I'm terrified of the Vancouver Canucks.
It's true. They are a terrifying, terrifying team. They have one of the best top lines in the league, they have the league's best shutdown center and now he knows how to score too, I really like their defense, and behind all that is an excellent, excellent, excellent goaltender that is excellent. Really, how the hell do the Kings beat them? They haven't so far this season, losing 3-1, 4-1 and 2-1 in overtime. They're the Kings but better. They're the one team I do not want to play in the playoffs above all others. The Kings just do not match up against them well at all. Think about them versus the Sharks, Blackhawks or Coyotes:
The Sharks. The Kings match up OK against the Sharks. Joe Thornton erases Anze Kopitar but Kopitar has done a good job of limiting Thornton as well. The Sharks aren't as deep as the Kings and their goaltender sucks so he's pretty easy to beat. (I'm just kidding, relax.) I mean, the Sharks are better than the Kings but you can see how you can beat them.
The Blackhawks. The Blackhawks are tougher because they're the other team in the West that's deeper than the Kings, but their best players are young like the Kings' best players so maybe they'll buckle under the pressure or some other made up thing. What I mean is, Patrick Kane doesn't scare me like Henrik Sedin or Ryan Kesler do. Plus they're goaltending is weak so you can always get lucky.
The Coyotes. C'mon, they're the Coyotes.
But the Canucks... I don't even know how to match up against them. Your best bet is throwing Kopitar up against the Sedins because he's a little too big for Henrik and it gets Anze away from Kesler, but Kopitar probably loses that battle. Kopitar has one assist in three games and is a minus-2. You can't throw Handzus against the Sedins because they'll pick his line apart with their cycle, plus that puts Kopitar against Kesler and I would get nightmares if I had to watch what Kesler would do to Kopitar over a 7-game series. Basically, the Kings would have to hope that Luongo sucks for the entire series to have a chance at winning. That doesn't seem likely.
I hope the Kings can win tonight not for their sakes, but for mine. I need to see that we can actually beat the Canucks at least once before the playoffs start, or at least see a method to beating them. Is there one? Does anyone know? I'm losing my mind over here.
Prediction: Kings lose, 3-1. I pull out all my hair.
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