Slovenian born, Anze Kopitar has the Los Angeles Kings on the precipice of winning Lord Stanley’s Cup after a 4-0 victory over the New Jersey Devils Monday night in Los Angeles.
The Kings have steamrolled through the 2011-12 NHL Playoffs having gone through each series with ease, save for a few overtime games; Vancouver 4-1, Blues 4-0, Phoenix 4-1, and actively, New Jersey 3-0.
The Con Smyth Trophy (Playoff MVP) will likely go to Milford CT, (USA) born Los Angeles goaltender, Jonathan Quick, who has allowed 17 goals in 28 playoff games.
However, also in the discussion will be playoff team-points leader Kopitar, with 8 goals and 10 assists for 18 points.
Captain, Dustin Brown is a close second with 17 points and Cobourg, Ontario born, Justin Williams, is third with 14 points.
In seventeen playoff games, Jonathan Quick is 15-2, has allowed only 24 goals on 478 shots for a .950 save percentage.
The Kings are 5-2 at home and an incredible 10-0 on the road.
Career playoff points leaders are well known to the LA area in the person of former Kings and Oilers player, Wayne Gretzky, who has 122 goals and 260 assists for 382 pts.
Mark Messier with 109 goals, 186 assists for 295 points is second.
Philadelphia’s Jaromir Jagr is the next active player with 189 playoff points.
Gretzky holds the single-season playoff record of 40 points (1992-’93) when he played 24 playoff games with 15 goals and 25 assists.
Gretzky won the Con Smyth Trophy twice as a member of the Edmonton Oilers (1984-‘85, 1987-‘88).
Patrick Roy won the trophy 3 times, most of any player in NHL history.
Last year’s winner, Tim Thomas and the Boston Bruins, were knocked out of this year’s playoffs in the first round.
The eighth seeded Kings will be the first eighth seed to ever win the Cup, should that happen. For the Devils, only three teams have ever come back from a 4-0 deficit in the playoffs and only once in the finals, back in 1941.
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