The Los Angeles Kings barely made the NHL playoffs this season and actually lost more games than they won in the regular season (40-27-15), squeaking into the postseason as the Western Conference's eighth seed.
Someone apparently forgot to tell the Kings that, as the team jackstomped its way through the Western Conference playoffs en route to representing the West in the Stanley Cup Final. The Kings dispatched the West's top three seeds in only 14 games, going 12-2 over that stretch and outscoring the Vancouver Canucks, St. Louis Blues and Phoenix Coyotes by a margin of 41-22.
The Kings rank third among the 16 playoff teams in goals scored per game and first in goals allowed, and this shocking tsunami of momentum is exactly why the New Jersey Devils need to take the first game when the teams begin the Stanley Cup Final Wednesday in Newark.
Granted, the Devils have also been on quite the little run of their own, especially after dispatching the Eastern Conference's top seed and their hated rivals in the New York Rangers in six games. However, the Devils run to the final has featured many more fits and starts than the Kings, including a grueling seven ...
Read Full Article at Bleacher Report - NHL
Article written by Gary Davenport
Stanley Cup Playoffs 2012: Game 1 Win Vital for Devils over Streaking Kings
May 26th, 2012 by Gary Davenport Leave a reply »
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