Dustin Brown

Hey, it's a series! And hits like this will continue. (Photo courtesy of Christian Peterson/Getty Images)

Despite the sheer dominance the Los Angeles Kings have shown over the previous three contests, one sort of expecting these road-weary Devils to show some fight at some point. Tonight they did. The teams combined for four goals, all of which were scored in the third period. The final tally was recorded by rookie Adam Henrique, who only has two series-clinching goals on his short resume prior to tonight’s game. His short-side snipe with less than five minutes to go sealed the victory and saved his team from a...

"Gross." - Every Flyers/Rangers/Kings fan. "Cool!" - I guess everyone else. (Photo courtesy of Jim McIsaac/Getty Images)

Wednesday night’s Game 1 didn’t fall too far from the format of a typical series opener. The game play became rather ugly at times, due largely to both teams’ inexperience with one another and the acknowledgement that one small mistake could cost you the game. The scoring chances were minimal, save for, of course, the three combined goals and Mark Fayne’s swing-and-a-miss (or a swing-and-a-wide, however you want to look at it) at a wide open net late in the t...

Just as everyone expected, the Los Angeles Kings quickly dispatched of the President’s Trophy-winning Vancouver Canucks in five games. Also (and just as expected) was the latter squad’s complete no-show on offense, perpetual state of disarray on defense and lack of physicality in nearly every single one of the five games. What took place last week was a meltdown of an unacceptable degree. Don’t let anyone convince you otherwise.

However (!), just because Vancouver lost the series does not mean Los Angeles didn’t deserve to advance. Vezina Trophy candidate (and deserving winner) Jonath...

If the Islanders won all of their remaining games and the Washington Capitals and Buffalo Sabres lost their remaininga games, then the Isles would have done the unthinkable and made the playoffs for the first time in years. However, miraculous combinations of wins and losses are hard to come by these days, especially when you are playing against the defending Stanley Cup champions.

The Bruins scored six goals this afternoon for the third time this season against the Islanders, taking the season series with a 3-1-0 record. The loss finally elimanted the Islanders from playoff contention, concluding the thoughts of even the most hopeless fan that thought somehow they would squeak in. The focus now will shift to finishing the season with a winning record for the first time since Ted Nolan was the head coach and ending up somewhere between 9th and 11th place.