Take a break from those talking heads on the collective networks tracking the NHL‘s Stanley Cup Playoffs. We’ve got eight local Los Angeles-based analysts and media members in this segment providing predictions to the outcome of the final series, which sees the Vancouver Canucks and the Boston Bruins getting together for a few dates.

Straight-cut here, with each member predicting the series winner, the number of games needed, and who they see as best fit to win the Conn Smythe trophy. We’re repping ESPN, The Fourth Period Magazine, INSIDE SPORTS, Hockeytalk.biz, Frozen Royalty, and NBC Sports – and it isn’t Pierre McGuire!

Series Outlook

These two clubs met just once during the regular season, the Boston Bruins coming out on top on February 26th in the Vancouver confines that houses one of the toughest atmospheres in the NHL. The Bruins won 3-1, overcoming an early one-goal deficit with a Milan Lucic go-ahead tally with under five minutes to play, and Patrice Bergeron shutting the door with some empty-net insurance. Roberto Luongo faced 24 Boston shots, with 22 saves. Tim Thomas took on a heavier load, facing 28 Vancouver shots with 27 saves. The Boston Bruins finished the campaign with 103 points, winning the Northeast Division and taking the third slot in the Eastern Conference. The Vancouver Canucks finished with 117 points, and not only won the Northwest Division and Western Conference, but took the NHL‘s Presidents’ Trophy. Predictions from some of the top Los Angeles hockey media and analysts are below, with mine included at the end.

Dennis Bernstein – Senior Writer/Director at The Fourth Period Magazine

Vancouver Canucks in 5 Games – Ryan Kesler for Conn Smythe Trophy

“It’s the Canucks year, after slaying the Blackhawks dragon, they’ve gotten better with each round. Roberto Luongo, thought to be the weak link, put up his most impressive effort of the post season in the elimination game vs the Sharks. The Bruins were life and death against the East’s 5 and 6 seeds and are 2nd best in every facet of the game.”

Charles Smith – Executive Producer at INSIDE SPORTS

Vancouver Canucks in 6 Games – Ryan Kesler for Conn Smythe Trophy

“Roberto Luongo should have no problem being the equal of Tim Thomas between the pipes. Bruins are tough, but lack the mobility on defense to shut down the Sedins. Ryan Kesler has taken his game to a stratospheric level. Vancouver has been building up to this for the past several seasons, and finally, the team has achieved critical mass.”

Matt Reitz – Writer at Pro Hockey Talk for NBC Sports

Vancouver Canucks in 6 Games – Ryan Kesler for Conn Smythe Trophy

“If the Bruins thought the Lightning power play was tough, just wait until they see the Canucks who were the best with the man advantage this year. Then there’s the Bruins’ PP that has been absolutely anemic, which won’t get any easier against Vancouver who had one of the best PKs in the NHL. Tim Thomas is the kind of goaltender who can steal a few games in a series, but the Canucks are just too good in every facet of the game to be denied.”

Dave Joseph – Morning Sportscenter Anchor at 710 ESPN Los Angeles

Vancouver Canucks in 6 Games – Roberto Luongo for Conn Smythe Trophy

“The Canucks’ offense will exploit a less-than-mobile Boston defense while Vancouver’s back line will neutralize the Bruins offense. Roberto Luongo will continue his stellar play this post-season and bring the Conn Smythe and the Cup back to Canada. Vancouver’s depth will prove too much for Boston.”

Gann Matsuda – Executive Publisher at FrozenRoyalty.Net

Vancouver Canucks in 5 or 6 Games – Ryan Kesler for Conn Smythe Trophy

“With the Sedins and Ryan Kesler leading the way, Boston won’t have the answers to what the Canucks will be throwing at them, not with the Canucks holding an advantage in terms of skill and speed, which should negate Boston’s ability to play a physical game. The Canucks also hold a huge advantage on special teams, which spells big, big trouble for the Bruins.”

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Chris Kaliszewski – Co-Editor and Producer at KingsCast.net

Vancouver Canucks in 6 Games – Roberto Luongo for Conn Smythe Trophy

Gann Matsuda continues his off-season review of the Los Angeles Kings. Here he talks about the coaches and front office. Great read. Check it out!

