In case you couldn't stay up late on Sunday night, The Vancouver Canucks defeated the Los Angeles Kings 4-2 to win their playoff series four games to two. Today I'll take a look back at how the Kings got into the playoffs, what went wrong and where they go from here.
How they got in:
The Kings qualified for the playoffs for the 1st time since the 2002 post-season. The only good thing about missing the post-season eight years in a row is you get to accumulate some great young talent.
That's exactly what the Kings did drafting forwards Anze Kopitar & Dustin Brown, Defenseman Drew Doughty, & goaltender Jonathan Quick. Trades to bring in Defenseman Jack Johnson along with veteran forwards Ryan Smyth & Justin Williams give the Kings an impressive core of talent to build around.
It finally all came together this season as the Kings finished 46-27-9, good enough for 101 points and 6th place in the Western Conference.
What went wrong:
This was a case of an up and coming team going against a team that has been playoff tested. Granted the Canucks have yet to raise the cup but they have made the post-season three of the last four years and have now advanced to the 2nd round each of those years.
Plus Vancouver's goaltending was better. I know Roberto Luongo was chased from the net in Game 3 but that was the only bad game he played. He was better than Quick in the other five games played between the two teams. Quick played well enough to give the Kings a chance but in the end it wasn't enough.
The Kings also had no answer for the Sedin Line. (Henrik & Daniel Sedin plus Mikael Samuelsson) The Sedin line was responsible for 12 goals & 17 assists for the Canucks in the series against LA.
Where do they go from here:
Honestly I like the make-up of this team. They got their skates wet this post-season and will be better because of it. Quick may have struggled down the stretch but I believe he has what it takes to be the man in net for the Kings. If he isn't the Kings have a great prospect in Johnathan Bernier that may be another option.
It will be important to keep the core together especially in an age where the salary cap doesn't allow that to happen. The longer they can keep Doughty & Johnson together on the blue line the better this club will be.
They can try to improve their depth up front but I think this team has the potential to be the next measuring stick in the Western Conference. It wouldn't surprise me if Los Angeles & Chicago become this generation's Colorado & Detroit.
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