Game #3

LA KINGS

40-27-15

95 pts, 8th in Western Conference, 13th in NHL

vs

VANCOUVER CANUCKS

51-22-9

111 pts, 1st in Western Conference, 1st in NHL

Regular Season Series Tied 2-2

Kings Lead Playoff Series 2–0

7:30pm, Staples Cener

Los Angeles, CA

NBC SN

MOST HYSTERICALLY AWESOME CANUCKS FAN TWITTER ACCOUNT THAT WAS STARTED YESTERDAY:

BEST OPPOSITION BLOG THAT I’VE ATTENDED A PLAYOFF GAME WITH IN PERSON:

Benched Whale

BEST OPPOSITION BLOGS:

Pass It to Bulis

Canucks Army

Nucks Misconduct

Pucked in the Head

ARE THE LA KINGS IN THE NEXT ROUND?

NO!

The last time a Los Angeles Kings hockey team held a 2-0 lead in a playoff series it was 1968 against the Minnesota North Stars. You remember 1968, right? The first year the Los Angeles Kings were a team in the NHL!





It was so long ago they didn’t even have color!

Boy… they sure fought strangely in 1967-68.

The Los Angeles Kings ended the 1967-1968 season with 72 points finishing 2nd in the newly formed West Division. You remember the West Division, right? The one with Pittsburgh, Philadelphia and St. Louis?

Wow. The expansion LA Kings scored 12 more goals than the 2011-2012 LA Kings.

In 8 less games.

The Flyers, Kings, Blues and North Stars finished in the Top 4 spots and advanced on to the playoffs. You think playoff seeding is messed up now? In 1968, the #1 played the #3 and the #2 played the #4. So that’s how the Minnesota North Stars and the Los Angeles Kings met in the NHL Quarterfinals on April 4th, 1968 in Los Angeles. And I’d like to imagine it looked something like this:

Looking good, boys.

But in actuality… it probably looked something like this. Or exactly like this:

Plenty of great seats available.

The Kings won the 1st two games at home, the dropped the next two on the road at the amazing Met Center.

And in typical Los Angeles Kings fashion… after holding a dominant series lead… the Kings shit the bed and ended up losing in 7 games, culminating with a 9-5 drubbing in Game 7. Doug Robinson and Lowell McDonald tied for the lead in team scoring with 7 points each. And I imagine it all looked something like this:

Do I think the Los Angeles Kings will end up losing their 1st Round Series against the Vancouver Canucks after being up 2-0? Man, it’s hard not to when history always repeats itself.