No lack of confidence for Blackhawks or Kings
LOS ANGELES - Regardless of the situation in these Western Conference finals, there is one emotion you'll rarely see from either the Blackhawks or the Kings.
Panic.
You didn't see it from Los Angeles when the Kings lost the series opener and you won't see it from the Hawks on Saturday night, despite being saddled with the lingering memory of their ugly 6-2 loss at home in Game 2.
"I think from what they've been through this playoff season to come back down three, and come back down two, they've done it well," Hawks forward Bryan Bickell said of the Kings.
"And I think for us, we kind of bounced well back off of losses. In the St. Louis series and the Minnesota series, we played better hockey after we lost. It's more desperation, more work, and I think if we can do that we're looking good."
Maybe throw in a titch of anger over that Game 2 loss, and that might just be the perfect recipe for the Hawks.
"It can be a good thing, as long as you channel it in the right way, especially as players," Patrick Kane said. "It's always good to get ticked off a little bit and be upset about what transpired the other night.
"Sometimes you let it sink in instead of moving on too quickly. Let it sink in your stomach a little bit and use that as motivation for the next game."
That's exactly what the Kings are expecting to see out of the Hawks at the Staples Center in Game 3.
"They're the defending Stanley Cup champions; we're well aware of how good a team they are and also how they're going to be able to battle adversity," Dustin Brown said. "We try and put ourselves in their situation: If we had 6 unanswered goals against us how would we come out and want to play in Game 3?
"I think we're well aware of how hard Game 3 is going to be."
It might be just a little tougher for Los Angeles with the return of Andrew Shaw to the Hawks' lineup for the first time since he was injured in the series opener against Minnesota. And it seems to be perfect timing for the Hawks, who could certainly use a quick boost of energy.
"Watching the guys play, I was getting amped up," Shaw said. "I'm excited to get back out there with the boys. It's a good team we're playing against, and we always play our best when we're playing such great teams. We're not too happy about what happened in Game 2."
Especially that final period Wednesday.
"I think we can get outside of our game too much," Kane said. "We obviously weren't happy with the last 22 minutes of the game, but the first 38 minutes we played pretty well.
"Just get back to that, play with speed, play with confidence on the edge and try to play good defense. We didn't do a good enough job of that last game, giving up 6 goals.
"We've got to get better at that."
mspellman@dailyherald.com