Kings counting on history against Golden Knights in playoff series

EL SEGUNDO, Calif. --The Los Angeles Kings know how to stage comebacks and hope to start another one when they host the Vegas Golden Knights in Game 4 of the Western Conference First round at Staples Center on Tuesday (10:30 p.m. ET, NBCSN, CBC, TVAS, PRIME, ATTSN-RM).
Vegas leads the best-of-7 series 3-0.

In 2014, the Kings became the fourth team in NHL history to win a Stanley Cup Playoff series after trailing 3-0 when they defeated the San Jose Sharks in seven games in the first round. Los Angeles also had an NHL-best 12 wins in the regular season when trailing after the first period and 20 wins when allowing the first goal, second most behind the Boston Bruins.
RELATED: [Complete Golden Knights vs. Kings series coverage]
"We know it's possible," Kings defenseman Drew Doughty said Monday. "We've done it before, but I don't think we're looking that far ahead. Obviously, we got to win this series, but we're not looking at it in that sort of way. We just got to win one game right now. A series has so many momentum turns, and you never know what can happen if we win that next game."
Each of three games in the series has been decided by one goal, which gives Doughty more belief than he felt when the Kings trailed the Sharks 3-0 in 2014. San Jose won the first two games in that series by a combined score of 13-5, but the Kings outscored the Sharks 18-5 in the final four games.

"I feel like this series we've been a little closer to winning the games, whereas when we played in that San Jose series, those first two games especially, they absolutely dominated us," Doughty said. "Maybe we have a little more confidence going into this next game than we did in the past against San Jose, but we got a lot of work to do. [Vegas has] outplayed us. They have beat us three games in a row. It's time that we wake up here."
Added Kings coach Jon Stevens: "The series has been close, but we want to be on the right side of being close, and that's going to take a little more from everyone," Kings coach John Stevens said.
The Kings have 11 players on their roster who played in that series against the Sharks, but Stevens downplayed the notion that institutional memory alone could turn this series around. Instead, he wants the Kings to focus on the comebacks they have staged this season.
"I think this group does a really good job when there's time left on a clock, there's a chance to win," Stevens said. "There's lots of time on the clock in my opinion. This group, they can handle adversity."

Stevens and Kings players agreed that the 3-2 loss in Game 3 on Monday was their best performance in the series, but they can still play better. The Golden Knights scored two goals in 21 seconds late in the third period to take the lead, and cutting down on lapses in concentration is a point of emphasis going into Game 4.
"You got to play 60 (minutes) to win, though, and we let them back in and they capitalized on some opportunities and that was it," defenseman Jake Muzzin said.