Going into tonight’s action, the Los Angeles Kings and St. Louis Blues ranked first and second respectively in terms of playoff hits. However, both teams have done a solid job of staying out of the sin bin and Kings coach Darryl Sutter thinks is part of this match’s charm.
“Both teams check so well. That’s the thing,” Sutter said, according to LA Kings Insider. “Both teams try and forecheck, and they’ve probably spent more time in our zone than we’d like, but it’s been like that.
“It’s been a banging series, but it’s also the least penalized series, if you look at it, of the two [conferences]. So that tells you that both teams – the style they play and the discipline they play, and that’s why it’s a long series, and that’s why I think it’s a good series.”
It actually isn’t the least penalized series if you measure it by PIM/game, but that doesn’t render his overall point moot.
When the Kings won the Stanley Cup last year, they averaged 11.9 penalty minutes per game in the postseason and had a remarkable 92.1 penalty killing percentage. So far they haven’t done quite as well when it comes to killing off penalties, but they’ve been more disciplined.
That ability to stay physical while avoiding the penalty box should serve the winner of this series well. Meanwhile, the Kings will advance if they win Game 6 tomorrow (10:00 p.m. ET, NBCSN).