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Darryl Sutter tries his best to downplay Kings’ road run

Los Angeles Kings v Phoenix Coyotes - Game Five

GLENDALE, AZ - MAY 22: Head coach Darryl Sutter of the Los Angeles Kings smiles after the Kings 4-3 overtime victory against the Phoenix Coyotes in Game Five of the Western Conference Final during the 2012 NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs at Jobing.com Arena on May 22, 2012 in Phoenix, Arizona. (Photo by Christian Petersen/Getty Images)

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The Los Angeles Kings are 9-0 on the road in the 2012 playoffs and have won 11 consecutive postseason contests away from home. They’ve only lost two games overall in the playoffs. During much of those matches, the games weren’t all that close.

Even for a team that came in with a humble eighth seed, the Kings must be brimming with confidence. Head coach Darryl Sutter is presented with an enviable challenge, but a challenge nonetheless: to keep this mostly-young team from getting overconfident. Perhaps it explains his almost hilariously simplistic take on their 2-1 OTroad victory in Game 1, then.

Question: Why do you think your team is so good on the road?

Sutter: “We won one on the road now. (The) season started today, tonight.”

Sutter’s willfully incorrect math is another example of his folksy wisdom. Honestly, if I were in his shoes, I would definitely be nervous about players such as Anze Kopitar and Drew Doughty believing their press clippings a little too much.

A ton of people picked the Kings to win the series - even video games tabbed Los Angeles - but Sutter is right to take a “we have a long way to go” approach.