Los Angeles Kings: 7 Most Memorable Playoff Moments in Franchise History

The 2011-12 Los Angeles Kings are doing nothing more than following a time-honored motif in the franchise’s postseason scrapbook. It has always been about upsets, or at least dethroning opponents with home-ice advantage in a series.

Shortly after the 30-year anniversary of an unprecedented single-game rally against a burgeoning powerhouse from Edmonton, the current Kings have dislodged two bona fide top seeds and wrestled down a divisional rival to claim a spot in the Stanley Cup finals.

In between, the Hollywood hockey faithful have savored a multitude of memories at the expense of the country that gave the game to the world and the city that claims to be “Hockeytown, USA.”

From 1982 to 2012, and with Darryl Sutter’s pupils still hoping to manufacture more before closing down for the summer, here is a chronology of the Kings’ top seven postseason moments.

1982: Miracle on Manchester

The third game of a best-of-five division semifinal series saw the visiting Edmonton Oilers sculpt a 5-0 lead by the second intermission.

But in a span of 17:09, from 2:46 to 19:55 of the third period, the Kings clawed back, forcing overtime on the strength of Steve Bozek’s equalizer.

In the third minute of sudden death, Daryl Evans put the stamp on the rally with a top-shelf laser from the opposite circle-top. The 6-5 final pulled Los Angeles ahead in the series, 2-1 and the series-long pattern of trading wins every other night continued to give the Kings an eventual 3-2 triumph.

1989: Another Great Comeback

Barely eight months had passed since the stunning trade when Wayne Gretzky engaged his old friends from Edmonton in his first playoff series with his new mates in Los Angeles.

Finishing eight points ahead of the Oilers for second place in the Smythe Division, the Kings had home ice for the opening round. But the defending champions quickly usurped that with a split of the first two games at the Forum.

By the time the Kings came back for their next home game, it seemed the only thing that had changed for the dynastic Oilers was Gretzky’s conversion to the enemy. Edmonton had won each of its bouts at Northlands Coliseum by a cumulative score of 8-3, pushing the Kings to the brink.

But a two-point night by Gretzky piloted L.A. to a season-saving 4-2 triumph in Game 5, which was followed by a 4-1 triumph back in Edmonton.

Back in his new home, the “Great One” would bookend the scoring in a 6-3 Game 7 victory, making the Kings just the sixth team up to that time to win a best-of-seven series after initially trailing, 3-1.

1993: Shuchuk Shocker

Gary Shuchuk had sat out the first four games of the Smythe Division finals, split between his Kings and the Vancouver Canucks.

But in the pivotal fifth game at Pacific Coliseum, he was parked on the porch at the right time to absorb an upfront pass from Luc Robitaille and end a double-overtime thriller, 4-3.

Reeling off that momentum, the Kings claimed Game 6 back at the Forum, 5-3, to advance to the third round for the first time in franchise history.

1993: Captain Clutch

Gretzky salvaged the Kings season with an overtime goal to clinch a 5-4 decision in Game 6 of the Campbell Conference finals and then starred in the rubber game he had forced. A hat trick and a four-point night overall vanquished the host Toronto Maple Leafs by an identical 5-4 score and gave the Los Angeles franchise its first Stanley Cup finals berth in 26 years of existence.

It was also L.A.’s third consecutive playoff series victory against a higher-seeded opponent. Sound familiar?

2001: Clipping the Wings

No one was surprised when the Kings, in a rematch of a sweep from the previous year’s opening round, dropped their first two games in Detroit. But they found new life back home with a 2-1 Game 3 victory, their first win in a playoff contest since the opener of the 1993 finals.

Game 4 was all but a remake of the “Miracle on Manchester,” going down as the “Stunner at Staples.” Trailing 3-0, the Kings crammed within the last six minutes of regulation, pumping in two goals with an extra attacker in lieu of goaltender Felix Potvin, who surrendered Gretzky’s aforementioned hat trick eight years prior.

After pulling through in overtime via Eric Belanger, Los Angeles proceeded to ride on the newly-stolen momentum. The Kings claimed a Game 5 victory at Joe Louis Arena and then zapped the powerful Red Wings in another overtime triumph at the Staples Center.

The Kings, who pushed the eventual champions from Colorado to a seventh game in the next round, wouldn’t win another playoff series until this year.

2012: Kings Overrule President’s

The two-time regular-season champion and reigning Stanley Cup finalist Canucks could not find an answer for goaltender Jonathan Quick nor did they bring the same general compete level as Los Angeles. The result was a relatively swift, five-game, first-round upset in favor of the eighth-seeded Kings.

Jarret Stoll’s overtime clincher in Game 5 marked L.A.’s second straight playoff series victory to culminate with a sudden-death strike.

2012: Smooth Ride on a Dusty Road

With a perfect 7-0 road record after three wins in Vancouver, two in St. Louis to start a second-round sweep and two more in Phoenix to commence the conference finals, one had to wonder if the other skate was eventually going to drop on the Kings.

Not yet, it hasn’t. The Coyotes averted a sweep two days prior with a 2-0 shutout at the Staples Center and probably put forth their most valiant effort of the series in front of the Glendale crowd in Game 5.

Yet the Kings persistently deleted 1-0 and 2-1 deficits and were undaunted when Keith Yandle pulled the Coyotes even, 3-3, late in the second period. Quick, who had just allowed three opposing goals for the second time in 14 playoff outings, promptly restored his usual persona and engaged Phoenix counterpart Mike Smith in a staring contest.

As it happened, Smith blinked late in the first overtime when Dustin Penner spooned a rebound from the slot to the top shelf. The 4-3 final in the game and 4-1 final in the series sent L.A. to its first championship series in 19 years on an efficient 12-2 romp through the first three rounds, including an 8-0 run on the road.