• LA Times: Kings’ Dean Lombardi sees remodeling project start to take shape

After a long wait, the Kings have found their way back to the playoffs. They are the sixth-seeded team in the tough Western Conference and Thursday night play their first postseason game since 2002, facing the third-seeded Vancouver Canucks.

• LA Times: Kings coach doesn’t change top two lines

The top two lines of  Ryan Smyth-Anze Kopitar- Justin Williams and Alexander Frolov-Jarret Stoll-Dustin Brown  will remain intact. So will the defense, with Rob Scuderi paired with Drew Doughty,  Sean O'Donnell with Matt Greene  and Randy Jones with  Jack Johnson.

• LA Times: Kings' Jonathan Quick, Canucks' Roberto Luongo can't stop the questions

Funny how two guys managed to combine for 79 regular-season wins and many of the questions in Vancouver and Los Angeles are striking the same note of concern just before the playoffs open.

• LA Daily News: Kings' Doughty ready for royal return

Considering his contribution to Canada's golden moment, will Doughty be received as hockey royalty by Canuck fans today? Or will he merely be treated like a King? 

• LA Daily News: Kings relish underdog role in NHL playoffs

"A lot of people have picked (Vancouver) as maybe coming out of the West," Sean O'Donnell said. "They've got some guys - (Ryan) Kesler, Burrows, (Pavol) Demitra - who can beat you, and the play well defensively. They've got good special teams. They've got all the things that you need to advance in the playoffs." 

• ESPNLosAngeles' Tom Murray: Kings-Canucks Preview

The Kings are a different story. As great a player as Anze Kopitar is, and he had a terrific season, with career highs of 34 goals and 81 points, Kings coach Terry Murray will be the first one to tell you there are no superstars on his team (although I'd argue that Drew Doughty is well on his way). For that reason, Murray preaches vigilance and responsibility in both the offensive and defensive zones and wants hard plays to be made through the neutral zone by all his players.

• ESPN's Tom Murray: For Smyth, The "Nasty Zone" Is Home

“He’s one of those guys that just likes to score those dirty, nasty goals,” said Sean O’Donnell. “I think if you asked Smytty if he’d like to have a 2 on 1 and score over the goalie’s glove hand or take a shot in the chest that drops down and he gets crosschecked as he puts it in the net, I think he would take that kind of goal every time.”

• ESPN's Tom Murray: Two Main Keys To A Series Win For Kings

First: how successful they are in containing Vancouver’s number one line of Daniel and Henrik Sedin and Alex Burrows. And second, the ability of the Kings to create traffic in front of Canucks goalie Roberto Luongo. 

• Frozen Royalty: LA Kings Can Get Past Vancouver Canucks If They Put It All Together

If the Kings can do that throughout the series, they should win it in six or seven games, despite the fact that the Canucks have such a potent attack led by the league’s top scorer, Henrik Sedin. But if the Kings are unable to get it together, the Canucks will resurface the ice with them in five or six.

• Mayor's Manor: The Mayor's Playoff Preview with Bob Miller

I think for the Kings...they key is they have to be strong defensively.  They have to have Jonathan Quick back on his game, the way he was before the Olympic break.  And they have to get some more scoring.  They just have not been scoring very much since the break.  They have to get more scoring from a variety of people too.  I do like the way Dustin Brown has played lately.  For your captain to be playing as well as he has going into the playoffs, I think that's a plus.

• The Throne Room: Series Preview: 3) Vancouver vs. 6)Los Angeles

My prediction: The Kings’ D keeps the Canucks’ reasonably quiet, their forwards wreak havoc on the battered Vancouver D down low and generate enough offense to win a series of close games. Quick steps up when he’s needed, and the Kings win in game 6 at Staples Center.

• Battle of California: LA v. Vancouver: Sister City Slap Fight

Overall, they're a shitty, miserable team that doesn't deserve to live, let alone move on to the 2nd round.   Unfortunately, they're better than us and will move on to the 2nd round.  Oh well, no big deal.  Rather mourn in paradise than celebrate outside the pearly gates.

• Examiner.com's Jonathan Moncrief: NHL Playoffs Series Preview: Kings vs Canucks

Having just concluded their third ever 100+ point season in franchise history, the Kings are preparing for their first round match-up with Northwest Division champion Vancouver.

• Jewels From The Crown: Kings vs. Canucks: How's it Looks

At this time last year I was making my playoff bracket and had placed Vancouver as the winner of the Western Conference. I was pretty confident in my selection since it seemed like it was time for them to make a deep run, but that was not the case then and it will not be the case this year. To be honest, it's not because they're playing the Kings, more because they're not as good from my perspective. Right now I'm confident with the Kings' forward lines, the defensive pairings, and have just a bit less confidence with the goalie situation.

• Inside Hockey's Brian Kennedy: Kings-Canucks: Perhaps Not What You Think

Luongo has proved in the past when bothered that he gets rattled, so watchers can expect Smyth to be on the edge of the crease while the other two fire away from the faceoff dots. Brown and his unit of Alex Frolov and Jared Stoll will do the same, and they’ve proved their grit as the season has gone along. Stoll, particularly, is scoring these days.