Will the Kings' 3rd Straight Playoff Appearance Serve as the Charm?

Entering this very day, only one team was playing for the chance to join the greatest Sweet 16 in sports: the Stanley Cup Playoffs. That team was the Los Angeles Kings, who were having a devil of a time trying to get in the playoffs. They had a chance to clinch on Sunday. No go. They had an easy chance to get in on Tuesday. All they had to do was defeat the Anaheim Ducks. Again, no go. Take three came on this evening, as the Kings were at home against the Calgary Flames. The third time was the charm. A 1-0 lead after 20 became a 3-0 lead after 40, and that pretty much did it. The Kings went on to win, 4-1, and it was party time in the City of Angels.

This is the Kings' third straight playoff appearance with this group of players. Now, it's time to get serious. This team hasn't won a playoff series since the last time they won the Stanley Cup. That was a decade ago. Since then, a pair of first round upsets in 2016 and 2018, and they fell into obscurity, to the point where they were one of the unlucky seven teams who weren't part of the modified 2020 playoffs. After the shortened 2020-21 season was a disappointment, they raised expectations on the following year when they actually qualified for the playoffs. However, that year and last year ended with the exact same fate: ousted in Round 1 by the Edmonton Oilers.

In 2022, the Kings were just happy to be there. Last year, they fell short again. Now, it's serious.

The Kings definitely have the weapons to make an impact in the playoffs. One such weapon is Adrian Kempe, who continues to show out for LA. I still remember his overtime winner in Game Five in that 2022 series against Edmonton; he is quite the clutch player. Regarding this year, Kempe is leading the team in points with 71, with 27 of those points being goals. Kevin Fiala is right behind him with 70 points, and he has the same amount of goals as Kempe. The goals leader on the team is Trevor Moore with 30, and another amazing player for the Kings is Quinton Byfield, who was drafted 2nd overall by the team in 2020, a nice consolation for missing that year's modified playoffs. Byfield has 53 points (19 G/34 A) this season.

Of course, there are two players who I have to mention in their own spotlight: Anze Kopitar and Drew Doughty. They are the only stalwarts remaining from those Stanley Cup years, and the stats show that they have not lost a step. Kopitar's 68 points trail only Kempe and Fiala, and 26 of those points are goals. As for Doughty, his 48 points lead LA defensemen, and fifteen of those points went in the net. It's very awesome to see that those two are still serving as the wise mentors to a young team that is slowly building up playoff resumés of their own.

Here's how things stand with the Kings. They are currently in third place in the Pacific, ahead of the Vegas Golden Knights by three points. LA is five points away from staying in third place and setting up yet another playoff meeting with the Oilers. As the saying goes, "3rd time's the charm." Plus the Oilers are slipping...a lot. Based on all of this, the Kings should finally do something they haven't done in a decade: win a playoff series.

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