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The Kings shut up the Madison Square Garden fans and cut the heart out of the New York Rangers with a last-second goal in the first period. From then on, tonight's result felt almost foregone. The Kings finally played their game and blanked the Rangers 3-0. New York could come back from down 0-3 in the series — after all, the Kings did it back in April when the playoffs started — but the mojo is all in LA's favor now. Wrapping up the Rangers chances on NBCSN, commentator and ex-player Keith Jones said if you're an LA Kings fan, get a plane ticket to New York for game 4 on Wednesday. Game 5, if necessary, would be back at Staples Center on Friday.
The Kings now have 15 wins in these Stanley Cup playoffs. The maximum is 16. If you get my point.
It's time to behold the most interesting character around the Kings, if you haven't met him yet. That's the coach Darryl Sutter, one of six Canadian brothers to play in the NHL. He's a man of few words with the media and has been compared in mannerisms to the Jeff Spicoli character in "Fast Times at Ridgemont High." He's being called by some the mad genius of hockey now that the Kings are on the verge (possibly!) of their second championship since he arrived as a mid-season replacement three years ago — called in from his Alberta ranch to save a foundering team.
This video compiles nearly 15 minutes of Sutter parrying with the media.
Also this from Yasiel Puig and the Dodgers tonight on Twitter:
#GoKingsGo @LAKings https://t.co/AGPZvKNDW4
— Los Angeles Dodgers (@Dodgers) June 9, 2014Add Sutter: Watch him during a joint press conference with goalie Jonathan Quick after the Kings won the Stanley Cup in 2012. This video in some ways reflects the essence of the fraternity that plays hockey for a living.
What Sutter liked most about winning the Cup in 2012: seeing the eyes of his boys when they realized what they had done.