LOS ANGELES — Despite earning a 46-30-6 (98 points, seventh place in the Western Conference) record this season, just three points less than their 46-27-9 (101 points, sixth place in the Western Conference) record in 2009-10, the Los Angeles Kings, along with just about everyone who follows them and the rest of the National Hockey League, expected the team to not only make the playoffs this season, but to at least advance to the second round.

Extenuating circumstances, namely, the loss of star center, leading scorer and top defensive forward Anze Kopitar to a serious ankle injury and not having right wing Justin Williams at full strength—both were injured in late March—severely diminished the Kings’ chances of winning their first round playoff series against the much more talented San Jose Sharks.

But even without Kopitar, and with Williams playing with a separated right shoulder, the Kings exposed the Sharks’ weaknesses and could have won the series if they adhered to their system and structure. But they failed miserably in that regard, dropping the series in six games.

The turning point came in Game 3, when the Kings blew a 4-0 lead through the early stages of the second period, only to lose the game in overtime, 6-5. Like their entire playoff series against the Sharks, that game pretty much mirrored how their entire season went…more on that in a bit.

As detailed in an earlier story here on Frozen Royalty (see 2010-11 Los Angeles Kings Were Reminiscent Of A Roller Coaster Ride), the 2010-11 Kings were highly inconsistent, and that might be a drastic understatement.

After a hot start to the season, the Kings followed that by losing seven out of eight games during the last two weeks of November.

Read the rest on Frozen Royalty.

Selfless was his demeanor: Welcoming conversation, advice, and help to anyone and everyone.
Charismatic was his presence: Lighting up any room with witty opinion and insight fitting into a broad array of discussion.
Affectionate was his attitude toward others: Always taking dialogue to a personal standpoint, showing you he truly cared about you as an individual.
Momentous was his résumé: A well-traveled man who had been a staple in the sports media industry for over two decades.
Warm and considerate was his heart: A man who wore it on his sleeve in every aspect of life, protruding its love and care to everyone and everything around him.

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That heart of his stroked it’s final pulse today, Jonathan Moncrief passed away this morning at the age of 42. Jon died after suffering a pulmonary embolism, believed to be sudden. Jon and I were just talking on Saturday, bruising our thumbs in a text message conversation as he was en route to Santa Monica for the second annual KingsCast Roundtable. As I cycle through waves of tears – the biting of my lip the only thing granting me respite, my heart yearns for one last goodbye; one more banter about the Kings, one more personal conversation to check up on each other, one more. Before I move ahead with the coping process, I’d like to share my relationship with Jonathan Moncrief, the extraordinary voice for the Los Angeles Kings for the past three seasons at the LA Examiner.

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A displaced Kings fan I currently am, situated on the other side of the country for the time-being. In my second season as the blogger here on KingsCast, I invested in a two-week hockey trip to Los Angeles in late December. Along with my plans to have a few drinks and put in some work with the fellas here on the site, I followed their recommendation and reached out to Jon for some advice and guidance in the sports media industry. Advice and guidance doesn’t justify what he did for me. Damnit, Jon…

Not many industry professionals would respond to an e-mail from a 21 year old kid in pursuit of joining them hand-in-hand to divulge in their every day work, let alone take it seriously. That, he did, and put forth effort in every imaginable way possible to make it the best experience for me.

His initial plan was to get me credentials to join him in the Staples Center press box for the January 6, 2011 contest when the Kings hosted the Nashville Predators. His attempt in asking the Kings’ front office was rejected. That wasn’t good enough for him; Jon emailed his chief editor, requesting for him to personally approach the Kings about granting me credentials. Unfortunately, that didn’t work out either. The funny thing is, the kindness exuded in his substantial effort was plenty in satisfying me.

To substitute my press box experience, Jon met me on the Staples Center balcony during each intermission of that January 6th contest against Nashville. Here, he dished out raw material from the Kings, Predators, and the NHL to provide me with the exact documents that were provided in his chair upstairs. This isn’t basic stuff, folks.

