The Los Angeles Kings still have two chances to win their first Stanley Cup in franchise history. A loss Monday night at the Staples Center doesn’t mean they’re doomed to blow this.
Although if they did, they’d sure be blowing it in spectacular fashion. Up 3-0 and lose in seven? In the finals? That’s a collapse for the ages right there.
So what do you say, coach – are you feeling the pressure to win Monday and avoid a trip back to Newark?
“No,” Darryl Sutter told reporters after his team dropped Game 5. “I still think we’ll digest tonight and travel, and expect it to be another game like tonight.
“You know, we’re probably saying what they said Games 1 and 2, where we got breaks and now they did. That’s how even it is. We hit a couple posts again tonight, and you hope one goes off the post and in.”
And he’s absolutely right – in a tight series like this one, a single bounce or deflection can make all the difference.
But that didn’t stop a follow-up question on the topic.
“I’d say I’m not sure what you mean there,” an annoyed Sutter said when asked where he thought the pressure was. “Are you cheering for the Devils or for the Kings? So you’re cheering for the Devils.
“I’m going to say the pressure’s on them because they’re the home team and they had a hundred-some points, okay?”
Hey, you’ll forgive the man for being a little short with the media. He’s under a lot of pressure.