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EL SEGUNDO, Calif. — A gross failure to execute has played a tremendous role in the fact that the Los Angeles Kings trail the San Jose Sharks in their first round playoff series, 2-0, with Game 3 scheduled for tonight at SAP Center in San Jose, California.

Prior to flying to San Jose on Apr. 17, the Kings held an unusually long team meeting, one that delayed their scheduled noon practice 30-40 minutes.

The length of that meeting is a strong indication of how much they have to fix by the time they hit the ice tonight. Indeed, they have a lot of work to do, with the Sharks controlling play in all three zones in the first two games of the series.

“They’re doing their part, and we’re not doing our part,” said center Anze Kopitar. “When we get on the plane [on Sunday], we’ve got to get it into our heads that we’ve got to play better, and we will play better.”

The Sharks controlled the middle of the ice in Games 1 and 2, while their forecheck bottled the Kings up in their own zone, preventing them from building speed through the neutral zone on their breakout plays. Without speed on attack, they were unable to generate much offensively.

“Their forecheck is one of the biggest parts of their game,” said defenseman Drew Doughty. “That’s probably one of the things they’re best at, as a team. We knew that going in, and we knew that we’d have to make good plays coming out of the defensive zone, but we weren’t able to do that. That was definitely a factor.”

“We just have to come back, make that first pass, with good [puck] support,” said forward Marian Gaborik. “That’s the solution, and we’re working on other things, as well. But if that first pass is in [the recipient’s] skates, you lose that half-second, and the [opposing player] is right on you. It’s tight. We just have to execute passes, stick-on-stick, and be quick.”

“We have to use our feet,” added Gaborik. “We have fast forwards, but if you try to go from a standstill, it’s tough. We have to keep our speed, skate and move our feet as [a five-man unit]. It doesn’t do us any good if one guy is skating, but the rest are standing still. We’ve got to work off each other and get some speed. That’s how we get chances off the rush, or create separation.”

Getting pucks and bodies in front of the San Jose net will be a priority.

“We have to make it harder for [Sharks goaltender Martin] Jones to make saves,” Gaborik emphasized. “We don’t see a lot of pretty goals in the playoffs, so we need to work for every chance, every goal, especially in the blue paint, and try to hit the net with a purpose. Even if it’s not a great chance, we have to try to make it so there’s a rebound or a second chance. We have to get those second and third opportunities. We have to crash the net even more, and throw pucks at the net.”

Even shooting and passing were areas of concern.

“The first shots that we’re getting are missing the net, so we’re breaking them out on our own,” Kopitar noted. “It’s hard when you don’t get that spray around the net, and create the second opportunities off that.”

“They’re playing together,” said left wing Milan Lucic. “They’re playing their system well, they’re executing, making tape-to-tape passes. We’re not making tape-to-tape passes. It’s a simple thing. It’s execution and the fundamentals of hockey that they’re better at right now, and that’s why they’re winning.”

A greater sense of urgency was undoubtedly on their agenda, as well.

“We need to get back to doing what we can do, and that’s using four lines and six defensemen, playing good defense,” said Doughty. “We can’t win games, 5-4. We have to be getting back to one or two goals against per game.”

“The sense of urgency needs to be stepped up, not that it shouldn’t have been there yesterday, because this is the playoffs,” added Doughty.

Even with a 2-0 series deficit staring them in their collective faces, the Kings are an experienced bunch that knows there is, potentially, five games left in the series—it’s not time to panic.

“We’re beating ourselves out there,” said Gaborik. “We have to correct a lot of things. We didn’t generate a whole lot of quality scoring chances. We have to be better overall, each of us. We have to take our game to the next level.”

“We’ve got to wear’em down,” said Lewis. “It’s a long series. We have to be physical on’em, and make’em play in their own end.”

“We weren’t very good,” said Brown. “Everyone can be better. But this is the time of year where you can’t dwell on it. You have to go on, and we’ve got a lot left in us.”