Game Preview – Kings vs Blues, Game 4, Afternoon Delight

This is only the second time in franchise history that the Kings have had a 3-0 lead in a playoff series. Second. Two. And both are from this season. The first being Vancouver and they were able to come back to win game 4 before we knocked them out of the first round in the next game. We are all wondering if history will repeat itself? Will we be able to put the Blues away in 4 games today or will our guys have to get on a plane tonight to St. Louis?

There is a lot of talk about if we can win a day game (not great stats on that one) or if  St. Louis changes their line up, how will we do? I don’t really want to dwell on the what-if’s.  Let’s look at our for-sures:

• Quick has allowed two or fewer goals in seven of eight games in this postseason.
• The Kings have scored four or more goals in four of their eight playoff games.
• The Kings are now 14-for-14 on the penalty kill in this series.
• Drew Doughty – playoff totals are one goal and four assists.
• Mike Richards – playoff totals are three goals and five assists.
• Justin Williams  - playoff totals are one goal and six assists.
• Anze Kopitar – playoff totals are three goals and five assists.

We could go on and on for our stats but the fact is we are having a very impressive run. The team is finally coming together and its surprising, yes, but at the same time it’s justified. We all have wondered where the team we knew could be the best were. They said we were good on paper and now we are seeing that very team show up on the ice as well.

I looked around to see what the Blues have up their sleeves today and really couldn’t find out much more than they are changing their lineup. Coach Hitchcock has been moving around lines every game to see if they have a combo line that can stop us. They are making two changes today. Ryan Reaves will replace B.J. Crombeen on the fourth line and Ian Cole will replace Carlo Colaiacovo on defense. Now Crombeen has really not played well, he has mostly just been mad during the games. So the Blues are bringing up Reaves. Reaves is a fighter. So if they can’t win they want to beat us up. I get it. As for Cole replacing Colaiacovo, the only thing I know about this swap is the Blues fans are calling for Cola’s head. So maybe Hitch had to do something. Not sure it accomplishes a goal, but we will see. I found a pretty funny post from Thrashing The Blues that you may want to read about how Blues fans can cope if swept by the Kings. You can read it here.

So can we do it today? Can we put them away and move to the Western Conference Finals? You bet your sweet booty we can! And the fans at Staples Center can help as well. The playoff atmosphere is crazy and I think it will be the best yet today when I take my seat. The whole downtown area is set up with balloons and streamers, with skating in the streets and music blaring outside. The fans bring that inside and help the team to carry the momentum. Before the game they play a video on the jumbotron to get the fans going and it sweeps you along until the whole place is in a frenzy! Good times! You can see the Pregame video from last game to pump you up over at Hammond’s site, but I’ll put it here for you to see.

Watch the videos. Get your menu set.  Get your friends and family around you. Get ready to win!

LA Kings

# 23 Brown– # 11 Kopitar – # 14 Williams

# 25 Penner– # 10 Richards – # 77 Jeff Carter

# 74 King – # 28 Stoll – # 22 Lewis

# 15 Richardson – # 24 Fraser – # 71 Nolan

# 7 Scuderi – # 8 Doughty

# 33 Mitchell – # 26 Voynov

# 27 Martinez –# 2 Greene

# 32 Quick #

45 Bernier

 St. Louis Blues

#57 David Perron – #42 David Backes – #74 T.J. Oshie

#20 Alexander Steen – #21 Patrik Berglund – #10 Andy McDonald

#17 Vladimir Sobotka – #44 Jason Arnott – #25 Chris Stewart

#15 Jamie Langenbrunner – #12 Scott Nichol – #26 B.J. Crombeen

#28 Carlo Colaiacovo – #27 Alex Pietrangelo

#5 Barret Jackman – #22 Kevin Shattenkirk

#4 Kris Russell – #46 Roman Polak

#1 Brian Elliott

#34 Jake Allen

Go Kings Go!