Quick, Kopitar lead race for Conn Smythe

Same players; different order.

The race for the Conn Smythe Trophy as most valuable player in the Stanley Cup playoffs remains a tight one with the Los Angeles Kings dominating the candidates. Thanks to yet another Game 4 loss, the Kings are still in a battle to claim their first-ever Stanley Cup with Game 5 set for Saturday back in New Jersey. Sportsnet’s candidates for the award have not changed, but they are in a slightly different order than they were a week ago.

Here are this week’s top five candidates for the Conn Smythe Trophy:

JONATHAN QUICK, G, LOS ANGELES KINGS: The conventional thinking is, while the Conn Smythe is awarded to the player who is the best through four rounds, if the voting is tight, which it is this season, other factors might come into play. Right now it would seem to be a three-horse race between Quick and teammates Anze Kopitar and Dustin Brown. Voters having a hard time choosing between the three may decide the Kings wouldn’t have even made the playoffs without Quick’s amazing play in the regular season. The fact he leads in goals-against average (1.39) and save percentage (.948) and has three shutouts doesn’t hurt his cause, either.

ANZE KOPITAR, C, LOS ANGELES KINGS: With two goals and four points in the final, Kopitar has moved into a tie with New Jersey’s Ilya Kovalchuk for the playoff scoring lead. The 6-foot-3, 225-pound Kopitar has emerged as the Kings’ best forward and has been solid at both ends of the rink throughout the playoffs. Despite the fact he was minus-1 on Wednesday night, he remains second in plus-minus in the post-season at plus-14.

DUSTIN BROWN, RW, LOS ANGELES KINGS: The last thing the Kings wanted was for the final to be prolonged another game which, obviously, means another game in New Jersey. For Brown, however, it means an opportunity to add to his playoff-leading 12 points on the road. He has truly been a road warrior in this year’s playoffs, scoring four goals and adding eight assists on the road where he is also an impressive plus-10.

MARTIN BRODEUR, G, NEW JERSEY DEVILS: With his team struggling to score goals in the final, the spotlight has fallen on the veteran stopper to keep his team in games and that is exactly what he has done for the most part. With the exception of Game 3, Brodeur has been nearly unbeatable. He took the Kings to overtime in the first two games of the series and played solidly in Game 4 to keep the series alive.

DREW DOUGHTY, D, LOS ANGELES KINGS: The 22-year-old London, Ont., native leads all defencemen in scoring with four goals and 14 points in 18 games. He has always been an offensive force, so his impressive production really isn’t a surprise. However, he has morphed into a more solid two-way player as his plus-12 indicates. He is also a more physical player. Doughty has a point in each of the four games in the final.

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