Going to stray away from my normal baseball posts are talk about some hockey. The Kings beat the Canucks Friday night to take a 2-0 series lead. While this may not mean much to the casual sports fan, I assure you, this is a pretty big deal. The Canucks lost the Stanley Cup in Game 7 on their home ice last year, and are the number 1 overall seed in this year's playoffs. So a team from LA coming into their house and putting the beat down on them should be pretty demoralizing.
I can honestly say these two playoff games are the best I've seen the Kings play all year, and you know what they say, timing is everything. They're passing better, they're scoring more (the Kings were the second lowest scoring team in the entire NHL this season,) and they're hitting. Not only that, but they are out-working and out-hustling the Canucks on both ends of the ice. Typically the Kings are a bit sloppy with their passing and don't mix it up in front of the opposing goalie too often. Completely different in their first 2 playoff games. The passes are crisp and on target, and they look totally unafraid to stand in the slot and take their lumps. This is hockey folks. This is the way the Kings should have been playing all year. They don't have an enforcer, so they tend to get bullied by the bigger teams. Vancouver is learning a lesson, you can only push the small dog so far before he bites back.
Friday night we also saw a great display of goaltending by Kings net-minder Jonathan Quick. He has been the one of the few things Kings fans have been able to count on this year. The guy is an absolute wall. He stopped 46 of 48 shots on Friday, many of which came from very close range and many different angles. It may seem a bit premature, but that was vintage Quick. Dustin Brown put the Kings on the board in the first period with a short-handed goal and then put them back on top with another shorty in the second period. All year the penalty killing unit for the Kings has been on fire, 4th best in the league, so it's great to see that continuing.
Now, I am an admitted Canucks hater. I think they play dirty, take cheapshots, dive, and complain more than any other team in the league. The only thing that could make me happier than the Kings beating the Canucks in this series would be if they were beating the Ducks or Red Wings, but it's really, really close. I'm sure the city of Vancouver, and most if not all of British Columbia for that matter, is shaking in their boots or whatever they wear up there, I don't know, mukluks maybe? Either way, I'm very pleased with this series so far.
The teams will meet on Sunday at the Staples Center in Game 3 with the Kings looking to take a commanding lead in the series. If I'm being truthful, and I always try to be, I must say it wouldn't surprise me if the Canucks win Game 3. They know it's do or die. But for them to stand any chance of winning the series, they're going to need to win Games 3 and 4. It's obvious the Kings aren't intimidated by playing on the road. Right now, I'm going to venture a guess and say the Kings wrap this series up in Game 6 in LA.
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