ANAHEIM - It was one of the funnier moments in this years Stanley Cup playoffs.
Jerry Remy Angels Jersey . Anaheim Ducks winger Corey Perry squirted water into one of Jeff Carters hockey gloves, which was left on top of the boards by the Kings bench, unattended, during a commercial break. The Los Angeles Kings centre appeared unamused and voiced displeasure to a nearby linesman. "Just trying to, I guess, get under peoples skin," said Perry with a shrug when asked about the prank he pulled in Game 1 of the series. "Just try to get people off their game." But so far in the first-ever playoff showdown between the NHLs two southern California teams it has been the Kings, who have gotten the Ducks off their game as Perry, a 43-goal scorer in the regular season, and Hart Trophy nominee Ryan Getzlaf have failed to make a major impact. "Him and I put a lot of pressure on each other and on ourselves and its our responsibility to get the team going, to produce and we havent done that," Perry admitted. So far it has been the Kings top line featuring Selke Trophy nominee Anze Kopitar, which has gotten the best of the Ducks dynamic duo. "In the playoffs you have to be better than the guy across from you," Getzlaf said. "If hes playing great you got to be better than that. Thats how you find a way to win." "If you know Ryan, he puts a lot of onus on himself," said Ducks head coach Bruce Boudreau, "and he knows hes the leader of this group and when hes going to his best [level] then we usually have a good result. He feels he needs to be a little bit better, hes probably correct." Post-game on Monday, Getzlaf said he was "ticked off" by how the series has unfolded. And the Ducks captain made it clear on Tuesday that the anger he felt in the moments after the loss has yet to subside. "Yeah, Im still mad. I want to win and when we dont win I get mad. Thats just [my] nature I guess." And while Getzlaf believes he can be better he certainly doesnt shoulder all the blame for the bind his team is in. "Its not all about me. Im not going to go out and win Game 3 by myself thats for sure. The story of our season has been our depth and our lineup and we need, from top to bottom, everybody pushing." The Kopitar line, which also features captain Dustin Brown and sniper Marian Gaborik, is likely to be matched up against the Getzlaf unit over the next two games as Kings head coach Darryl Sutter will have the advantage of last change at the Staples Center. But Anaheims lack of success isnt about one matchup. The Kings have tightened up all over the ice and are playing the same suffocating style that led to a Cup two years ago. "They didnt win the Jennings Trophy just by luck," said Boudreau. "Theyre a good defensive team." The Kings allowed the fewest goals in the NHL in the regular season (2.05 goals per game). Los Angeles also led the league in hits. "The system [they play] is really basic," Boudreau explained. "Theres nothing really extravagant with what Darryls doing. They just do it well. They got the right personnel, theyve been through the wars, theyve won the Cup before with that group and they know how to do it. "Quite frankly, its the same system we use. Its layers of blocking, layers of having to go through guys when you come into [their] zone and the last six games theyve been very good at it." Cracking the Kings sound defensive structure is one issue, but the bigger issue for the Ducks has been Jonathan Quick, who has reverted to his Conn Smythe form after a shaky start in the first round series against the San Jose Sharks. Quick has a .961 save percentage during the Kings current six game winning streak. "Yeah, hes played well, but we havent played our game," said Perry. "We just have to be more determined." Quick turned aside 36 of the 37 shots he faced on Monday night with the only puck to beat him deflecting in off defenceman Jake Muzzins skate. "Hes seeing a lot of pucks," said Ducks forward Patrick Maroon, who was credited with Anaheims lone goal in Game 2, which came during a four-on-three power play. "Thats one of the problems here. Five-on-five we got to get in front of the net, get in his eyes, create more traffic and get in his head a little bit, because were not doing that. Were an outside team right now. We got to crash and bang, throw pucks at his feet and go to the net." Jonas Hiller, who faced just 16 shots Monday night, suggests Anaheims current approach is actually helping Quick build even more confidence. "I know from experience that those are the nice games to play if you face a lot of shots and are able to see most of them," said the Ducks goalie. "Quicks just playing a little better than I am right now. I think their first line is just a little bit better than our [top] line. We got to find a way to change that." Scoring goals wasnt a problem for the Ducks during the regular season as they led the NHL in that category (3.21 per game). Perry finished second in the league in goal scoring behind only Alexander Ovechkin while Getzlaf posted a career-high 31 goals. Ten Ducks had 10 goals or more. So why has the potent Anaheim attack, become so punchless? It appears the challenge at the moment is more mental than physical. "I think guys are almost trying to do too much, myself included, trying maybe to push it a little too hard and making it unnatural," said Matt Beleskey, who has two goals and two assists in four playoff games this spring while skating alongside Perry and Getzlaf. "The Kings are doing a pretty good job of boxing guys out, but its timing. You got to bear down and get there." Dropping the first two games at home can shake the confidence of a team. But Boudreau downplayed the importance of home-ice advantage. He pointed out that the games between the Kings and Ducks have been close all season whether theyre played at the Honda Center, Staples Center or even Dodger Stadium. "To me, these games whether we play them here or frigging any stadium you want, its going to be a tough game or a one-goal game and its two teams just battling really hard," Boudreau said. "The difference is they scored an empty-net goal and we didnt. Thats the whole difference in the series right now." Anaheim will need to win on enemy ice at least twice to keep their season alive. The Kings only have one regulation loss at the Staples Center in their last nine games there, but the Ducks dont see this as a daunting task. "Its tough to win in this building too and they did it twice," said Beleskey standing in the Ducks dressing room. "Definitely not going to be that hard for us." The Ducks believe one win can turn this series on its head. After all, the Kings stormed back against the Sharks in the first round. The Chicago Blackhawks erased an 0-2 deficit against the St. Louis Blues. Comebacks are all the rage in the NHL these days. "Were a confident group," said Ducks defenceman Ben Lovejoy. "We know we can beat this team. We feel weve had two pretty even games ... I truly believe that playoffs is all about momentum and right now we need to put a seed of doubt in their mind. And if we win that first game, if its 2-1 and we have momentum, we can do that. "As soon as we win one they remember that were a good team, we remember that were a good team and it puts doubt in their mind, but it all starts with us."
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Jerry Coleman Jersey. Morgan Nauss opened the scoring on the power play in the second period for the Mooseheads (9-12-3). Matt Murphy also had a goal.---ISLANDERS 2 TIGRES 1CHARLOTTETOWN — Daniel Sprong struck twice to lead the Islanders past Victoriaville.Kameron Kielly added two assists for Charlottetown (11-11-2), which won its second straight.Nikita Li scored in the third period for the Tigres (12-8-3).---VOLTIGEURS 5 WILDCATS 4 (SO)MONCTON, N.B. — Christophe Lalancette scored at 19:30 of the third period and again in the shootout as Drummondville edged the Wildcats.Benjamin Gagne, Joey Ratelle and Alex Barre-Boulet supplied the rest of the Voltigeurs (10-10-2) offence.Stephen Johnson, Kyle Tibbo, Ivan Barbashev and Eric Leger all had goals for Moncton (15-8-1), which entered the game winners of its past five.---HUSKIES 5 REMPARTS 4ROUYN-NORANDA, Que. — Mathieu Lemay had a pair of goals as the Huskies skated past Quebec.Alexandre Sills, Allan Caron and Francis Perron also scored for Rouyn-Noranda (11-10-2).Kurt Etchegary struck twice for the Remparts (15-7-0), who had their three-game winning streak snapped. Marc-Olivier Roy and Nikolas Brouillard also had a goal.--- ' ' '