Dustin Brown turned out to be correct. It wasn’t game 43. Darryl Sutter had it right also. It certainly wasn’t a pajama party. The Kings and the St. Louis Blues did a service to hockey yesterday with an outstanding game and, really, an outstanding series. Game 4 was brutal in its intensity, but clean, respectful and, at times, breathtaking to watch. Kudos to both teams but, in the end, it was the Kings who managed to keep their noses ahead at the wire once again. The Kings are now in the Western Conference Finals for the second time in franchise history. Some perspective: the Kings had one a total of one playoff series in the previous 17 seasons (not counting the lockout year), and they’ve now won two series in the last 15 days.
The Kings march on, because of the type of full-team effort that has buoyed them throughout the playoffs. Up front, they got big efforts from stars (such as Dustin Brown) and role players (such as Jordan Nolan). The defense, while under enormous pressure for large stretches of the game, still held the Blues to only 24 shots on goal. Jonathan Quick, well, what’s left to say? How many goalies would have held up the way Quick did in the second period? Quick deserved the “MVP’’ chant he got from the crowd in the third period. What was the key aspect of the Kings’ 3-1 victory over the St. Louis Blues in Game 4? I present three options at the link below, and you can vote for your choice…
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For those who enjoy the traditional game recap, it can be found by clicking here.
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