NHL Playoffs 2012: Los Angeles Kings Head to St. Louis for Round 2

Say what you want about luck. Say what you want about injuries. Say what you want about missed calls. But the Los Angeles Kings just played five games against the Vancouver Canucks, and won four of them.

That is all history will remember. It will go down in the history books as a 4-1 series victory for LA, and no one will remember the details. 

With that being said, it would be foolish to pretend that the breaks didn't go almost exclusively in LA's favor—whether it was the absence of Canucks' leading goal scorer Daniel Sedin for the opening three games, or the bizarre ways in which Dustin Brown scored two short-handed goals...in the same game. The kings definitely benefited from some higher power that was clearly not a Canuck fan.

People will say that it is better to be lucky than good. Sometimes this is true. And yes, the Kings got lucky. But you can't say that they weren't good as well.

They came out in back-to-back road games and quieted the Vancouver crowd. They played with aggression, passion and precision. They had a game plan to push the President's Cup winners around, and they did.

They finished off hits, chased after loose pucks and capitalized on their chances. Luck only becomes relevant when you have the talent to make it count. That's going to be a famous quote some day, remember I said that.

Despite taking a 3-0 series lead back to LA, the Kings were thoroughly dominated in Game 4. Daniel Sedin returned and rejuvenated a team that appeared to have already accepted their fate.

Most of your brain tells you, "Hey, we've still got a 3-1 lead, we'll be fine." But a little part of your brain, probably the part that creates worry and pessimism, says, "They are back to full strength. They had four separate four-game winning streaks throughout the season. They are fighting with reckless abandon, sitting on the verge of elimination. We might be in some trouble here."
Article Source: Bleacher Report - Los Angeles Kings