King Kopi!

Is it too early to talk about the playoffs?

Anze Kopitar continued his King sized effort last night with a 2 goal effort in a 5-2 win over the defending Stanley cup champions. Just 27 seconds into the first period Drew Doughty started a breakout with a pass to Ryan Smyth who quickly moved the puck ahead to Justin Williams, who moved the puck even quicker to Kopitar. From there Kopitar rushed in at full speed around the defender, made a nice deke and scored on Fleury. Not a bad start for the Kings over the mighty Pens, unfortunately the Penguins didn’t let them enjoy it for very long. Under a minute later Jordan Staal replied to tie the game at 1. Kunitz put the Pens ahead in the 2nd.

Roughly 6 minutes into the 3rd period King Kopi took his team on his shoulders and scored his second of the night to tie the game up at 2. That goal sparked the rest of the Kings as they took off in the 2nd half of the 3rd. Both Stoll and Handzus scored in the 12 minute mark, and Captain Dustin Brown scored with about 3 minutes left to seal the deal. Jonathan Quick stopped 21 of 23 shots, as he continues to win games. Despite winning Quick hasn’t put up the best numbers this year, but the strong play of Doughty and the rest of Quicks defensive unit have given Quick enough to keep his team in it, while the offence led by King Kopi has been putting more than enough pucks into the opposing teams nets.

In the off-season the players and coaches felt they finally had the chemistry needed to generate a real push to make the playoffs, and so far they look like a playoff team. But as we have seen in the past the Kings go through many struggles, and go through several losing streaks. With several teams in a race for playoff spots a few slides can mean another spring on the golf course. The Kings will need to find away to keep those loosing streaks at a minimum if they want to make it back to the playoffs for the first time since 2003.

The Kings have a bright future ahead of them with a pile of young top end prospects waiting for their chance to play for the Kings. Their time is coming and with players like King Kopi, Dustin Brown and Drew Doughty leading the charge, L.A. Kings fans have a lot to look forward to.

On that note; Kings fans, do you think the Kings can finally make the playoffs this year, or will they falter once again at the finish line?

Luton