During my visit, we hopped on the Metro Rail together a couple of times with El Segundo as the destination, in pursuit of getting close looks at the Kings in their pre-game skates. We were both in bliss as we took in a couple of mornings in the Redondo Beach-side confines that securely houses two sheets of ice from the California heat. It was business and pleasure for Jon; Coca Cola in-hand, notepad on the dashboard, and a tape recorder ready with a fresh battery. That tape recorder was handed to me, loaded with interviews, passing on the responsibility for me to write the next Kings article on the LA Examiner – under his name. I mean really, what else could the guy do. Above and beyond, fucking above and beyond Jon…man oh man.

I asked him for an interview, I wanted it to be a feature segment here on KingsCast. He accepted the request immediately, and we sat down days later for the recording. We chose the Denny’s on Figueroa, three blocks from Staples Center. What can I say, the guy had good taste. I think our table rotated through two different waitress shifts, it was non-stop dialogue, and boy was it great. I had hours of transcribing ahead of me, and flew back home to a heavy semester at College. Jon pushed for me to concentrate on school, making a strong point to me that my studies should be top priority. I then made plans to make it an off-season feature, a 2-3 part summer series. That plan was tabbed to be my next published article, with transcribing beginning this weekend. Instead, this is. The audio from our interview sits just a double-click on the mousepad away from me. I’ve got to wrap my head around this. Whether or not I decide to go through with publishing that interview, the audio file will remain with me for life.

“Keep writing.”, he would tell me. And that, I will, Jon.

I’ll miss you, buddy.

Gann Matsuda of Frozen Royalty also had a nice write-up. Find it here.

Gann Matsuda of Frozen Royalty is analyzing the season that was over at his blog. So, if you want the skinny on the good and the bad, be sure to check it out. Here’s what he’s got so far:

2010-11 Los Angeles Kings Year-In-Review: Defense And Goaltending Was Their Strength

2010-11 Los Angeles Kings Year-In-Review: Evaluating The Forwards

This id definitely required reading for any LA Kings fan!

As noted in the last piece, we’ll be finishing the TOP FIVE segment here at KingsCast in compact fashion, breaking down the top three games in one blog. You can only flirt with the past for so long, plus there are more important things to get to. Look out for an in-depth interview coming soon with Jonathan Moncrief, your go-to voice for the Los Angeles Kings at the LA Examiner. What was once considered the impossible has reveled into existence! Your TOP THREE Los Angeles Kings games of the 2010-2011 campaign crunched into one segment. Hit it now!

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March 24, 2011 – Regular Season Game #74
Los Angeles Kings 4 – San Jose Sharks 3 (SO)
Staples Center – Los Angeles, California

Why it’s #3: All was right in the world for the Los Angeles Kings after this respectable victory. However, the game to follow would put a premature ending to Anze Kopitar‘s season – but that’s beside the point. The powerplay showed some late-season glimpses of existence, with Dustin Brown capitalizing on two man-advantage opportunities. The final minutes were quite wild with the Kings taking a 3-2 lead with 1:42 remaining, only to see the Sharks tie the contest with just :05 to play. Alec Martinez, who has become my favorite defenseman on the roster, posted assists on both of Dustin Brown‘s PP goals. Jarret Stoll continued to be automatic in the shootout, cranking one off the cross-bar to juice up his 8-9 record in breakaways this season. Dustin Brown with the unnoficial hat-trick to clinch a crucial win later in the shootout.

December 4, 2010 – Regular Season Game #25
Los Angeles Kings 3 – Detroit Red Wings 2 (OT)
Staples Center – Los Angeles, California

Why it’s #2: The Kings were fresh off of a much needed victory against the Florida Panthers, which happens to be #4 on the list in TOP FIVE. Even with the win against Florida, the Kings were stumbling, allotting just two victories in their previous nine games. The Kings overcame two deficits in this contest, eventually pocketing two points with Anze Kopitar‘s goal in OT. Kopitar’s goal was huge for this team, a game-winner from your premier player can certainly be a shot in the arm for any group. The Kings would go on to win seven of their next ten games, proving the worth of Kopitar’s finish. Justin Williams was his brilliant self netting the first Kings goal, and Alec Martinez continued to solidify his roster position with the second tally. Peter Harrold notched an assist on Martinez’ goal, likely to be his last ever point in a Los Angeles Kings uniform.

