will be no laying down by our group.
“We think we have to win one game in order to put a different spin on this series.”
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