As a Kings fan, I’m sure you’re nothing less that ecstatic about their playoff run so far. If you’re like me, you don’t even know how to control the overjoy you’re feeling to see the team finally come together and produce great chemistry on the ice.

With a 6-1 postseason record against the first and third best overall teams in the league, Los Angeles is getting on the map after years of people not knowing their team existed. Here’s a look at who’s been really hot throughout the playoffs:

1. Jonathan Quick – A top contender for the Vezina Trophy, Quick has been nothing short of outstanding and is truly the sole responsibility for the Kings making it to the playoffs in the first place. For a team that was considered the worst offensive team in the league for the majority of the season, it was a huge deal they made it to the playoffs in the first place and it was all thanks to Quick’s save percentage of .929 during the regular season. He’s now surpassed those numbers, holding a .955 SV% throughout the postseason. In my opinion, he’s definitely the top contender for the Vezina over Henrik Lundqvist and Pekka Rinne. I may be a bit biased, but no other team in the league has relied on their goaltender the way the Kings have.

2. Dustin Brown – The Los Angeles captain has really stepped up during the playoffs, recording four goals (two of them shorthanded) and five assists in his last seven games, earning himself a plus-8 rating. He sure has had a tendency to get under the skin of the opposing team, acting as a strong physical force as well.

Speaking of physical force, that brings me to my third player. The player I’m beyond excited to say has had a spectacular postseason. It’s none other than…

3. Dustin Penner – That’s right folks. Our favorite pancake-eating jokester has finally clicked in Los Angeles. He’s earned two goals and four assists during the playoffs, recording a plus-5 rating. Seriously, Dustin Penner. He’s had a strong physical presence on the ice and has been a driving force throughout the past seven games. I really hope this means he’ll receive a contract extension over the offseason.

4. Anze Kopitar – After Monday night’s huge shorthanded goal against the Blues, I had to add Kopitar to the list. He’s recorded six points during the postseason with three goals and three assists, and really stepped up in round two of the playoffs.

Game 3 against the Blues will be Thursday night at 7:00 PST.

The green city of Vancouver can recycle headlines from both matchups against the Kings in the first round of the playoffs.

After two Kings 4-2 victories against Vancouver, both teams are heading to Los Angeles to battle in game three at the Staples Center. In Friday night’s matchup, the Kings once again stunned the Canucks and their fans. Dustin Brown came out at the top of his game, scoring two short-handed goals against Roberto Luongo. Jarret Stoll knocked in the third and Trevor Lewis scored the Kings’ fourth goal, adding some cushion to the consistent lead Los Angeles had throughout the entire postseason game.

In an interview with LA Kings insider Rich Hammond, coach Darryl Sutter says he was impressed by Brown’s on-ice performance, as well as much of the defensive play.

“It was a strong game. Obviously the scored two shorthanded goals, and that’s significant.’’

But he says his team still has a lot to work on if they want to sustain their lead over Vancouver.

“We took three bad penalties, and 5-on-5 we weren’t that strong on the walls. We didn’t do a very good job against their defense. We were a little better on faceoffs than we were in game one, but there were lots of areas that we can get a whole lot better at.’’

In the meantime, there will be a few roster updates before the next game. Daniel Sedin won’t be traveling to Los Angeles due to the concussion he sustained from a hit by the Blackhawks’ Duncan Keith on March 21. Byron Bitz will be serving the second day of his two-game suspension for an illegal hit on Kyle Clifford during the first game of the series.

Lastly, Roberto Luongo might not be returning to the net on Sunday. Vancouver coach Alain Vigneault hasn’t released whether Cory Schneider will be taking Luongo’s place on the ice as an effort to change things up for his team.

Game three is Sunday night at 7:30 PST.

After a tough battle with the Sharks in their last two games of the regular season, the Kings suffered two losses, dropping them from first in the Pacific division down to third. They finished in eighth in the Western Conference, pairing them up against the first place Vancouver Canucks in the first round of the playoffs.

Any Kings fan can tell you it’s not the most ideal start to the post-season, but with Jonathan Quick’s goaltending and Jeff Carter’s return, this surely won’t be a breeze for Vancouver.