November 4, 2010 – Regular Season Game #12
Los Angeles Kings 1 – Tampa Bay Lightning 0
Staples Center – Los Angeles, California

Why it’s the best: These two teams should meet more often. The night this game took place, I recall mentioning the fact that this could end up being the contest of the season. Well, it was. It was also determined by the Kings’ top goal of the year as well – argue if you wish. Holy jeeze, Justin Williams. Earlier in the year, I related the Tampa Bay Lightning to the Kings, but just one year behind our process. I’m either wrong, or playoff success has too many variables to dictate credibility. This was an honest game throughout; the numbers in Shots Taken, Hits, and Faceoffs were shoulder to shoulder. Tampa Bay’s coach Guy Boucher said “That was a real playoff game,”, while Kings coach Terry Murray mentioned “There were a few hits, a few confrontations, a little old-time hockey.” Those two excerpts almost say it all.

FOOD FOR THOUGHT. EATING AND THINKING. AND KINGS HOCKEY. HELL YEAH.

Kopitar’s tint is more publicly acceptable to me than most of the sunglasses people wear these days – helmet included. Circa 2007. Circa Still Awesome.

TOP FIVE Update: Due to time constraints, which are the cause of me roughing through the last week of a semester at College, and the mind edging away from the hockey scene as the summer commences, there will be some changes to the TOP FIVE countdown here at Dancing in the Reign. The top three games will be crunched into one final segment, due by the end of the weekend. Look out for it, cause it’s going to be an absolute f*cking crisp dollar – I assure you. You can catch #5 on the list HERE, and #4 on the list HERE. Get ready for some memory remedy with recaps of vital victories against another Florida club, a California counterpart, and a Detroit dandy.

Someone Set The Table, We’re Coming At You With Summertime Kings Talk.

That’s Right Folks, The Off-Season Roundtable Is Taking Place This Weekend.

KingsCast Roundtable: Keith and Chris will be hosting yet another off-season roundtable this weekend. They’ll be welcoming a slew of guests to recap the 2010-2011 Los Angeles Kings season, while looking ahead to next year. Here, you’ll get insight analysis on free-agents, trade possibilities, and how the Kings look going into the 2011-2012 season. You can expect to see some solid names in the discussion:

Keith Korneluk & Chris Kaliszewski – KingsCast.net
Jonathan Moncrief – LA Examiner and Inside Sports
Charles Smith – Inside Sports and HockeyTalk.biz
Dennis Bernstein – Senior Writer & Producer – Fourth Period Magazine
Gann Matsuda - Frozen Royalty
Matt Reitz – View From My Seats
John Hoven – Mayors Manor
Dave Joseph – ESPN Radio & ESPN Los Angeles

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Leaving a Trail

Purple to the side, Black and White’s All Right

Purple Nurple: The Kings have all but confirmed uniform changes, it’s all hinging on a public showing, which I expect to come on September 11 at the annual Los Angeles Kings Hockey Fest. The Kings’ website has dropped purple from it’s repertoire like 5th period Algebra, leading you to believe what the club’s future color scheme will look like. The marketing directed toward the 2011-2012 season has been predominantly coded in black and white, further adding substance to the non-official official announcement from Rich Hammond of the LA Kings Insider. Ever since I realized the new “LA” logo was supposed to mock a shield, I’ve grown to like the template a bit more. It took me two and a half years to not see it as a “home plate” or “UPS” design, and that instantly jacked up it’s credibility. I’m shocked at my inability to see this, as it has me questioning my self-proclaimed NHL uniform expertise. But still, they need to knock it off with the unnecessary shoulder piping, and how about adding some shoulder patches?

It’s a clear-cut photoshop job, but figure this as the most credible first look at the new Road uniforms for the 2011-2012 season. Anze, watch that f*cking walk signal and keep the pressure off of that right ankle.

You have to hate it when media starts writing season re-caps before the Stanley Cup is raised. But, hey, the Kings were eliminated so what are you going to do? One of our favorite writers, Gann Matsuda has a solid write-up on the “roller coaster” season by the Kings. Have a look and get ready for pre-season!

LOS ANGELES — The Stanley Cup Conference semi-finals are almost over, with three of the four conference finalists decided, and with the San Jose Sharks and Detroit Red Wings heading into a seventh and deciding game at San Jose on May 12.

