Puck

The Kings had already disposed of the No. 1-seeded Vancouver Canucks when Coach Darryl Sutter flipped two of his left wings and turned a good team into a juggernaut that has trampled the best the Western Conference has to offer while moving within a victory of earning a berth in the Stanley Cup finals. Sutter's decision to put brawny rookie Dwight King with Jarret Stoll and Trevor Lewis on the third line and move the hard-to-motivate Dustin Penner alongside Mike Richards and Jeff Carter on the second line was a stroke of genius.

The Kings had already disposed of the No. 1-seeded Vancouver Canucks when Coach Darryl Sutter flipped two of his left wings and turned a good team into a juggernaut that has trampled the best the Western Conference has to offer while moving within a victory of earning a berth in the Stanley Cup finals. Sutter's decision to put brawny rookie Dwight King with Jarret Stoll and Trevor Lewis on the third line and move the hard-to-motivate Dustin Penner alongside Mike Richards and Jeff Carter on the second line was a stroke of genius.

The Ducks have lost captain Ryan Getzlaf for the next two games ? and maybe longer ? after tests revealed he suffered nasal sinus fractures when he was hit on the forehead by a puck in Tuesday's game at Phoenix. Getzlaf required 10 stitches at the time of the injury, and tests Wednesday revealed the broken bones in his face. He is scheduled to see a specialist Friday to determine whether further treatment is required and how long he will be out. But by placing him on injured reserve, the Ducks ruled out Getzlaf ?

GLENDALE, Ariz. - They won a mere two games in December and ended up using seven goalies during a not-so-memorable Kings season in 2007-08. But one of those goalies - Jason LaBarbera - recognized something special in two of the Kings' young forwards, Dustin Brown and Anze Kopitar. They had career breakthrough performances that season, scoring 33 and 32 goals, respectively. "You could see how great they were going to be," said LaBarbera, who is now the Phoenix Coyotes' backup goalie.

Jeff O'Neill didn't let a severely swollen right eye keep him from giving the Carolina Hurricanes another overtime victory. After being hit by a puck below his right eye earlier in the game, O'Neill instinctively knew where to go--to the net. And that's where he was, cruising in from the right circle, in time to convert Ron Francis' kick-pass 6:01 into overtime, lifting the Hurricanes to a 2-1 victory over Toronto in Game 3 of the Eastern Conference finals on Tuesday.

Heroes for more than one day … There are the often impenetrable Jonathan Quick of the Kings in goal and Kings captain Dustin Brown and his Blues counterpart David Backes with their ferocious physical give and take. ("Cripes," said St. Louis Coach Ken Hitchcock of their bone-rattling second-period collision in Game 3.) But Hitchcock pointed to Kings defenseman Drew Doughty as the best player in this series. The Kings lead the Blues, 3-0, in the Western Conference semifinals and Game 4 is noon Sunday at Staples Center.

Had the Kings looked up to the rafters of the United Center, they would have seen a shiny new banner commemorating the Chicago Blackhawks' Stanley Cup triumph. Had the Kings looked in the mirror after their 3-1 loss Wednesday, they would have had to acknowledge the distance they must cover before they can be a serious Cup contender. The Kings controlled the puck for long stretches late in the second period and early in the third and dominated in shots, 34-28. But they gave in to the temptation to make pretty passes instead of scrambling for ugly goals, a weakness that contributed to their second loss on a five-game trip that concludes Thursday at Dallas.

Reporting from Philadelphia -- Unable to beat the Chicago Blackhawks with a run-and-gun style in the opener of the Stanley Cup finals and held to a goal in losing a tautly played Game 2, the Philadelphia Flyers have switched strategies for Game 3 Wednesday at the Wachovia Center. They're resorting to mind games, apparently hoping verbal jabs will accomplish what they couldn't achieve otherwise in Chicago. Flyers defenseman Chris Pronger set the tone when he snatched the puck at the end of the first two games.

The Kings are 1-1-1 halfway through exhibition play but Coach Terry Murray said he's not yet microanalyzing facets of the game such as puck possession or special-teams play. The early games had so many kids in the lineup -- and some players had back-to-back games -- that it was tough to get a good read on those areas, he said. For those curious, the Kings are one for 13 on the power play and their penalty killing is 15 for 18. But Murray said he saw enough rough edges to put the 32 players on the ice for more than two hours of work at the Toyota Sports Center on Saturday, followed by a conditioning skate.

From Ottawa The Kings went 0 for two on disputed goals Monday, but that was only one grim statistic in their 3-2 loss to the Ottawa Senators and fourth defeat in five games. The call that hurt them most came with three seconds left in the third period, when Ryan Smyth redirected a point shot by Jack Johnson into the net. Referee Eric Furlatt immediately waved it off on the grounds Smyth had his stick above the height of the crossbar when he batted the puck, and a lengthy review began that left the crowd at Scotiabank Place on edge.

