LOS ANGELES -- Throughout the stretch run and playoffs, Devils coach Pete DeBoer has called David Clarkson a "big game, big goal scorer."

As the Devils enter Game 3 of the Stanley Cup finals, they need just that from Clarkson. And DeBoer said he still feels the right winger is the guy who can do it.

"For me that hasn't changed," DeBoer said today at the Devils' hotel in Marina Del Ray. "I thought in Game 1 he was arguably our best forward. I thought he could've had two or three goals. He's a guy on the verge of breaking out, as I think is (Zach) Parise and (Ilya) Kovalchuk.

"I don't know if it's any secret. We have to score more than one goal. And all those guys on that list have to find a way."

Clarkson has no goals and two assists in his last six playoff games. In the finals he has one assist.

"Personally, I would've liked to have a couple of those (chances) back in Game 1," Clarkson said. "This is a time of the season when you don't get too many of those chances. Hopefully they keep coming and I bear down a little more. I think just working hard hopefully everything comes together."

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Los Angeles Kings goalie Jonathan Quick has been tough to solve.

"He's a good goalie. I'm sure guys think the same way when they're coming down to our end," Clarkson said of Quick. "The first one I let get away from me. I was trying to go high. I knew maybe he was going to go down and I tried to get it up high and missed the net. The second one there was so much excitement when I saw the open net, I don't know if I hit the guy's skate or what happened.

"Yeah, he's a good goalie. He definitely makes you think but you can't do that. I think at this time of the season you just have to put it on net. Find areas and get back to what made us successful and got us here today."

It is, of course, a critical situation for the Devils, who lost the first two games to the Kings.

"You always know the situation you're in. We know we don't want to go down, 3-0," DeBoer said. "That's obvious. I also know we've been in this situation before. You're down 1-0 to the Rangers and if you go down 2-0 you're in trouble.Same thing with Philly.

"We've been in these types of spots before. You get a win, we're a team that is capable of rattling off two or three or four wins in a row. That's how we play. It's a matter of getting that first one and getting on a roll."

Parise agreed.

"We've kind of gone through that throughout this whole playoffs," the Devils' captain said. "There was some frustration building up throughout the Rangers series and even the Florida series as well. We've done a good job of rebounding back. I think everyone was pretty disappointed because we felt we could've won at least one of those games at home. And we didn't. Now we find ourselves in a pretty tough spot, but we've done a good job of refocusing. Hopefully we're ready to have our best effort tonight."

How did the Devils get through their frustration in the last round?

"(The coaches) did a good job of showing us some video and how much offensive zone time we were having and really how we were dictating and controlling the game and the play," Parise said. "We just kept preaching, 'It's going to go in. It's going to go in.' Of course when you get shut out two out of three times you start to get a little frustrated."

Clarkson senses a turning point.

"As a team we're right there. We did a lot of good things last game," Clarkson said. "We were in on the forecheck. Obviously you'd like things to go a bit different, but Marty (Brodeur) makes huge saves for us and as a team we were good in our zone and we pressed in their zone."

Parise has no goals or assists in his last three games and Kovalchuk has nothing in the two matches against L.A.

"When you have arguably a couple of the best players in the league on your team, anytime they are running hot it's an advantage and you feed off it," Bryce Salvador said. "But I think what you've seen these whole playoffs is it's been a collective effort from our team. We're getting big efforts from everybody.

"Obviously it's always nice when you get your star players carrying the work load, but you're seeing it's been a team effort for us. Guys like (Stephen) Gionta and (Ryan) Carter have been scoring big goals. (Dainius) Zubrus. We haven't been relying too much on one particular guy or two guys. Other than making sure Marty stops the puck, everyone else has tried to chip in best they can."

So are Kovalchuk and Parise ready to break through?

"I hope so," Parise said. "We've had the opportunities. We just haven't scored. There's under a minute left last game and (Kovalchuk) puts it off the crossbar. That's the way it's been going. We do need top score. That's our job and that's our responsibility. We're close. We've had the chances, but the bottom line is it doesn't matter if you get the chances and don't put them in."

That goes for big game, big goal scorers like Clarkson, too.