Who saw this coming? In the regular season, forward Kyle Clifford, Brad Richardson and Wayne Simmonds combined for 63 points points. None of them had more than 14 goals or 30 points (Simmonds had both). Now, through the first five games of these playoffs, Clifford and Richardson are point-per-game performers and Simmonds isn’t far behind. [...]

The near-daily Dustin Penner watch took a positive turn in Game 5 last night, as Penner scored a goal and played 11 minutes, 41 seconds in a left-wing role with Jarret Stoll and Kevin Westgarth. That’s a reduction in ice time for Penner, and Terry Murray explained today that the cutback isn’t a punishment. Murray [...]

Meet Kevin Westgarth, playoff performer. In 56 regular-season games, Westgarth had three assists and 105 penalty minutes in his role as the Kings’ enforcer. In the five games of this first-round playoff series, Westgarth has two assists, including a skilled pass to Dustin Penner that led to the Kings’ third goal in Game 5. Westgarth [...]

All things being equal, a Sunday-afternoon practice — particularly on Easter Sunday — isn’t ideal for players, but given the alternative, the Kings couldn’t have been happier to be on the ice today. The alternative, of course, was sitting home and contemplating the end of the season. The Kings still something to play for — [...]

Dean Lombardi said that the Kings will not yet call up any “Black Aces” from the AHL, but didn’t rule it out for the future. That makes sense, given that the Kings have a morning skate tomorrow and, if they win, Game 7 would be in San Jose. It stands to reason that the Kings [...]

There are not expected to be any line/lineup changes for the Kings in Game 6, not surprising coming off their win last night. Up in San Jose, coach Todd McLellan told reporters that Antti Niemi will be back in goal tomorrow night. More notes and quotes to come…

Want to watch Game 6 in a suite with fellow blog readers? Scroll down a bit for ticket details… The Manchester Monarchs had their season ended last night, as they lost to the Binghamton Senators 6-5 in overtime in Game 7 of their first-round playoff series. The Monarchs led the series 3-1 but then lost [...]

Some notes from last night’s game… – The Kings kept their season alive as they beat the San Jose Sharks 3-1 in Game 5 on Saturday night at HP Pavilion. – The Sharks lead 3-2 in the best-of-seven first-round series, with Game 6 to be played Monday night at Staples Center (7 p.m. start time). [...]

Six of the eight first-round playoff series have reached a Game 6, and now the Kings-Sharks series is among them. The Kings returned to Los Angeles last night and will practice this afternoon, while the Sharks were scheduled for an afternoon practice in San Jose followed by a flight. Here’s how last night’s Kings-Sharks game [...]

First, a Happy Easter to all those who celebrate… Thanks to the hard work and quick thinking of Frank — EASportsMgt on here, for those who haven’t met him in person — there is a Staples Center suite available for Game 6, exclusively for readers of LAKingsInsider.com. The cost is $75 per ticket, the same [...]

How did it look when the Kings left the ice last night after their Game 4 victory over San Jose. Kings Vision was there to capture the scene, including a cameo appearance by Anze Kopitar…

Here’s my LAKings.com game story for tonight, with stats and video included. Thanks for reading… Kings beat Sharks 3-1 The Kings are scheduled to practice tomorrow at 12:30 p.m. at the Toyota Sports Center in El Segundo.

Terry Murray’s postgame thoughts… (on the start of the game…) MURRAY: “Going into the game, the whole conversation, all the conversation that we had with our team was about the checking part of the game. There’s no question they were going to come out with a lot of energy, a lot of emotion, to try [...]

Wayne Simmonds’ postgame thoughts… (on Jonathan Quick’s game…) SIMMONDS: “Unbelievable. He has done that all year long for us. He’s been our best player for the majority of the year, and he stood on his head tonight and helped us get this victory.” (on getting the early goals after San Jose’s strong start…) SIMMONDS: “Our [...]

Matt Greene’s postgame thoughts… (on Jonathan Quick’s game…) GREENE: “Unbelievable. He’s been lights-out for us the whole year. A game like this, coming up here when they have all the momentum, you needed a big effort out of him, just like he’s been giving us all year. Obviously he did it tonight.” (on Quick setting [...]

Jonathan Quick’s postgame thoughts… (on whether he was aware that he set a franchise playoff record for saves…) QUICK: “No. All that matters is that we get to play another game. So we’re focused on Game 6 right now, and that’s all we’re worried about right here.” (on the Kings being angry after two bad [...]

The Kings allowed a playoff franchise record 52 shots on goal, but Jonathan Quick was there to stop 51 of them as the Kings kept their season alive and forced a Game 6 on Monday night at Staples Center. More from the locker room to come…

The Sharks scored the second period’s only goal and outshot the Kings 15-12 in the period, but the Kings had a big penalty kill late in the period. The Kings still have not had a power play in the game.

San Jose got on the scoreboard 5:43 into the second period. Quick made the stop on Niclas Wallin’s shot but appeared to lose track of the puck for a moment, and Patrick Marleau fought off Kings defensemen Drew Doughty and Willie Mitchell in front to poke the puck into the net and narrow the Kings’ [...]

Shots on goal were 19-6 in favor of the Sharks, but the Kings scored three goals on their first four shots on goal. The Sharks went 0-for-1 on the power play and the Kings did not have a power play.