The Los Angeles Kings will try to complete one of the best and unlikeliest playoff runs in National Hockey League history today.
A victory over the New Jersey Devils in Game 4 of the Stanley Cup final at Staples Center would give the Kings their first Stanley Cup of their 45-
season history. They would also tie the record for best record in the playoffs,
Some fans may not be able to see the team's greatest moment, as the game
will be shown on cable's NBC Sports Network. Subscribers to Time Warner Cable must subscribe to the Variety Tier, where the game will be shown on Channel 267, or the HD Tier, where it will be shown on Channel 469.
DirecTV subscribers must subscribe to the Choice Xtra, Choice Ultimate or Premier packages, where it is shown on Channel 603. DISH subscribers must
subscribe to the America's Top 250 or America's Everything Pak, where it is
shown on Channel 151.
Although the game is sold out, tickets can still be purchased on various websites. Tickets on the team's official TicketExchange page on its website,
LAKings.com, were priced from $1,148.85 to $1,943.50 in the top tier of Staples Center, $1,897.50 to $2,070 in the middle tier and $2,300 to $5,750 on the bottom tier early today.
For fans looking to watch the game at a local sports bar Legends in Belmont Shore is a known haunt for Kings Fans. The bars at and have been playing the games throughout the postseason, and The Sportsman, the , , , , and are all champion sports bars in town.
The record is held by the 1988 Edmonton Oilers.
One of the few faults the Kings have displayed in going from being the
eighth and lowest seed in the Western Conference to the brink of the Stanley
Cup is an inability to win Game 4s. Both their playoff losses have come in Game
4, first to top-seeded Vancouver in the opening round, then to third-seeded
Phoenix in the Western Conference final.
``As we all know, the fourth one is the toughest one, but I'm sure...
the crowd is going to be just as excited as us to get going again,'' said
center Anze Kopitar who had a goal and an assist in Monday's 4-0 victory, which gave the Kings a three games to none lead in the best-of-seven series.
Of the 25 previous times when a team took a 3-0 lead in the final since
the best-of-seven format was adopted in 1939, only once has it failed to win
the Stanley Cup -- the 1942 Detroit Red Wings, who lost to the Toronto Maple
Leafs.
``We haven't talked about the statistics of the situation we're in,''
New Jersey coach Peter DeBoer said. ``We feel we don't belong in the hole we're in right now based on the say we've played, but we are.''
In the Stanley Cup final, the Kings have never trailed, allowed only two goals in the final and killed off all 12 Devils' power-play opportunities.
``Everything they touch, they turn to gold,'' goaltender Martin Brodeur
said.
- City News Services
