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The Los Angeles Kings are in the playoffs for the fifth year in a row and this will be the third time they have met with the San Jose Sharks in the last four years. As a matter of fact, last year, the Kings and the Sharks had a great seven game series. While L.A. lost the series to San Jose in six games in 2011, the Kings beat their nemesis in seven games in 2013.
The Sharks are 8-2 in their last 10 opening-round series. One bright spot for the team has been the return of electrifying rookie winger Tomas Hertl to the lineup. Even so, the Kings were able to limit him to just one point (an assist) in three games between the two clubs earlier this season.
The talented Sharks have never gotten past the Western Conference Finals and the Kings have a rough road ahead of them.
“We have a lot of guys that just hate to lose,” Los Angeles goalie Jonathan Quick stated. “I think sometimes you have two great teams and one team loves to win and one team hates to lose. I feel like the team that hates to lose will end up winning more times than not.”
The Los Angeles Kings are a team built for the playoffs.
A team can make deep run in the postseason on the back of a hot goalie. The impact this position has had on postseason success has been self-evident.
In the past three years, the Boston Bruins’ goalie, Tim Thomas, and the Kings’ Jonathan Quick have won the Conn Smythe Trophy, an award given to team’s most valuable players. Along the same vein, last year the Chicago Blackhawks received incredible goaltending from Corey Crawford, who finished the playoffs with a .932 save percentage.
L.A. has the advantage in the matchup of goalies. Jonathan Quick is the hot one in this series and could steal a playoff run.
The Sharks’ Antti Niemi’s career has featured plenty of ups and downs. He performed well behind a tremendous Blackhawks team in 2010 and then struggled mightily the next postseason for the Sharks when he posted a .896 save percentage. He bounced back in 2013 however, posting .930. But the former Chicago player has also been less than stellar in the regular season. The real question is therefore: “Which Niemi will show up?”
Jonathan Quick could easily be classified as the one goalie you do NOT want to face in the playoffs. When you look at the Team USA Olympic net-minder’s resume, his postseason excellence stands out. Since 2012, Quick has posted save percentages of .946 and .934 as well as goals-against averages of 1.41 and 1.86. Among 2014 postseason NHL goalies, he has the fourth-most career playoff games and a .929 career-playoff save percentage. Quick stopped 195 of 205 shots in last year’s seven-game thriller against the Sharks with a .951 save percentage.
Kings’ defenseman Drew Doughty will be back in the lineup. Between the two teams, the home-field advantage has been huge. In the 2013 Western Conference Quarterfinals with the Sharks, where the home team won every game of the series, the Kings had home-ice advantage.
Between the two clubs this season, the home team is 4-1-0 with the Kings beating the Sharks at the SAP Center on January 27th. It is one of the NHL’s most hostile buildings. There were some moments during the regular season that L.A. under-achieved (by their standards), struggling to score goals. But their savvy trade with the Columbus Bluejackets to acquire right wing Marian Gaborik as an offensive spark plug has paid off.
L.A. is big, tough and deep. The team has a great two-way center, a stud on the blue line and a proven goalie that performs when the heat is on. Excellent at five-on-five, the Kings have allowed the fewest goals in the league during the regular season. Combine all of this with them being an elite possession team and top-flight defenders and you have a team that is tough to beat.
Prediction: Los Angeles Kings in 5 games.
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