NHL Playoffs 2012: Kings' Goaltending and Penalty Kill Will Fluster Canucks

Two losses after regulation to the San Jose Sharks have left the Los Angeles Kings in an unenviable situation heading into the Stanley Cup Playoffs. Rather than earning the third seed by virtue of winning the Pacific Division, the Kings will skate into the NHL's postseason as the eighth seed against the Vancouver Canucks, last season's Western Conference champions and the now-two-time defending Presidents' Trophy winners.

Things could've certainly turned out better for the Kings, who came into the season as Cup contenders before replacing their coach, pulling off a blockbuster trade at the deadline and still struggling to score.

But, all points considered, the Kings may well be in prime position to be the ninth team to knock out a top seed in the first round, thanks in no small part to a stout defence and some of the best goaltending in hockey today.

The Kings sport the league's fourth-best penalty kill, for which much of the credit rightly belongs to the work of the guys in goal. Jonathan Quick and Jonathan Bernier have combined to allow a mere 2.07 goals per game this season, with the Vezina Trophy-contending Quick doing most of the heavy lifting.

Those two have been helped out tremendously by battlers like Matt Greene, Willie Mitchell and Rob Scuderi on the back end and defensive-minded forwards Anze Kopitar and Mike Richards up front.

LA will need everyone involved to be on their best behavior against Vancouver's fourth-ranked power play, with or without a recently concussed Daniel Sedin. The Canucks have more than enough depth to withstand such a devastating absence from their top six, even if Henrik can't get over it quite as easily.

That aside, the Kings should enter this series with plenty of confidence, knowing full well that they're capable of taking down the best in the West. These two teams split their season series, with each winning once at home and once on the road. What's more, the core of this Kings' team was together in 2010, when they pushed the Canucks to six games in the first round.

And, if nothing else, LA has some history on its side. It was exactly 30 years ago that the Kings pulled off the biggest Stanley Cup playoffs upset of all time, when they edged Wayne Gretzky's high-scoring Edmonton Oilers in a five-game series highlighted by the "Miracle on Manchester" in Game 3.

Could the Kings have another upset in store for another hockey juggernaut from western Canada? Only time will tell, but LA stands as good a chance as ever of doing just that.

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