It has been a little over two weeks since the Los Angeles Kings were eliminated from the first round of the playoffs in six games by the Sharks, and Frozen Royalty has been taking a break, catching its breath, so to speak, and taking some time to do other things.

But the time has come to look back on the 2010-11 season for the Kings, one that is filled with highs and lows, some expected, others not.

Those highs and lows typified their season, taking everyone on a season-long roller coaster ride.

The lows began in July, when the Kings, who were expected to be the frontrunner for unrestricted free agent superstar left wing Ilya Kovalchuk, were suddenly pushed out of the limelight by the New Jersey Devils, who signed him to a 15-year, $100 million contract.

But missing the boat on Kovalchuk was not the real problem. After all, it became clear after Kovalchuk signed with the Devils that he never intended to sign with the Kings at all. Rather, all the negotiating, the visit to Los Angeles—it was all a negotiating ploy. Indeed, he used the Kings as a bargaining chip in negotiations with other parties, most notably, the Devils.

No, the real problem was that Kings President/General Manager Dean Lombardi, either out of necessity, overconfidence, orders from above, or whatever other reasons there may have been, put all his eggs in one basket. There was no “Plan B.”

Indeed, for the Kings, it was sign Kovalchuk or Bust.

The Kings did shore up their blue line by gambling on unrestricted free agent defenseman Willie Mitchell, who had finally recovered from a concussion. But when the summer came to a close, “bust” is exactly what the Kings did, having to settle for unrestricted free agent left wing Alexei Ponikarovsky, who was signed to a one-year deal.

Ponikarovsky was certainly not in Kovalchuk’s class. Of course, no one was expecting him to be that kind of player. However, Lombardi knew the Kings needed a sniper, but he had no backup plan to acquire the help his team desperately needed, and that would play a huge role in the Kings’ 2010-11 successes and failures.

As such, the Kings headed into the 2010-11 season with their only significant additions being Mitchell on the blue line, Ponikarovsky up front, and rookie Jonathan Bernier taking over the backup goaltender position from Erik Ersberg.

Read the rest on Frozen Royalty.

Not huge into politics, but I do keep up with the major topics that swirl through the media’s feed and filter into the hands of biased major networks deeming me helpless to reality. Most of it isn’t too bad, especially when it’s something so glorious in respect to our country’s efforts in the past decade. Yes, he’s dead, but some striking revelations came out last night: The guy apparently had plans for an attack on the Los Angeles Metro Rail System. Holy dang, holy jeeze. However, they were reportedly only to be in the initial stages of planning. HERE! The underlying issue was immediately perceived the moment these findings were released to the public.

He had me at efficient. I’m not missing warm-ups for some bullsh*t security check-point.

Re-election Vote – Pocketed. Also, I’m pretty sure Michal Handzus lives in a sector tunnel between the Hollywood/Highland and Hollywood/Vine stops.

But on a serious note, Metro is making some comfort-zone type changes for the public which is nice to see. Metro is putting money into what already has been a well-known tight budget situation, with some pretty key stuff. The article is linked up top, but what’s the most important part to all of this? They’re not holding you up. If I’m flirting with 50 minutes prior to puck drop and one of those tan-suits stops me for what I’d consider the worst usage of two minutes in the history of mankind to pat me down, I’d be f*cking ticked-off to the max. That probably doesn’t do justice to what I’d actually be feeling, but what if that guard later stops someone holding a bomb? What if Ryan Smyth scored a goal from a range farther than two feet from the net?

Metro is obviously making some solid investments here, it’s nice to see them reacting in a proactive fashion to Al-Qaeda’s reported plans. Metro is also obviously making some bad investments as well, like the commercial they produced for the Los Angeles Kings this season. This thing is horrible. Two things struck me here: For one, I didn’t know you could find a bad director/producer in the city of Los Angeles. Isn’t that the “thing” in LA? Secondly, I’m perplexed how this could become the final project for a company/organization looking to represent themselves in respectable fashion. Am I being too blunt?

Watch out, this monster might eat your computer screen before the 31 seconds tick off.

