Heading into his third consecutive elimination game of the Stanley Cup finals, Peter DeBoer said the pressure prior to Game 6 is no different than before.
“I think it’s the same feeling as when we were down 3-0,” he said after New Jersey’s pregame skate. “Like I said, I think the hockey world pretty much wrote us off, and I think we feel we’ve played with no pressure because of that.
“I don’t think that’s changed because all of a sudden it’s 3-2 now.”
DeBoer’s right in saying the hockey world wrote the Devils off...but to be fair, the hockey world was right to do it. Nobody expected this to get to Game 6 , and that isn’t a surprise -- New Jersey is just the third club to win two straight after falling behind 0-3 in the Stanley Cup finals, and the first to do it since 1945.
(In ’45, Toronto led Detroit 3-0 before the Wings rallied to win three straight -- only to lose Game 7. In 1942, Detroit led three games to none before Toronto ripped off four straight wins, for the first and only 0-3 comeback in Cup finals history.)
That said, the Devils keep insisting this isn’t about making history, but rather winning the Stanley Cup. The Kings, too, also aren’t interested in making history.
“Game 4 was a new situations for fans and a lot of players,” L.A. captain Dustin Brown said. “We have a lot more calmness about us today.
“I feel tonight’s the night for our team.”