Los Angeles Kings heading into Game 4 to advance against St. Louis Blues -NHL Playoffs Preview
Los Angeles Kings are heated and ready to advance into the next round of the 2012 National Hockey League (NHL) Stanley Cup Western Conference Playoffs with St. Louis Blues on the brink of elimination heading into Game 4.
If Kings are able to continue playing like they have been in the past three games than Los Angeles will have made it into the Western Conference Finals for the first time since 1993, reassuring general manager, Dean Lombardi, that his decision to change
Terry Murray with Darryl Sutter as head coach has finally paid off.
As the series is in Los Angeles, Kings have more than enough confidence to take it to the next level and coach Sutter is hoping that the young players will step up despite not having much experience.
"Young guys … don't get to go and skate. They go there at night and play the game and they're there for three or four hours," Sutter said. "You don't get to experience the whole atmosphere of it. When you look at it, you'd like to do it all the time. It's
the only chance we've had to it. You've got three teams and you can't do it. You've got six days here. If the Sunday game was an afternoon game we could actually do it twice."
Unfortunately, St. Louis Blues will continue playing without goalie, Jaroslav Halak, who is out with an ankle injury and possible even without centre player, Jason Arnott, who has a lower-body injury and missed the previous contest.
Kings are only missing Simon Gagne at the moment, who went out due to a concussion in December of 2011 and does not look to be coming back anytime soon.
What will eventually give Los Angeles Kings the opportunity to whitewash the Blues is Jonathan Quick. His goaltending has proving LA with the solid performance they have been yearning for ever since coming into the playoffs and not choking is something he
has done quite well.
Kings eliminated Vancouver in just five games and Game 4 does not look so good for St. Louis. Potentially, the last matchup of the semi-final series will be taking place at the STAPLES Center in Los Angeles, California, on May 6, 2012, at 3:00 PM ET.
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