Quick’s recorded a save percentage of .941 against the Canucks, and Carter’s produced one goal and an 11.1 percent shooting average in his games against Vancouver. Although Roberto Luongo has two wins under his belt against the Kings, the Canucks are questioning whether he or Cory Schneider will be the starting goaltender in the series.

The Sedin twins currently lead Vancouver in goals, assists, and points. In particular, Daniel Sedin, who is expected to return from a head injury at the start of the playoffs, has recorded one goal and three assists in three games against the Kings this season.

Los Angeles needs to focus on getting more shots on goal than anything else. The team’s offensive issues haven’t improved enough to be sufficient against a team like the Canucks. Mike Richards, Anze Kopitar, and Dustin Brown will have to step up in order for the Kings to really give Vancouver a run for their money.

The Kings’ schedule is as follows:

Wednesday, April 11 – 7:30 PST in Vancouver

Friday, April 13 – 7:00 PST in Vancouver

Sunday, April 15 – 7:30 PST in Los Angeles

Wednesday, April 18 – 7:00 PST in Los Angeles

Sunday, April 22 (if necessary) – in Vancouver, time TBD

Tuesday, April 24 (if necessary) – in Los Angeles, time TBD

Thursday, April 26 (if necessary) – in Vancouver, time TBD

Recent controversy sparked when he was told to cover up the iconic “Hollywood” sign he has designed on the right upper side of his mask. Bernier has now discovered that the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce charges a licensing fee for any commercial use — including goalie masks. Someone from the organization finally noticed it in a photo of him in the Los Angeles Times and reported it earlier in the season.

The NHL is in charge of inspecting goalie masks and Bernier’s passed because no one was aware of the legal fee. Because of that, he’s not receiving any penalties for wearing it in the past.

Bernier was told Wednesday afternoon that he is allowed to display his entire helmet once again as long as he agrees to pay the commercial pricing. As of now, he doesn’t seem to have a problem with doing so. Not only will Bernier be able to keep his look, but the cost will be cheaper than re-designing and creating a new mask. Who knows, perhaps the re-revealing of the mask will send a little good luck to the Kings as they fight to hold a playoff spot.

The team is facing the St. Louis Blues Thursday night in Los Angeles. After Tuesday night’s big 5-2 win against the Sharks, the Kings shot into eighth place, surpassing San Jose and Phoenix with a total of 84 points this season.

Don’t forget to follow the nail-biting race here during the remainder of the regular season.

Although Los Angeles fans were thrilled about a 5-2 victory over Detroit, the team has to evaluate their players’ performances and team chemistry on the ice. Richards has scored only one goal since Christmas, leaving him stranded with a 25 game no-goal streak. Since joining the Kings, he has only managed to score 14 goals in 62 games. In the meantime, Wayne Simmonds and Brayden Schenn–who were traded for Richards–are performing quite nicely in Philadelphia, recording 31 combined goals so far this season.

But to Richards’ credit, he did perform well against the Blackhawks Sunday night, scoring the game winning shootout goal in Chicago. It’s not that he’s not capable of scoring, but the team chemistry continues to lack, especially on the offensive side. However the addition of Jeff Carter has made a big difference–he’s already earned a total of five goals in his first nine games with the Kings. Three of those goals were in consecutive games after scoring an empty netter against Detroit.

The Kings are still fighting for a playoff spot and currently stand at 11th place. But there’s really no reason to be concerned at this point–Los Angeles, Calgary, and San Jose have all earned 78 points this season. Eighth place Colorado has 80 points under its belt, which means the Kings could jump up very quickly depending on their performance, as well as others’ scores throughout the rest of the season.

You can keep up with the Eastern and Western playoff race here.

If you take a look here, you can analyze each team’s chance at the race for the cup. The Kings are currently in 9th place, but notice they’re only one point behind the Sharks and three behind the Coyotes. Although the Kings are facing tough opponents in their next few games, the Sharks don’t have an easy lineup as well. They’ll face the Oilers who defeated them in their two previous match ups and will have a meeting with the Coyotes, which will add great dynamics to the Pacific standings.

So how good of a shot do the Kings have at landing a spot in the playoffs?

