Los Angeles Kings

The Los Angeles Kings’ title defense is 10 games deep into the 2013 Stanley Cup Playoffs, and it’s still difficult to get an accurate read on a group that admits to not having played its best hockey of the postseason. Anze Kopitar, Dustin Brown...

Dustin Penner's wrongly disallowed goal looms large, but the Kings' performance in the first two periods does them in as San Jose ties the series.

The Kings open Game 4 with an awful period, fall further behind in the second, fall victim to a quick whistle, and can't make up for it despite outshooting the Sharks 14-2 in the final frame. Back to Staples for a pivotal Game 5.

Let's do this.

FIRST.... read today's GAMEDAY PREVIEW for tonight's Game 4 between the Los Angeles Kings and the San Jose Sharks. Exclusively on LAKings.com. This will make much more sense once you've read the GAMEDAY PREVIEW. THEN... apparently, The Royal Half... is huge in Canada. You can follow Newcap TV Sports Anchor and huge Royal Half fan, Nahreman Issa, on Twitter.

We are now 3 games into the Los Angeles Kings 2nd Round Series against the San Jose Sharks... and there has been one big element missing... @theroyalhalf when's the game day podcast going to be up? — greg elbaum (@GregE_33) May 14, 2013 @theroyalhalf wheres the game day podcast today? — greg elbaum (@GregE_33) May 16, 2013 @kingsmenpodcast @theroyalhalf alright guys. You know what I'm looking for right? — greg elbaum (@GregE_33) May 18, 2013 Well, Greg Elbaum, here ya go... a brand new mega-pod edition of All The Kings Men Podcast: Round 2 So Far!!! Jesse Cohen and I chat with Jon Hoven from Mayors Manor about the LA Kings Game 3 loss... but mainly Jesse and I talk about suspensions and pucks going over the glass. And when you listen to our discussion about the penalty for pucks going over the glass... remember this text message to me from TRH Ombudsman, Jack A. Wilson: You can check out the brand-new episode of All The Kings Men Podcast here, subscribe to it on iTunes or listen below:

Let's catch up on some of the underlying numbers for the Kings in the series thus far.

*THE FOLLOWING BELOW IS NOT WRITTEN BY THE ROYAL HALF, BUT RATHER PUMPERNICHOLL, OUR MASTER RECAPPER* KINGS 1, SHARKS 2 (OT), JON QUICK PISSED OFF Another Hollywood ending for the Los Angeles Kings in Game 2 made it six straight wins for the defending Stanley Cup Champions (and typing that will never get old). Coincidentally, those six wins all came with Alec Martinez in the lineup. A fixture in the Kings top-six for the past two seasons, Martinez has helped stabilize the defensive corps since his return to the starting lineup in Game 3 against the St. Louis Blues. So it was rather shocking to read that Darryl Sutter decided to bench Martinez for the upcoming game against the San Jose Sharks. Sure, Martinez finished at a -3 in Game 2, but the general consensus around all sports is to never mess with a winning lineup. That said, it's hard to question the coach who led the team to its first championship less than 12 months ago. So the Kings headed up to the Shark Tank coming off a huge comeback to take a commanding 2-0 lead in the series. The latest win came after a couple of penalty calls late in the game turned the momentum for the Kings as they scored 22 seconds apart in the dying moments of the game. It was especially important for the Kings to win Game 2 not just because home-ice means so much to these two teams, but because referees never make series altering penalty calls late in a game. Rest assured, borderline penalty calls like those won't be seen in a playoff game for years, if ever again. Wait... what? Click Here to Read the Rest of PumperNicholl's RECAP of Game 3 vs the Sharks!!! *Editor's Note: Feel free to interact with these tweets. They have been embedded to make your life easier. Just don't be idiots. Or be idiots. Whatever. PREGAME: God damnit blues. Still bummed about that series loss. Fuck the kings. — Dylan Kennedy (@Dyl_Kennedy) May 18, 2013 At least the pain is over Blues fans... Never change, @nhlonnbcsports. Never, ever, ever, ever, ever change. twitpic.com/cripv2 — The Royal Half (@theroyalhalf) May 18, 2013 ...ouch. #SJSVSLAK #BeatLA #BeatTheKINGS#SJsharks #StanleyCupPlayoffs #sharksnation #gosharks #letsgosharks #FUCKLA #SHARKSTERRITORY #BRINGYOURLOUD — Mulatto?Mixed Girls (@MixedNigga_) May 18, 2013 MOAR HASTHAGS! Fuck the Kings and fuck posers who think they are real hockey fans. Mother fuckers deserve to die. #PureHatred — Stoneyranger (@Stoneyranger) May 18, 2013 I dunno, this seems hella poserish. Getting my drunk on at the sharks game #fuckLA — Shawn campbell (@Buschbud) May 18, 2013 So many people at my house randomly, fuck, I mean this better not interfere with the Sharks game, got a monopoly on this tv 6-9 minimum. — Neil Jariwalla (@NeilJariwalla19) May 19, 2013 LETS DO THIS?! #SJSHARKS #BLACKANDTEAL #SHARKSTERRITORY #FUCKLA — Andres Villa (@Ndre3030) May 19, 2013 #LETS #DO #THIS FIRST PERIOD: FUCK YES BOYLE!!!!!! twitter.com/awheaties/stat… — Ashlynn Wheatley (@awheaties) May 19, 2013 1-0 Sharks after Dr. Evil/Zoolander superfan Dan Boyle scores on the powerplay. If LA continues to get these garbage call and non calls against them they can't lose #brutal #fuckLA — MVictor16 (@RedWingVictory) May 19, 2013 Uh... hahahahaha please understand my dad is a passionate sharks fan! vine.co/v/bEliVg0eF7Q — Raquel Cloutier (@RockyWasHere) May 19, 2013 Yes, that makes perfect sense in that case. fuck you Toffoli your a scumbag — Rudy Herring (@rudyHerring) May 19, 2013 Hey, now! Don't Hassle the Toff! Who the fuck is Toffoli? — Conor Mc

