Comments from Kings forwards Marian Gaborik and Dwight King upon arriving in New York City on Sunday afternoon..
Q. Talk about continually finding a way…
KING: Yeah, it’s definitely strange. Obviously we’d like to have a little better starts. The last three have been two-goal deficits. I think once we get the first goal, it kind of jump-starts our goal. Hope we can get the first one tomorrow.
Q. Marian, what has this been like for you in terms of the physical task, three overtimes in a row, every series has gone seven? Have you ever felt like this before?
GABORIK: I played some overtime, long overtime before. But obviously three in a row, that’s pretty tough. We’re all in this together. We have to correct a lot of things in our game. It’s tough sport to begin with. To play this many periods the last three games, it’s a lot of hockey. But, you know, everyone is going to find energy tomorrow and we’ll be ready to go.
Q. Marian, are you extra motivated going into the Garden to play against your former team?
GABORIK: Yeah, that gives you extra jump. It’s my first time coming back to the Garden after I got traded. I’m going to see the Garden after all the renovations for the first time, as well. You know, they have great fans. They’re going to be supporting them. We’re going to come out hard.
Q. Dwight, the discussion of fatigue has been raised recently. Is it a challenge to maintain the same approach? Anything you adjust?
KING: The days off is where you take care of the physical stuff. Get as much sleep back into you as possible, take a step back, relax a little bit.
As far as prepping for games, everybody has been in the situation long enough, they know what they need to bring for our team to be successful.
Q. Did you sleep on the plane?
KING: I did not but a lot of guys did.
Q. Dwight, a lot of discussion about the third goal last night. What was your view on it, your role in it?
KING: For the bulk of the play, I was pretty much battling to get to the front of the net with McDonagh. As far as that went, that was my main focus, trying to get to the front. When the shot came, the ref made the call, that’s the way it stood.
Q. You were on the other end of a not similar, but a play against Chicago, where a goal was disallowed, contact on Jonathan. Do you see both sides of how close and how fine the line is between doing what you want to do in terms of creating problems in front but also allowing the goaltender to have his space as well?
KING: No surprise no matter which goaltender you’re playing at this level. You need to get traffic, make it hard on them to see pucks, to stop pucks. That will never change. Obviously there are rules that protect them, so you have to play within those.
Q. Marian, what personal satisfaction do you take coming back here as leading goal-scorer in the playoffs?
GABORIK: Well, obviously it’s nice to be up there. But, you know, it’s a team game and I’m grateful to be in my first Final as many years as I was in the league. Playing the Rangers makes it a little more special. They’re a good team, balanced team, as I mentioned before. Obviously, you know, the coaching change for them seemed to help. So, you know, like I said, coming to the Garden tomorrow will be special. We definitely want to have a better start, hopefully start with the lead.
Q. Can you imagine what this particular coaching change might have done for you in a Rangers’ uniform?
GABORIK: I haven’t really thought about it. I don’t look in the past.
Q. Can you talk about the way you beat them in Game 2. Any part of you that thinks you have broken them?
GABORIK: I don’t think so. They’re coming to their home building and they going to be ready to play. As Dwight said, we don’t want to have to come back from two-goal deficits again. Results count at this time of year. We want to definitely bring something better to the table in terms of playing better.
KING: I’d agree. Obviously home ice is very important in the playoffs. This is their first chance. I expect they’ll come out with their best tomorrow.
Q. You went up two games to none against Anaheim, then lost three. What did you learn from that series that you can take into this one?
KING: Just the approach. Obviously, momentum is a huge part of playoff hockey. Once a team has it, it’s important to try to switch the tide in your favor as quick as possible. I think the longer we go in series, you feel confident, better about your game. It’s a little tougher to defend.
Q. Marian, your coach mentioned how much fun it is to play at the Garden. When you were with the Rangers, did you sense any extra jump from the opponents when they came here? Did you see that on a constant basis?
GABORIK: I think so. I don’t think I met or talked to any player that didn’t like to play in the Garden. Definitely the building has a lot of history. Everybody that goes and plays there, it has that extra jump. Just to look around the building itself, it has some sort of an energy that you want to be in there and you want to just play. A lot of our guys, the whole team, will have that energy. We going to come out strong.
Q. Dwight, during the comebacks, can you describe what it’s like on the bench. What is the mindset of the guys? Is it quiet? Do you sense a determination to get going?
KING: There’s vocal leaders on our team that do things on certain occasions. Overall, I think it’s a very calm mindset. Like it’s been said before, I think everybody believes in themselves and their teammates. That’s the biggest thing we’ve got going for ourselves: when we’re in that position, we can find a way. We’ve been fortunate enough to do it the last three games.
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