On the evening of Friday, April 22, 2016, the Los Angeles Kings were eliminated in Game 5 from the Stanley Cup Playoffs by the San Jose Sharks.
They are survived by Christian Ehrhoff of the Chicago Blackhawks; Teddy Purcell and Willie Mitchell of the Florida Panthers; Jarret Stoll of the Minnesota Wild; Thomas Hickey and Jean-Francois Berube of the New York Islanders; Brayden Schenn and Wayne Simmonds of the Philadelphia Flyers; Jeff Zatkoff of the Pittsburgh Penguins; Martin Jones of the San Jose Sharks; Brian Boyle of the Tampa Bay Lightning; and Mike Richards and Justin Williams of the Washington Capitals. It is officially time to break out those throwback sweaters and, in some cases, those Manchester Monarchs sweaters.
After missing the playoffs last year, the Kings were hoping for a triumphant return in their quest for a third Stanley Cup for the franchise. Perhaps the most thrilling moment of the series came in Game 3. The Sharks opened the scoring in the first 30 seconds of the game with a goal by Joe Thornton. The Kings were able to counter with a goal of their own from Anze Kopitar on the power play about eight minutes later. The teams remained scoreless, forcing overtime. In just under four minutes of bonus hockey, Tanner Pearson scored his first goal of the series. Dustin Brown and Vincent Lecavalier were on the assists.
Game 3 was the Kings only win. However, they did keep each game close. With the exception of Game 5, every game was won by only one goal. Games 1, 2, and 4 had the Kings pulling the goaltender and scrambling for a late goal to force overtime.
The Kings were noticeably scant on defense. Matt Greene missed the majority of the season, and the team had been successfully shuffling their defenseman to accommodate. However, when Alec Martinez suffered an injury in the second period of Game 1, they were without a player who cannot be substituted. While Drew Doughty was tireless and took on more minutes, the Kings could not stop the Sharks.
What also seemed to disappear was the Kings offense. The Sharks kept Anze Kopitar and Jeff Carter to two goals each throughout the series. Marian Gaborik, Tyler Toffoli, and Doughty were unable to tally a goal in the series as well. Much of the scoring came from the depth players because the top scorers were all being shut down by (former King) Martin Jones and the Sharks.
It seems that next season there will be some prospects ready to make the leap to the NHL. Derek Forbort will be a welcome to the blueline. Adrian Kempe and Nick Dowd should also be ready to join the forwards to contribute on offense. Hopefully, that will bring some brightness to the future.
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