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Rivalries are made in the playoffs, and the Kings 100 percent earned their Game 7 win. Drew Doughty and Anze Kopitar showed why they are two of the best players in the league every single game. Marian Gaborik was the player that put this Kings team over the top. The Kings GM Dean Lombardi deserves all the credit for making a steal of a trade at the deadline for Gaborik who was unstoppable this entire series. When it came down to it, the Kings were able to finish their chances and lockdown their defense.
Jonathan Quick had his moments throughout this series as well. In the final game he shut down Corey Perry on a couple breakaway chances and on a penalty shot. He may not have had to be amazing to win this series, but he made the key stops that allowed the Kings the chance to win every game. He was also nice enough to congratulate Teemu Selanne on an unbelievable career (though a win would have been much nicer).
Congrats to Teemu on a HOF career, it was an honor to play against him. #8intherafters pic.twitter.com/Tx02KPdHo2
— Jonathan Quick (@JonathanQuick32) May 17, 2014
I'm sure we will be seeing a ton of California matchups in the postseason thanks to the new playoff format that aims to wear down California teams by forcing them to kill each other so none of them can ever win a Cup again. California owns the Pacific, but the Kings proved to be the best in the state. This will likely be the best series that we see throughout these 2014 Stanley Cup playoffs and I'm glad the Ducks held in for seven games. It's just unfortunate that Teemu Selanne's career had to end this way.
Good luck surviving a rested Chicago club.