In my opinion, they have a very good chance. The Sharks lost their last three games to Edmonton, St. Louis, and Buffalo, and now they’re preparing to face the Stars and Coyotes next — and no matter what, the game against Phoenix will benefit the Kings. The Coyotes haven’t been looking so hot either, losing their last four games has given them an 0-4 record for the month of March. Before they face the Sharks, they’ll look to defeat the Wild who stomped them 4-1 earlier in the season.

But in terms of the Kings alone, they’ll have a tough five games ahead, but I truly believe they’ll see success in the upcoming week. Facing the Red Wings will be no easy task, especially having to do so twice within four days of each other. However, the Blue Jackets, Blackhawks, and Ducks could be another story. The Kings seem to have figured out Chicago this season, shutting them out in their past two meetings this season. Hopefully Columbus will provide an easy win being the second worst team in the league — and who doesn’t love a freeway faceoff? Both the Kings and Ducks are at one a piece this season, leading to what will undoubtably be a highly competitive match up between the two.

But the key to looking at a playoff spot rests in the hands of the offense. After all, the Kings are 20-0-2 this season when they score at least three goals.

It has to be difficult for a guy who was a first round draft pick back in 2006 to have to sit on the bench most games when he’s capable of being a team’s starter. Ty Conklin of the Detroit Red Wings experiences the same lack of playing time being under starter Jimmy Howard. Conklin have a .878 save percentage but has only started in nine games this season.

Bernier’s started in 10 games this season and has finished those with a 4-5-1 record. Although that statistic may not seem too appealing, he has a save percentage of .911, just under Quick who has a .932%. In each of the games the Kings’ backup goalie has started, the team hasn’t scored more than two goals (which has been a trend this entire season). On February 28, Bernier started for the first time in over three weeks and had his first shutout of the season as the Kings blanked the Wild 4-0.

But when it comes down to it, Bernier will continue to see very little playing time as long as Quick continues to play as well as he has so far this season. But with the statistics he has, I believe Bernier would be a very successful starter in the NHL. Although it’s important to have a successful backup goalie, the Kings could consider him for a trade in the off season for a goal scorer, something the team desperately still needs.

This trade was a fantastic move by the Kings who were desperate to make a change to their roster. Although Richards and Carter weren’t always on the ice together, they know each others’ style of play — something that will benefit the Kings since their team chemistry has been lacking.

Although Johnson has been a fan favorite for quite some time in Los Angeles, he wasn’t delivering for the Kings this season. In February, he had zero goals and three assists, giving him a -4 rating. Throughout the 2011-2012 season he’s only had eight goals. Jeff Carter’s had five goals and three assists this month alone, with a total of 15 goals and 10 assists under his belt this season.

So the Kings basically traded Wayne Simmonds, Brayden Schenn, Jack Johnson, and a first and second round draft pick for Richards and Carter. But hey, bringing these two back together will hopefully reignite a spark Los Angeles has been missing.

So what’s the problem?

I don’t think Mike Richards is being played correctly. The Kings have been struggling with their team chemistry this season and it’s time that some of the guys move around. Both Richards and Anze Kopitar are centers, and therefore don’t end up on the ice together much. The two of them could create something great and both have played at wing before. However Richards has more experience there and could possibly be a great winger for Kopitar.

Until the Kings make a move for Rick Nash or Jeff Carter, they should at least try out new plays and some position changes to end their losing streak. It really can’t hurt the team at this point.

The Kings need someone who can score goals, and at this point Dean Lombardi should be willing to trade just about anyone besides Anze Kopitar or Jonathan Quick. If I had any say in this, I’d give Dustin Brown, Jonathan Bernier, and a draft pick. I love Brownie just as much as any Kings fan, but he really hasn’t been doing much at all lately and the team can’t afford to see one of their top players not do much. Another good option would be to trade for Jeff Carter and rekindle the fire between him and Mike Richards from their days in Philadelphia together. Columbus needs a goaltender, so Bernier and a draft pick should be enough to make that trade a good possibility.

I think a trade with Columbus is something the Kings should definitely pursue, but if neither work out I believe they should just wait until the off season to make any significant moves. A lot needs to be done for the team and rushing into something won’t be worth it.