Richards’ playoff success contrasts with recent drought

Mike Richards, as noted in an LAKings.com feature last spring, has this “playoff hockey” thing figured out.

Highly instrumental to Los Angeles’ success during the 2012 Stanley Cup run, the intelligent two-way forward finished one point off the team lead in 2013 playoff scoring despite missing three games in the Chicago series. Since beginning his major junior career in 2001-02 with the Kitchener Rangers, Richards has played won 22 playoff series in 12 junior and professional seasons. He won the OHL Championship in 2003, the gold medal at the 2005 World Junior Championships, a Calder Cup championship in 2005 with the Philadelphia Phantoms and a gold medal at the 2010 Olympics in addition to his 2012 Stanley Cup triumph.

Is there any different approach to playing in a playoff game, as opposed to a regular season game?

“I’m not really sure, to be honest. I don’t know. You just approach it the same way. Sometimes pucks go in, sometimes they don’t. Hopefully they go in.

Though he has averaged 0.79 points per game in the playoffs and 0.71 points per game in the regular season throughout his NHL career, there are a different set of circumstances heading into this first round series. Richards was held without a point over his last nine regular season games and hasn’t recorded an assist since the first game after the Olympic break, a 6-4 win at Colorado. Despite a strong first half, Richards’ 0.50 point per game rate was the lowest since his rookie season; a very low 7.0 shooting percentage – less than half of his 2012-13 shooting percentage – was partially to blame.

Though Richards was shifted alongside Kyle Clifford and Trevor Lewis when the team hosted Florida on March 22 against Florida and spent much of the remainder of the regular season in a depth role during five on five play, he still earned regular special teams time and saw late-season opportunities alongside Jeff Carter, whom he’ll center tonight. Dwight King will skate to Richards’ left.

“You know what? We did it every game in the last month,” Darryl Sutter said of Richards skating alongside Carter. “I know at the morning skate everybody calls it the lines, right, but as you know, that’s very seldom. He didn’t get moved up or back or anything. Mike Richards is our most experienced forward in terms of playoffs, and he always plays his best when we expect him to.”

As for the playoffs, the statistics certainly back up the eye tests. What has made Richards such a valuable postseason commodity?

“I don’t know,” he said. “It’s always exciting when you’re excited to play hockey. That’s when you play your best. Obviously playoffs are exciting with the atmosphere. You just build up that hatred throughout the series and that will to win is obviously there. I think that helps a little bit.”

Joe Thornton, on facing Mike Richards in the playoffs:

Mike Richards, on whether the Kings are confident given last year’s series victory:
I’m not sure. I think we’re a confident team. It doesn’t matter who we’re playing. You can throw last year out the window. This year, I thought every game we played was close. Just the confidence we bring in is the confidence we kind of built for ourselves over the course of the year.

Richards, on playing in the SAP Center:
It’s loud. They’re passionate fans, that’s for sure. It’s always a tough building to play in, even when I came here when I was in Philly. It’s always loud and especially when we play them here with LA. It’s a tough building to play in and they’ve earned the right to get home ice advantage and we’re excited to get this game going here.

Richards, on the team’s success on the road:
Obviously, you want to start at home. I guess that they earned the right to have home ice advantage and we have to take a game here. It doesn’t matter when it is. We have to win in this building if we’re going to have success. This is a tough building to play in and a tough team to play against in their building. We’re going to have our hands full.

Richards, on how the Torres-Stoll and Brown-Hertl history affects this series:
I don’t think it impacts very much to be honest. Everyone has got a fresh slate. We’re two good teams playing against each other to move on. It doesn’t matter what happened in the past. We have to be ready with our A-game if we’re going to have success. It’s a really good team over there. They’ve got some big players and just a solid lineup really from goaltender down. We’re going to have our hands full.