The Kings will fling pucks from a sling as they play David to the Colorado Avalanche\u2019s Goliath in the first round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs.<\/p>\n
Colorado scored the most goals and allowed the fewest. They boasted the best penalty kill, most favorable goal differential (+99) and a host of other superlatives in the NHL this season.<\/p>\n
The Kings snuck into the postseason with six fewer points than the Calgary Flames missed with last year, a decidedly negative ledger (-22) and poor performance on both sides of the special-teams coin.<\/p>\n
But hey, at least they\u2019re not playing the Edmonton Oilers again<\/a>.<\/p>\n However unlikely, here are four keys to the Kings shocking the world to advance for the first time since 2014.<\/p>\n Falling giants<\/p>\n The lopsided matchup on paper may have handed the Kings a historical bellwether.<\/p>\n Colorado (55-16-11, 121 points) won the Presidents\u2019 Trophy with the league\u2019s best record, and that has not boded well for contenders in this era. Going back to the full-season lockout and even two campaigns prior, only two Presidents\u2019 Trophy winners have gone on to garner the hardware they really wanted, the Stanley Cup. Detroit did so in 2008 and Chicago was the last team to accomplish the feat, during the lockout-shortened 2012-13 season.<\/p>\n READ: Kings vs. Avalanche: First-round scouting report, prediction<\/a><\/p>\n Even historically great campaigns have fallen short. The Tampa Bay Lightning tied the record for most victories in a season with 62 in 2019 and the Boston Bruins broke that record, winning 65 games in 2022-23. Both teams lost in the first round, with Tampa being swept by the Columbus Blue Jackets and Boston blowing a 3-1 lead against the Florida Panthers. They were two of six Presidents\u2019 Trophy winners to lose in Round 1 since the lockout. The Avs\u2019 121 points are the sixth-most since the lockout, and four of the other five teams with 121 or more points have lost in Round 1, with the fifth falling in Round 2.<\/p>\n The Kings (35-20-20, 90 points) have done a little giant-killing of their own, and An\u017ee Kopitar, Drew Doughty and assistant coach Matt Greene were there for it. They knocked off the pace-car Vancouver Canucks in 2012 as an opening-round springboard to the franchise\u2019s first championship.<\/p>\n Kuzy, Q and the Bread Man<\/p>\n Offensively, this series looks like it pits a machete against a spork, but the Kings have a few upward trends in their attack.<\/p>\n Andrei Kuzmenko experienced hard luck on either side of the Olympic break. Just when he jettisoned protective gear for a facial injury sustained right before the pause, he tore his meniscus right afterward. He appears to be an option for this series, and after an early stretch that included several healthy scratches, he was finding his touch.<\/p>\n Quinton Byfield did the same down the stretch<\/a>, shouldering immense defensive responsibility (e.g. shadowing Connor McDavid in a vital 1-0 win<\/a>) and scoring at a 44-goal pace after the break. Byfield\u2019s importance has never been greater to the Kings, with Kopitar taking on milder matchups generally and being poised to retire<\/a> whenever the Kings are eliminated.<\/p>\n Artemi Panarin \u2013 aka Bread Man, in a play on Panera Bread \u2013 dragged the top line and power-play units back into the fight after a lull as well. Jared Wright<\/a> and Scott Laughton have spruced up a bottom six that was already beefier with the addition of Joel Armia but depleted by the departures of Phillip Danault<\/a>, Warren Foegele<\/a> and Corey Perry<\/a>.<\/p>\n Wild cards in goal<\/p>\n For teams that have been respectable in the Kings\u2019 case and champions in the Avs\u2019 case, neither team has much in the way of established big-game goaltending.<\/p>\n Mackenzie Blackwood started seven games for the Avs last year and he hardly overwhelmed as they were eliminated in the first round. Scott Wedgewood backed him up, adding 19 minutes to a limited oeuvre from his time as a depth goalie in Dallas. They\u2019ve performed well for a team that has the puck a lot and defends effectively, but bright lights and high stakes have shaken even marquee competitors.<\/p>\n