The Los Angeles kings are in the playoffs for the first time since 2002! The question now facing the LA Kings is will they be happy enough just making the playoffs this season or will the young and talented hockey team push to go deeper into the playoffs?
What really concerns me regarding the Kings and this years playoff run is the way they've been playing coming off of the Olympics... The Kings record since the Olympics is 7-7-3. Personally I really enjoyed the Olympics but I feel that our two local teams, the Ducks and Kings, really suffered late in the season because of the Olympics. If you look at the way both teams played down the stretch, they both played like they were emotionally spent.
The way the Kings play they have to be on top of their game if they're going to succeed in the playoffs. The Kings don't have any overly talented scorers. The Kings have some big and tough players like Dustin Brown, Wayne Simmonds, Drew Doughty and Jack Johnson but they don't have a flashy, finesse guy that can score at will. Right now the closest they come to that is Anze Kopitar and he'll have to be big if they're to advance.
Outside of their young stars the Kings have a bunch of forwards that have under performed this season but maybe their veteran experience will help the team out in the playoffs. If there's a plus behind this team it's that it's deep and it is talented even though it has under performed.
If Dustin Brown, Jack Johnson and Drew Doughty can play the way they did in the Olympics the Kings will be dangerous. Drew Doughty and Jack Johnson are two of the best young defensemen in the NHL and they move the puck unbelievably well. The Kings will need Dustin Brown and Wayne Simmonds to set the tempo with mean and vicious hits. The Kings are young and they're a hard hitting team and they'll have to emphasize that in the playoffs if they want to advance.
But let's not fool each other... the only thing that matters in playoff hockey is how hot your goalie is and in this 1st round series between Los Angeles and Vancouver neither goalie is going into the playoffs hot but some might even say that Kings goalie Jonathan Quick may even be slumping and if he continues to play the way he ended the season then it won't matter how well the rest of the Kings play.
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