Round 2, Game 4: St. Louis Blues vs. Los Angeles Kings

The Los Angeles Kings geared up for game 4 against the St. Louis Blues with their eye on sweeping the Blues to avoid a long flight and a game 5 in St. Louis. At the 4:36 mark of the 1^st period, Jordan Nolan scored with a wrist shot from the right circle, which gave the Kings an early 1-0 lead. With just over 8 minutes remaining in the 1^st, the Kings got caught off guard during a line change, and Kevin Shattenkirk scored with a long slap shot, 1-1. The Kings battled back, and with 1:43 remaining in the 1^st period, Dustin Brown scored on a 1 on 1 break, a snap shot through St. Louis defenseman Alex Pietrangelo’s legs and top shelf on Blues goaltender Brian Elliott. Both teams continued to battle and in the 2^nd period and the Blues outshot the Kings 13-2, but couldn’t penetrate Kings goaltender Jonathan Quick. With only 26 seconds remaining in the game, Dustin Brown scored on an empty net to secure the Kings win 3-1. The Kings found a way to beat the top seeded Vancouver Canucks 4-1 and managed a sweep against the 2^nd seeded Blues 4-0.  This is the first time in the history of the National Hockey League that an 8^th seeded team beat the 1^st and 2^nd seeds. The Kings move onto the Conference Finals for only the second time in their history with a spot in the Stanley Cup finals at stake.