The Los Angeles Kings are down three games to one in their best of seven series with the San Jose Sharks in the first round of the 2011 NHL Playoffs.
This is a series the Kings really should be leading, if only they wanted to.
It started off very well, despite a Game 1 loss.
They played very well in the opener, just narrowly losing in overtime. (Click here to read the recap.)
In Game 2, they put up an all-around excellent effort, led by defenseman Drew Doughty and goaltender Jonathan Quick, in winning 4-0. (Click here to read the recap.)
It looked like the Kings were on their way to another dominating victory when they took a 4-0 lead early in the second period of Game 3.
However, they totally blew it, allowing five goals in the second and another in overtime to lose 6-5. (Click here for the recap.)
In last night’s Game 4 loss, they showed flashes of potential.
Quick, Kyle Clifford, Wayne Simmonds and Brad Richardson played particularly well in the first period. Plus, towards the end of the second period, their play picked up, and they really started making a push, even pulling within a goal.
But then the defense decided to take the rest of the night off, and the Kings lost 6-3. (Click here to read the recap.)
So what went wrong? How did the Kings go from so good to so bad so quickly?
Setting aside the problems with their playing, from a fan’s perspective, it looked an awful lot like they just stopped caring and really wanting to win — a theory bolstered by Internet reports the players were laughing, joking around and in a generally good mood after the Game 3 debacle.
Is this a product of being such a young team? Maybe, but youth is no excuse for a lack of passion.
Every player, from the 20-year-old Clifford to Ryan Smyth, 35, should see winning in the postseason as their ultimate career goal and play their asses off to achieve that goal.
Instead, on and off the ice, the team acts like they just don’t care.
If the Kings do not get their act together, get their heads in the game and start giving a damn, the Sharks will devour them Saturday and send the Kings home.
They cannot lose the next game, or they will be eliminated, but that is just what will happen if they keep up this attitude and playing style.
Both the way they have been playing and they way they have been acting simply will not cut it in the playoffs.
See if the Kings will remember what it takes to win and actually follow through in Game 5 Saturday at 7:30 p.m. PDT.
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