There's no panic in Los Angeles after twice missing out on chances to win the Stanley Cup. At least that was the company line on Sunday, as the Kings discussed Game 6.

Many of them, in fact, took an optional skate less than a day after a 2-1 loss to the New Jersey Devils in Game 5, and seemed upbeat afterward.

"I think we're a confident bunch," Kings center Mike Richards said at the team's El Segundo, Calif., practice facility. " We obviously wouldn't be here if we didn't have the confidence. It's just a matter of playing hockey and getting better. It's the Stanley Cup finals. And if it was easy, everybody would have a Cup. But it's not easy. It's one of the toughest things that you're going to have to go through."

Saturday's defeat was Los Angeles' second in the last four days, after previously losing just two games all postseason. Game 6 is Monday at Staples Center.

"The mood's good. I mean, you can talk about doubt, because we've lost two games in a row, and that's something this team hasn't done in a while. But we've been playing good hockey," Los Angeles forward Dustin Brown said. "When you sit down and really start to realize the position we're in - up 3-2 on home ice - I think most teams would have taken that at the start of the series."

Especially when you consider the fact that Los Angeles is a No. 8 seed, and has never won a Stanley Cup in the franchise's 45-year existence.

"Is there pressure," Brown asked. "Yeah, there's pressure. It's the Stanley Cup finals."

Perhaps, after rolling through three rounds, the Kings are finally starting to feel it. With a home crowd waiting for the NHL's top prize last Wednesday, the Devils stole some of the Kings' thunder, got back in the series and posted a 3-1 win in Los Angeles. Then, the screws tightened on Saturday, when New Jersey posted a 2-1 victory in Newark, N.J., ending the Kings' NHL record 10-game road postseason win streak.

So not only does Los Angeles have to worry about losing the Cup, it also has the added burden of possibly becoming only the second NHL team to waste a 3-0 lead in the finals. Detroit fell apart in 1942, when it blew a three-game edge and lost to Toronto.

To a man, the Kings insist they have played well the past two games. There is truth to that. They have hit four goalposts in the last six periods, and the New Jersey tallies in Game 5 were not gorgeous scoring plays by any means.

Devils forward Zach Parise snared a gift power-play goal when Jonathan Quick mishandled a pass, and New Jersey defenseman Bryce Salvador's game winner bounced into the net off Kings defenseman Slava Voynov.

Kings coach Darryl Sutter said his team is in a good place in what has turned out to be a very close series. His team received the breaks in winning the first two games, and the Devils had them the last two.

"There is adversity in every game at some point ... always," Sutter said. "I don't think not having long series has any bearing on anything. The farther you go, the better the teams are that you play. You know what, that's why they're in it. There are low-scoring games. You look at it, four of the games were 2-1 hockey, other than an empty-net goal the last few seconds. The only challenge with our team is that we're not scoring a lot of goals."

He's right. The Kings were limited to just two by 40-year-old goaltender Martin Brodeur in Games 4 and 5 combined.

Veteran forward Simon Gagne said the Kings are used to adversity after a season in which Sutter replaced Terry Murray in December and the team didn't nail down a playoff berth until the final week of the season. And it has since returned. After going 15-2 through three-and-a-half rounds, Los Angeles has hit a bump.

"We know how to deal with it," Gagne said. "It seems in the playoffs, we had it a little bit easier than people think. At the same time, we had to go into Vancouver and win Game 5, and to Phoenix, Game 5. Now, we have another challenge in front of us. It's going to be the first time we're in a series (at) 3-2. It will be a first challenge for us and we'll take that, for sure."

Brodeur believes the Kings have to be questioning themselves, at least a little.