It's hard to believe there was talk out there about the Kings parting ways with Dustin Brown and making Mike Richards the new captain of the Kings.
L.A. is in a spot that it has a couple of captains. And, to be honest, Brown wasn't exactly living up to the expectations this season. But in his defense, none of the Kings not named Jonathan Quick were performing how people thought they would. But this team is infinitely better with Brown on the ice.
He didn't score a goal on Monday night, but he assisted on three of them. He was all over the ice for the Kings and was pestering the Blues to the end. It's debatable to say that he was the best Kings player on the ice in Game 2 -- there were a few choices -- but can anybody say he doesn't deserve it?
Brown does it all for the Kings. He has been lethal on the penalty kill, picking up another point on the PK this postseason by creating a turnover in the offensive zone. He gets physical when he needs to. He's been making the offense go.
Who knows how much thought was actually put into the idea of trading Brown or not, his name came up mostly surround Rick Nash speculation. The thought from some seemed to be that he was replaceable, both in production and in his role as captain.
Wrong.
Dustin Brown. See the above for your answers.
[Related: Kings 5, Blues 2 | Kings jump on Blues early, roll to Game 2 win]
The fact that this one came short-handed is just a bonus. But this was the result of Brown's (and Anze Kopitar, of course) handiwork, undressing Brian Elliott on a break.
Although you will notice that Kopitar almost blew this goal, wrapping the puck around too far. Thankfully for him, Elliott's far-side leg served as a backboard and put the puck in the net, otherwise it was probably heading wide. As a result, we have a highlight-reel goal.
The intention here isn't for the Kings to dominate this feature tonight, but there's kind of no choice. I mean, look at what Jonathan Quick was busy doing for the Kings on Monday night?
Things are just going their way right now, aren't they?
Alex Ovechkin's time on the ice was a big topic of conversation in Game 2 and has been for a while. But maybe Dale Hunter knows what he's doing.
Check out this stat from NHL.com's Corey Masisak.
#Caps Ovechkin has played 17:01 or less in 4 of the past 6 games. His team is 4-0 when he doesn't reach 17:02 and 0-2 when he does.
— Corey Masisak (@cmasisak22) May 1, 2012
[Related: Caps 3, N.Y. 2 | Ovechkin scores winner after sitting on bench most of game]
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