The Fifth Liners

After leaving the Kings Vs Sabres game early with an injury, the LA Kings ' main goaltender Jonathan Quick has been sent back to the team's doctors in LA and will likely miss the rest of the New York road trip. The injury, through to be a hamstring or groin strain will keep Quick out for a few games. Ben Scrivens , who took to the ice to replace Quick in the Sabres game will stand between the sticks for the NY Islanders game tonight. Martin Jones has been called up from the AHL's Manchester Monarchs and will back up Scrivens. It's not known when Quick will return to the ice. While this isn't a huge worry for the Kings, who have a great back up in Scrivens, it is possibly a worry for the USA Olympic team, of which Quick is pretty much guaranteed to be the starting goalie. Or maybe he'll run it off and be playing next week. Either way, get well soon.

So the Western Conference Final kicked off tonight with the LA Kings heading to Chicago to defend the cup. First Period Chicago won the opening faceoff and initially dominated the first period. At the first commercial break, there'd been five shots, all of which on Jonathan Quick . Corey Crawford had very little to do so far. The Kings were getting the puck forward but had no end product. Kyle Clifford gave away the first powerplay of the series when he picked up a minor for a hand pass. Chicago's man advantage lasted 16 seconds when Andrew Shaw was boxed for interference. Neither team found the net during the short powerplays although Patrick Kane's wrister forced another save from Quick. Dustin Penner gave away a penalty for roughing after dragging Michal Handzus to the ice from behind after the Kings forced Crawford into his first save. The Blackhawks came close to scoring but Quick was on fire to save the Kings from going behind. Goal! In the 15th minute,...

The San Jose Sharks are currently proving to be very dangerous to the LA Kings' hopes of retaining the Stanley Cup. Last night the Kings were given a royal welcome to the HP Pavilion but the monarchs were made to look like mere pretenders to the throne. Two games ago, the Kings were 2-0 up in the series and it looked like nobody was going to take their crown. San Jose however has firmly nailed its colours to the mast. The sharks dictated the pace immediately and in the sixth minute Brent Burns and captain Joe Thornton were on hand for a little rally culminating in the Sharks' first goal. The shot was blocked initially but Burns was able to tap the rebound past Jonathan Quick and score.  In the second period Colin Fraser was penalised for roughing and the resulting powerplay allowed Logan Couture to tip in Dan Boyle's pass.  The weight of the crown may be weighing heavy on the Kings' shoulders because discipline is starting to slip, that's not to say t...