Heroes for more than one day … There are the often impenetrable Jonathan Quick of the Kings in goal and Kings captain Dustin Brown and his Blues counterpart David Backes with their ferocious physical give and take. ("Cripes," said St. Louis Coach Ken Hitchcock of their bone-rattling second-period collision in Game 3.) But Hitchcock pointed to Kings defenseman Drew Doughty as the best player in this series. The Kings lead the Blues, 3-0, in the Western Conference semifinals and Game 4 is noon Sunday at Staples Center.

Daniel Sedin's return to the Vancouver Canucks had a doubly detrimental effect for the Kings, denying them a first-round playoff sweep and creating a new threat they must defuse when the series resumes Sunday in Vancouver. The gifted winger's first appearance since suffering a concussion on March 21 boosted the Canucks' spirits and talent level. He especially raised the game of his linemate and twin, Henrik, as they combined to score with a man advantage and seal Vancouver's 3-1 victory Wednesday at Staples Center.

Nicklas Backstrom scored 2:56 into the second overtime Saturday to give the visiting Washington Capitals a 2-1 victory over the Boston Bruins and tie the first-round playoff series at a game apiece. Braden Holtby stopped 43 shots for Washington in his second career postseason game. Tim Thomas made 37 saves for the defending Stanley Cup champions. Troy Brouwer opened the scoring for the Capitals in the second period, and Benoit Pouliot tied it with 7:47 left in regulation.

This was not exactly Ryane Clowe, Mr. Stealth. The Kings saw the Sharks forward reach over the bench with his stick to illegally play the puck, disrupting a rush led by Kings center Jarret Stoll with about 2:40 remaining in regulation. They saw it. As did the stunned and angered Kings fans at Staples Center. TV picked up on it immediately One problem: The on-ice officials were in the distinct minority and didn't see it. "I don't know how you miss it," Kings captain Dustin Brown said.

When: 5 p.m. Where: Honda Center. On the air: TV: Prime Ticket; Radio: 830. Record vs. Bruins (2010-11): 1-0. Update: The Ducks said defenseman Nate Guenin might miss the remainder of the season after taking a puck to his forehead. It happened in Wednesday's 4-3 victory over St. Louis. Guenin returned to action later in the game. He has played in 15 games this season, scoring twice, and is a plus-six. Ducks goalie Jonas Hiller has been nominated for the Masterton Trophy by the Anaheim chapter of the Professional Hockey Writers' Assn.

So this was the Kings' strategy: to torture themselves and their increasingly queasy fans through 60 painfully low-scoring games and then reinvent themselves as a productive team that appears to be peaking at the right time. With the West playoff race grinding along in lock-step, now is the time to get hot. The Kings, newly balanced offensively after the arrival of Jeff Carter and benefiting from the vigor of rookies Slava Voynov, Jordan Nolan and Dwight King, continued their revival Tuesday with a 5-2 victory over the San Jose Sharks at Staples Center.

One team on the ice at Staples Center on Saturday looked old, slow and fumble-fingered — and it wasn't the Detroit Red Wings. The Kings spent too much time watching the Red Wings work their magic with the puck and demonstrate that their rumored demise is merely opponents' wishful thinking. Detroit was sharp and sure in a 4-1 victory that ended the Kings' three-game winning streak and delighted a crowd dominated by jerseys featuring the famed winged wheel. "Tonight it wasn't good," said Kings center Anze Kopitar, whose penalty-shot attempt died in Jimmy Howard's glove at 11:06 of the second period while the Kings trailed, 2-1. "We didn't make any plays.

The Ducks' Ryan Getzlaf is likely to be out until after the Jan. 30 All-Star game, a four- to six-week recovery that is a relief for the star center after taking a puck to the forehead Dec. 28. "It was pretty scary for the first few days," Getzlaf said Wednesday morning, standing outside the Ducks' locker room at the Honda Center with jagged stitches low on his forehead. "After the first CT scan, they weren't exactly sure what was wrong. There were a lot of different fractures and stuff going on up there.

Potential rule changes being discussed by NHL general managers this week drew mixed reactions from the Kings, who said they needed clarification on the proposed hybrid icing rule before they could make their judgments. Apparently, the general managers need clarification, too. They recommended that the idea be forwarded to the league's competition committee for further discussion but want the language to be more specific and cover all possible scenarios. Kings defenseman Matt Greene said he could see the rationale behind eliminating a full-length race to the goal line between the attacking and defending players--and he spoke from personal knowledge.

Location: 701 Stone Canyon Road, Los Angeles, (310) 909-1644, http://www.hotelbelair.com/wolfgang-puck-bel-air Price: Dinner appetizers, $15 to $26; main courses, $28 to $55; four-course tasting menu, $110; six courses, $145. Wine pairings are an additional $75 to $90 per person. Details: Open 7 to 10:30 a.m. daily for breakfast, 11:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. Monday to Saturday for lunch, 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. for Sunday brunch, 6 to 10 p.m. Sunday to Thursday for dinner, and 6 to 10:30 p.m. Friday and Saturday for dinner.