If there’s an award for “Worst crowd-to-crowd transition when basing the entirety of your setting on a full-house at Staples Center“, this has got to be a top nominee.

OK, legit.

Candace Parker is a reportedly 6’4″ tall, and she claims to love her seat!

Either they’re dropping in Candace Parker‘s lunch from a helicopter on the live set, or she’s trying to peek over the invisible King Kong sitting in the seat in front of her.
Popcorn seems to be the arena snack of choice, tonight.
That is the most saturated group of minorities to be attending a Los Angeles Kings game I’ve ever seen.

Kevin Westgarth polishes off the casting for this dandy. No wonder the Lakers never take part in Metro commercials.

That guy above the Clippers’ Craig Smith right shoulder looks to be well-indulged. With what, who knows.

ALL ABOARD!

The Kings were on Staples Center ice for just the third time in nine contests, sulking into Los Angeles along the 5 freeway with an ugly 1-7-0 record that symbolized their previous eight dates — talk about a low-point. The lone victory during that slump-fest happens to be #5 on the list in TOP FIVE. Florida’s visit to Staples Center was quickly overshadowed when the Kings pulled off an absolute dandy against the Detroit Red Wings on the premises just two nights later, but it certainly still deserves recognition. This night had some substance. The Smyth-Stoll-Williams line does it’s thing in due fashion before it’s sudden downfall, Peter Harrold scores, Anze Kopitar with a pre-injury golden moment, and Peter Harrold scores. Oh, and it also fueled December’s resurgance, the Kings snagging two points in eight of the next eleven games. Can’t go wrong here, really.

BAILEY Cameo – TOP RIGHT

For the “Sunshine State”

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December 2, 2010 – Regular Season Game #24
Los Angeles Kings (3) – Florida Panthers (2)
Staples Center – Los Angeles, California

Highlights can be seen below, Bob and Jim with the Fox Sports West feed. Not the prettiest game you’ll see, but a crucial one at that. Does Florida even have a broadcast team anyway? And why does their arena have bright green seats, I’ve never understood that. Probably designed the place around an early ’90′s Arena Football League team or something that folded two years later.

Why it’s #4: There are no green seats in the background because this game was not in Florida. That comment above was completely irrelevant to anything recognizable to this game. Anyway, not necessarily one of the most appealing wins this season, to the casual viewer at least. However, it came with a marvelous finish and kicked the Kings out of the valley they were trapped in. That valley was located in Shitty F*cking Defense-ville, in the country of WhereTheFuckIsJonathanBernier-istan. The eight games prior to this win against the Florida Panthers saw the Kings grab just two of sixteen points available, seven losses in regulation, but stole a Shootout win in Boston to curb the dismal state of play. After the refresh, the Kings went running, pulling off an 8-2-1 record in the next eleven games, taking 17 of 22 points on the board.

Defense Due: I shoulder a lot of blame on defensive struggles for the Kings’ November slump, but they were due for a win. In the two games prior to Florida, the defense was showing signs of it’s early-season form, the offense just couldn’t take advantage of it. A 2-1 loss to the Chicago Blackhawks and a 2-0 dud against the Anaheim Ducks had everyone waiting for the offense to hop aboard. The defense stayed honest, surrendering just 6 goals in the next 4 games. The offense joined the party too, putting up 12 tallies in the same next 4 games. Talk about making ends meet, the Kings would go 4-0-0 after the forwards started to put some pucks away.

Prior To Vacation: Unfortunately, tonight was one of the last memorable sights of the formerly-known “geezer line”. Jarret Stoll wouldn’t score a goal for the next 15 games, totaling just 3 assists in that span. For the Williams, Stoll, Smyth line as a whole, it all went downhill with Stoll’s numbers, which queued Terry Murray to call out the centerman in public fashion. Murray sent the message in late December, and Stoll responded almost as well as you could have expected. Jarret Stoll is certainly an interesting offseason subject as his contract with the Kings has expired. The guy deserves some serious consideration for a new contract, he’s a staple in the face-off circle and can fill multiple roles in a team’s offensive scheme.