*THE FOLLOWING BELOW IS NOT WRITTEN BY THE ROYAL HALF, BUT RATHER PUMPERNICHOLL, OUR MASTER RECAPPER* KINGS 1, SHARKS 2 (OT), JON QUICK PISSED OFF Another Hollywood ending for the Los Angeles Kings in Game 2 made it six straight wins for the defending Stanley Cup Champions (and typing that will never get old). Coincidentally, those six wins all came with Alec Martinez in the lineup. A fixture in the Kings top-six for the past two seasons, Martinez has helped stabilize the defensive corps since his return to the starting lineup in Game 3 against the St. Louis Blues. So it was rather shocking to read that Darryl Sutter decided to bench Martinez for the upcoming game against the San Jose Sharks. Sure, Martinez finished at a -3 in Game 2, but the general consensus around all sports is to never mess with a winning lineup. That said, it's hard to question the coach who led the team to its first championship less than 12 months ago. So the Kings headed up to the Shark Tank coming off a huge comeback to take a commanding 2-0 lead in the series. The latest win came after a couple of penalty calls late in the game turned the momentum for the Kings as they scored 22 seconds apart in the dying moments of the game. It was especially important for the Kings to win Game 2 not just because home-ice means so much to these two teams, but because referees never make series altering penalty calls late in a game. Rest assured, borderline penalty calls like those won't be seen in a playoff game for years, if ever again. Wait... what? Click Here to Read the Rest of PumperNicholl's RECAP of Game 3 vs the Sharks!!! *Editor's Note: Feel free to interact with these tweets. They have been embedded to make your life easier. Just don't be idiots. Or be idiots. Whatever. PREGAME: God damnit blues. Still bummed about that series loss. Fuck the kings. — Dylan Kennedy (@Dyl_Kennedy) May 18, 2013 At least the pain is over Blues fans... Never change, @nhlonnbcsports. Never, ever, ever, ever, ever change. twitpic.com/cripv2 — The Royal Half (@theroyalhalf) May 18, 2013 ...ouch. #SJSVSLAK #BeatLA #BeatTheKINGS#SJsharks #StanleyCupPlayoffs #sharksnation #gosharks #letsgosharks #FUCKLA #SHARKSTERRITORY #BRINGYOURLOUD — Mulatto?Mixed Girls (@MixedNigga_) May 18, 2013 MOAR HASTHAGS! Fuck the Kings and fuck posers who think they are real hockey fans. Mother fuckers deserve to die. #PureHatred — Stoneyranger (@Stoneyranger) May 18, 2013 I dunno, this seems hella poserish. Getting my drunk on at the sharks game #fuckLA — Shawn campbell (@Buschbud) May 18, 2013 So many people at my house randomly, fuck, I mean this better not interfere with the Sharks game, got a monopoly on this tv 6-9 minimum. — Neil Jariwalla (@NeilJariwalla19) May 19, 2013 LETS DO THIS?! #SJSHARKS #BLACKANDTEAL #SHARKSTERRITORY #FUCKLA — Andres Villa (@Ndre3030) May 19, 2013 #LETS #DO #THIS FIRST PERIOD: FUCK YES BOYLE!!!!!! twitter.com/awheaties/stat… — Ashlynn Wheatley (@awheaties) May 19, 2013 1-0 Sharks after Dr. Evil/Zoolander superfan Dan Boyle scores on the powerplay. If LA continues to get these garbage call and non calls against them they can't lose #brutal #fuckLA — MVictor16 (@RedWingVictory) May 19, 2013 Uh... hahahahaha please understand my dad is a passionate sharks fan! vine.co/v/bEliVg0eF7Q — Raquel Cloutier (@RockyWasHere) May 19, 2013 Yes, that makes perfect sense in that case. fuck you Toffoli your a scumbag — Rudy Herring (@rudyHerring) May 19, 2013 Hey, now! Don't Hassle the Toff! Who the fuck is Toffoli? — Conor Mc