(inspirational music)
- [Reporter] This is a tough go here
for the Kings for a while.
And to be honest with you,
I don't see it getting any better
at least this season.
They're not ready to break this spell
of not making the playoffs.
- [Announcer] Now Trevor Moore.
To Iafallo in tight, he scores!
Kings have stolen game one on the road.
- What the guys did without us.
That was like motivating because we're missing
these important players on our team.
And we took, you know, the Oilers to game seven.
We weren't even expected to make the playoffs.
(crowd roaring)
(hip hop music)
- Whenever you're not the last team
standing at the end.
It's, you know, you feel a little bit of disappointment.
You took a good step this year, but you, you know, it's
we want more.
(hip hop music)
- When you look at where we started
and where we ended and things we needed to overcome,
arriving in a playoff position,
the struggle down the stretch to get in,
all those things were really good for our team.
- [Announcer] Drop, pass, shot!
Save Quick!
Kane to the front, Yamamoto!
His 10th career playoff shutout.
- Watching the guys, I was honestly just so nervous.
It was hard for me to even keep it together up there.
I'm just really proud of what the group did.
- [Announcer] Grundstrom. On the run out.
Grundstrom. Drive to the net.
Collides with the post.
The Puck is in the net!
- [Drew Doughty] We got to show everyone what we could do
without some of our top guys so.
Now what can we do with them?
- [Announcer] Kempe with a step into the zone.
Kempe to the net.
Scores! - Yes!
- [Commentator] Adrian Kempe sends them back to LA!
- The whole messaging
was all about experience.
And for us, that was a slap in our face
because we were there to win.
(crowd roaring)
I think there was a whole world out there
that was just happy for us to be there.
And Arthur Kaliyev gets to play in his first game
and Jordan Spence, but that's not how we looked at it.
That was a byproduct of what we were doing there.
(horn blowing)
- [Announcer] Los Angeles!
On your feet!
Make some noise!
Here are your LA Kings!
(hip hop music)
- I remember
we had two five-game losing streaks early in the year
and I said something after the second one.
I said, "This can't happen again
"if we want to be in the playoffs."
And like, from that point on, we started winning games.
- [Announcer] Kopitar moves in right circle.
Tip. Score!
Viktor Arvidsson!
- I've done it the other way
where it's like, you just see points slipping away.
So when we started collecting points
it started becoming fun.
Winning's fun.
Winning cures everything at this level.
- [Announcer] Brown moves it up ahead
for Kempe in a break in.
He scores!
- This year was a pretty significant step
for this team.
Lot of the young guys got put
in pretty significant roles this year and,
you know, took the next step.
And they got a pretty good taste
of what it takes and how it needs to be done.
- [Announcer] Nugent-Hopkins pursued by Anderson,
bottled up along the wall.
- [Anze Kopitar] I think a lot of our young D-men
really proved that they can hang with the big boys.
- [Announcer] There's Durzi with a shot. He scores!
His first National Hockey League goal!
Spence scores!
First NHL goal! Jordan Spence!
- The good thing about them is there's,
you can see where the room to improve is,
and it's not things that they can't do.
It's just things that they don't know yet.
- [Announcer] Here's a stretch pass to Newhook
with a step on Durzi.
Newhook, oh Durzi, what a recovery!
- [Todd McLellan] I thought our mid range
players were outstanding.
- [Female Commentator] But here comes
a shorthanded opportunity.
Takes the shot and he scores!
- Mid range and you pick
Lizotte, Trevor Moore, Matt Roy,
Mikey Anderson, when he was healthy.
They really made strides.
- [Drew Doughty] Those signs we made
and trades with Arvidsson and Danault.
- [Announcer] To the net in on goal.
Shot, score!
- I mean, those couldn't have worked out any better.
- And I think we showed a lot
of positive attributes as a group.
If you have that mentality, that's,
I still think it's the hardest thing to get for teams.
Why do some teams figure out ways to win
and other teams don't?
It's just their mentality
and their group mentality is important.
And this year was a lot of fun.
- [Announcer] Here come the Kings on the break.
Dustin Brown scores!
(horns blowing)
(inspiring music)
- [Todd McLellan] You'd know, you'd have to ask Dustin this
but I'm sure he sat back and said,
"I'm probably not gonna be the fastest guy in this series.
"I may not be the leading scorer
"but there's something I can still really bring.
"And it's physicality and leadership."
And he was not short on any of those.
(crowd roaring)
- You can't replace a guy like Brownie
and it's certainly not gonna be just the one guy
that is gonna replace him.
So it's collectively as a group coming together.
- [Announcer] Brown with the steal.
Brown to Athanasiou...
He scores!
- Todd came to me during that series.
It was funny, you know,
we talk every day about lineups and everything.
And he said, he goes. "Listen."
He goes,
"The biggest leader we got going right now is Dustin Brown."
So I think once he got the retirement part over
at the end of the year, he really took pride
in what he was gonna do during the playoffs.
- It's hard to even to talk
about Brownie, honestly.
Taught me so much from the get go.
I love him so much and Brownie, man,
it's gonna be weird being here without him.
- I'm excited to see what the young guys do
and who, I mean there was a time when
I was that young guy.
And it was like I had a few people
that helped me and then you gotta step into those roles.
So I'm excited,
one, to see who's gonna do it.
Cause it has to be somebody
- [Announcer] Now a turnover, Lizotte, shoots, and scores!
- I know the season just ended and I wasn't playing.
So I'm already excited for next season.
I can't wait to get going.
- I went on a little rant after game seven.
I was already taking us into next season,
but it happens that fast.
The answer to was it successful this year or not,
will lie in what we do with it next season.
- We made the playoffs and then
that was a good step.
But now we gotta upgrade.
It's actually very simple.
I mean, nobody's gonna be satisfied with playing
seven games in the playoffs that,
and getting bounced in the first round.
So you gotta see what we can do to get better
and win more playoff games.
- [Announcer] Grundstrom scores!
(horns blowing)