PETE!: Always nice to see Peter Harrold put one in, his only goal of the season would come in this game against Tomas Vokoun and the Florida Panthers. He gets the game-tying goal here, only for it to be his last of the season. In the following game, Harrold assists on the game-tying goal, to also be his last of the season. 9 more times he’s etched into the lineup, but with a questionable presence you really couldn’t tab as either valuable or harmful. He’s an under appreciated player in this organization, there’s no doubt. With an NHL career dating as far back as the ’06/07 season with the Kings, Harrold has been a comfortable substitute, especially as a swingman. He can fill slots anywhere on the ice except the crease. Not only does he have a two-sided skill set, but he can do it respectively at an on-call basis. Not easy to do. His status as a King isn’t necessarily expected to continue into next season, tougher issue to delegate than it looks. Best of luck with your future endeavors, Pete.

You bet your ass he’s staring at that two-spot. Either that or the Jumbotron captured the guy I saw rocking a Peter Harrold jersey two years ago. Peter Harrold probably likes seeing people in Peter Harrold Jerseys. Then again, it’s probably him staring at the scoreboard that’s been juiced-up due to his snapper after intercepting a Florida clear-attempt, thinking about how many more people are going to buy Peter Harrold jerseys because of his CRUCIAL goal.

Anze Kopitar ends it late in the third period. More from him later. If you recall what happened in the game scheduled after this one, the writing’s on the wall.

Like a drunken townie reminiscing their high school athletic career, we’re taking a look back at the TOP FIVE LA Kings games played this season. The NHL Playoffs are in full-swing, and we’re just getting started with offseason coverage here at KingsCast.net. Look out for a new episode of Overtime by the end of the week, Chris and Keith will be at you with a Season Review in Episode 107. For the time-being, let’s get to #5 on the list.

November 20, 2010 – Regular Season Game #19
Los Angeles Kings 4 – Boston Bruins 3 (SO)
TD Banknorth Garden – Boston, Massachusetts

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Highlights can be seen below, unfortunately we’re working with the Bruins’ NESN feed here. Enjoy yourself a nice helping of Jack Edwards, the same guy who related a Bruins playoff victory to the Revolutionary War. Please now.

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Why It’s #5: When targeting the low points to the Kings tumultuous season, the second-half of November stands out as the worst stretch of hockey played by this club. From November 14th to December 1st, the Kings earned just one victory over a span of eight contests. That single victory is the one we’re talking now, the epitome of a diamond in the rough. Although the Bruins were able to recover from a 3-goal deficit, the Kings stabilized the onslaught to extend the game to a Shootout – where the Kings absolutely own Boston. In fact, the Kings are 5-0-0 against the Bruins dating back to the 2008-2009 campaign, locking down three victories by way of a shootout, a win in OT, and a win in regulation.

Quick Fix: Tim Thomas may have been higher on Team USA’s goalie depth chart in the 2010 Winter Olympics than Jonathan Quick, and he may have been selected to the 2011 NHL All Star Game while Quick was questionably ignored, but he has no business in a shootout against the Kings goaltender. That’s three head-to-head shootouts between Thomas and Quick since 2009, and Quick is eating his cake too.

You know what that means, time for another…

At least he doesn’t throw milk crates like Tuukka Rask.

Secondary Scoring: Another great aspect to this game, with Kings goals coming from Brad Richardson, Michal Handzus, and Jarret Stoll. It just goes to show how crucial depth in the offensive department can be, consistency with that was the problem for this roster.

Early Signs: Trevor Lewis had one hell of a game here folks. His puck control in the neutral zone opened a lane for Brad Richardson to coast in for the Kings’ first tally, one of Richardson’s few appearances this season. Don’t let a 6-game playoff series fool you, SEE YA Brad. Lewis then took part in Handzus’ goal, beating Boston’s defense to a rebound off of a Dustin Brown shot, and utilized time and space low in the zone to structure the play.

‘Zus On The Loose: Michal Handzus had quite a performance, netting the game-clincher in the 6th round of a scoreless shootout. Handzus’ regulation goal saw him make use of open space in the slot, where he found himself alone, hammering home a rebound from a Davis Drewiske point shot. That would be Drewiske’s final point of the season.

The Countdown: Be on the lookout for the next installment of TOP FIVE, where I’ll break down #4 on the list. Anyone else have the Tampa Bay Lightning as this year’s sleeper team? I sure do.