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Western Conference bubble teams: What are the keys to playoff qualification?

By Matt Morrow

DALLAS, TX - DECEMBER 21: Corey Crawford
DALLAS, TX - DECEMBER 21: Corey Crawford /
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LOS ANGELES, CA – JANUARY 18: The Kings celebrate with Los Angeles Kings Left Wing Adrian Kempe (9) after scoring their first goal of the game in the second period during an NHL game between the Pittsburgh Penguins and the Los Angeles Kings on January 18, 2018 at STAPLES Center in Los Angeles, CA. (Photo by Chris Williams/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
LOS ANGELES, CA – JANUARY 18: The Kings celebrate with Los Angeles Kings Left Wing Adrian Kempe (9) after scoring their first goal of the game in the second period during an NHL game between the Pittsburgh Penguins and the Los Angeles Kings on January 18, 2018 at STAPLES Center in Los Angeles, CA. (Photo by Chris Williams/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images) /

Los Angeles Kings

Cap Space: $9 million per CapFriendly. This is a significant amount of money for a team that is one or two pieces away from being a serious threat in the West. The playoffs truly are a crapshoot in the fact that whoever gets in has a legitimate chance at winning, and if the Kings play their cards right at the deadline, I’d say they could advance a round or two, if not more, in this years postseason.

Points: 53

It’s pretty impressive that the Kings have lost five in a row — and have just three wins in their last 10 — but are still the first wild card team right now. That just shows you what kind of team they can be if they can continuously string together some wins. Trying to gain some consistency down the stretch will be key for this team.

One key for the Kings’ playoff hopes is the impending return of Jeff Carter. Carter has only played six games this season, and his contributions as well as leadership have surely been missed. He began skating again this month, just in time for the stretch run.

The Kings have the best penalty kill in the entire league at 86.8 percent, and if they do indeed qualify for the playoffs, that may very well be one of the reasons why. This is almost definitely directly related to the fact that they have given up the second least amount of goals in the entire NHL at 110. The famous saying is “defense wins championships,” and that is something that I’m sure head coach John Stevens is drilling into his players’ heads.

Lastly, this is my first article as a contributing NHL writer to FanSided, so I hope you enjoyed it. As always, your thoughts and comments are welcomed and encouraged in the comments section below. Follow me on twitter @mmorrow97.

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