With each passing game the Los Angeles Kings seem to be the team to beat in this year’s Stanley Cup playoffs.
So it is no wonder then that majority of leading candidates for the honor of playoff MVP are members of the Kings. Holding a commanding 2-0 lead in their Western Conference final series with the Phoenix Coyotes thanks to two straight road wins in the series — which gave them seven straight road wins in this year’s playoffs — the Kings return home looking for a sweep.
Here are this week’s top five candidates for the Conn Smythe Trophy:
JONATHAN QUICK, G, LOS ANGELES KINGS
At this stage of the playoffs Quick is a runaway leader for the award. He leads all goaltenders with 10 victories (to go with only one loss), goals-against average (1.45) and save percentage (.951) and is tied for first in shutouts with two. Not even a fluky goal from centre in Game 1 (“It was a lucky bounce,” he said. “Things happen.”) can put a damper on his outstanding post-season performance.
DUSTIN BROWN, RW, LOS ANGELES KINGS
In 12 playoff games coming into this year’s post-season, the ultra-competitive Brown had two goals, seven points and was minus-10. Maybe that’s why he was considered expendable at one point this season. Now he’s the leading goal-scorer among players still active with seven; he is second in playoff scoring with 14 points and he is a league-best plus-11. On top of that he ranks No. 2 in the Western Conference with 51 hits.
ILYA KOVALCHUK, LW, NEW JERSEY DEVILS
The transformation from self-centered individual to true-blue team player continues for the 29-year-old veteran left winger. Only one forward, Ryan Callahan of the New York Rangers, averages more ice time than Kovalchuk’s 23:50 in the playoffs and only one player, Brown, has more points among the surviving players.
ANZE KOPITAR, C, LOS ANGELES KINGS
Nobody has ever doubted Kopitar’s skill level, but could he come through at the most critical time of the season? Well, this year the answer is yes. In fact, the 24-year-old, playing in his sixth season, is getting better with every game. He ranks third in playoff scoring with four goals and 13 points and is riding a five-game points scoring streak with three goals and nine points. Kopitar has four two-point games in his last five outings.
MARTIN BRODEUR, G, NEW JERSEY DEVILS
Hard to believe one of the best goalies ever in the NHL was considered something of a question mark coming into this year’s playoffs, but that was indeed the case based on Brodeur’s struggles in the post-season the past few years. Brodeur’s numbers haven’t exactly been flashy this year, but he has found a way to manufacture nine victories which has him tied for second with the man he is facing in the Eastern Conference final, Henrik Lundqvist of the Rangers. The four-time Vezina Trophy winner has won three Cups, but has never won the Conn Smythe Trophy. Could this be his year?
