What We Learned About the Kings from Their Thrilling Victory over Blackhawks

The Los Angeles Kings showed their championship poise and experience in Wednesday night's 5-4 victory over the Chicago Blackhawks at the United Center.

It was an impressive win for the Kings, who erased three one-goal deficits to earn two points and strengthen their chances of making the playoffs in the Western Conference.

The defending Stanley Cup champions were 0-2 versus the Blackhawks entering this matchup and won't play them again this season unless they meet in the playoffs.

Let's look at three things we learned about Los Angeles from its thrilling win in Chicago.

 

Dustin Brown Is Playing Much Better Than He Was at the Start of the Year




Dustin Brown has 19 points (12 goals, seven assists) in 32 games this season, and nine of those points have come in the month of March (14 games).

As the team captain, Brown leads by example with his physical play, effort and goal scoring. The Kings forward scored the game-winning goal in the third period of Wednesday's victory and had a plus/minus rating of two in 18:09 of ice time. Brown also led all Kings players with six hits and 28 shifts in the Blackhawks game.

The 28-year-old winger struggled in the first half of last season and started to be more productive offensively as the playoff race intensified.

We could see a similar scenario with Brown this year, which would really benefit the Kings because his offense is very important due to the team's lack of scoring depth on the wings.

 

Jonathan Quick's Performance This Season Will Make it Difficult for the Kings to Trade Jonathan Bernier



The Kings couldn't have predicted that Jonathan Quick would be outplayed by 24-year-old backup Jonathan Bernier this season. Quick is the reigning Conn Smythe Trophy winner and came into 2013 as one of the favorites for the Vezina Trophy.

Here is how they comp...

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